PPC Basics: How to Get Traffic Fast
So far on the Intuit Websites Blog, we’ve talked a lot about how to build traffic by achieving high rankings in the search engine results pages using a process known as search engine optimization (SEO). And while these techniques are incredibly valuable in terms of your site’s long term success, there’s no arguing with the fact that SEO traffic can take a long time to materialize. But what if you …
Content is King… or Queen
My experience at Intuit has taught me that talking about doing something and actually doing it are two completely different matters. One of the jobs I’ve held here involved helping small-business owners to design and create websites. This included writing content for their sites, specifically information about their businesses. I gave them basic guidance about what they might want to consider including (or not including) in their text. I was …
Easy Ways to Integrate Social Tools into Your Website
Making your website more interactive has myriad advantages, not the least of which is the boost in search-engine rankings your site gets when it’s shared more frequently on social-networking sites. Making your site more social also creates a positive atmosphere for your users by making them feel that their feedback is welcome and valued. This, in turn, improves the public’s perception of your brand and encourages repeat business, because people …
Building an Effective Site Plan for Your Website
So you think you’re ready to start building a website for your business. Maybe you’ve seen a few websites that you like, or you’ve found a template with the design elements you seek. Well, hold your horses! Proper site planning involves a lot more than picking pretty colors or choosing a random template. Before you inadvertently set yourself up to fail, check out the following tips for building an effective …
Build Your Business Website… with the Help of Your Friends
Intuit Websites is pleased to introduce a new Facebook application that makes it easier than ever to build a website: “Build Your Website” on Facebook! Instead of spending your vital time studying up on web development – trying to become a web designer in addition to being a business owner – check out the simple-to-use “Build Your Website” program which can help you get a business page up and running …
Champagne, Resolutions, and a Whole Lot of Sites We Love
I still remember the night. Surrounded by family and friends in San Francisco with a glass of bubbly and a head full of resolutions that I was committed to achieving in the upcoming year. It was New Year’s Eve and 2011 was approaching faster than a honey badger could lick honey out of a beehive. My resolutions swarmed in my mind with excitement and eagerness. Spend more time with my …
5 Steps to Taking Better Website Photos
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is doubly true of website photos, which must both communicate information about an item to a potential buyer and make it look appealing enough to buy. So forget about putting up a couple of quickly taken, poorly thought out product snapshots up on your site. For the amount of time you’ve invested in building your website, it’s worth spending …
Should You Build a Mobile Version of Your Website?
Smartphone penetration in the global market has never been higher, which has most marketing strategists clamoring to tell you that a mobile version of your site is an absolute must. But hold on a second – could this default recommendation really be true for all business owners? Let’s take a moment to analyze whether or not a mobile version is really necessary for your website. Truth be told, there’s a …
Color Theory 101: Creating the “Mood” of Your Website
Design frequently gets the short end of the stick in the website building world – whether due to new webmasters who simply pick the colors they like the most or due to more experienced builders who emphasize function over form. However, the colors you select for your site may be just as important as your navigation structures or content development, so pay special attention to the colors you select and …
7 Proven Headline Formulas That Capture Your Reader’s Attention
According to most estimates, you only have a few seconds to capture the attention of the visitors who stumble across your website before they make that vital decision of whether to stay and investigate more of your content or click the back button on their browser windows and explore other options. With this in mind, you’ve got to do something dramatic to ensure they stick around, and for nearly all …