Articles
Why you need an active Facebook Business Page!
Let’s talk about Facebook! What started out as a social networking site for students of America’s Ivy League universities in 2004 has now become one of the world’s most valuable companies and the perfect way for you to reach your customers at little to no cost!...
Funny Things Searched for on Google
Yes, People Actually Searched These on Google Remember how we covered the insanely useful tool "Search Term Query Report" in last months blog posts? If you haven't read it, you really should - if you want to make the best money out of your advertising campaign. The...
PPC Fraud: What It Is, And How It’s Costing You Money
PPC Fraud: What It Is, And How It's Costing You Money The Rise of Pay-Per-Click Marketing In order to understand why anyone in their right mind would undertake PPC fraud, we have to understand the rise of pay-per-click marketing. And it's a big rise. PPC marketing has...
What are Negative Keywords? (Hint: They’re Essential)
Your Google Ad Words Account Needs Negative Keywords A few blog posts ago, we talked about the different types of keywords that you can use in your Google Ad Words account to not only grab the traffic you need, but to refine it as well. What we didn't go over is...
Responsive Search Ads Will Change Your PPC Game
If there is a way to increase the success of a Google Ad Words campaign, we are all over it - like white on rice. (Is that phrase still cool with the kids?) Whether that be increasing our clients click-thru-rates, conversion rates or quality score, we get pretty...
Phishing Scams – Don’t Take the Bait
Phishing is a term for putting out bait and is a way for criminals to trick employees within a company or individuals into providing sensitive data. They are after your personally identifiable information like banking logins, credit card details and passwords....
Three Ways to Increase Your Quality Score (And Why It’s Low!)
Google Ad Words Quality Score Ahh, the famous quality score. In previous blog posts, we've mentioned we are just obsessed with quality score in our Google Ad Words accounts. Among other factors, of course, we watch and improve quality score around the clock because...
How Many Keywords Should Each Ad Group Have? (You’ll be Surprised.)
I'm sure that every one of us at some point has been told- "less is more"; or, "simplicity is key." And while this certainly applies to many walks of life, there is a never ending debating of whether this ideology applies to a well built Google Ad Words campaign. The...
How to Use the Google Ad Words Search Terms Report (and how it boosts your ad dollars)
Driving the highest quality traffic to your Google Ads is likely one of your top priorities when considering the goals of your online advertising campaigns. And if it isn't, it certainly should be. We have seen clients with pre-existing Google Ad Word campaigns...
AdWords Match Types: Why Keyword Match Types in Google Ad Words Matter
In a simple world, we could start up our Google AdWords account, write some great ads and choose our best keywords to get our campaigns rolling.But, in the world of Google Ad Words and PPC, it never really is that simple. To add to the never ending list of campaign...
Blogging for Fun and Profit
Blogging For Fun Are you thinking of starting a blog for fun or profit? The art of blogging is alive and well and continues to trend for farm-to-table restaurants and home cooks sharing their fav recipes. If you like sharing recipes, open an account with Pinterest – a...
Building a Website for Google Ad Words
Last week, we talked about building landing pages for your Google Ad Words campaigns. But what if you're not quite ready to build a bunch of landing pages for your online ads? We get it. While specific landing pages for your ad groups should be something to work...
3 Tips for Online Business Success
Are you planning to launch a new site or redesign your old one? Online business is exhilarating, even given the frustrations of today’s technology. Updates, new trends, and shifting lifestyles pose challenges to business owners trying to keep pace on the world wide...
Where to find free content for your website
Squirrel! The above video is a free Pixabay download from user Klimkin. Are you searching for free content for your website or blog? If you...
Do I need a landing page for my Google Ad Words campaigns?
Do I need a landing page for my Google Ad Words campaigns? Let's just get it out there first. What the heck is a landing page? Simply put, a landing page is one web page, created specifically for a sole advertising purpose such as one ad, one campaign, one product,...
Branding Your Business – Consistency is Key
Branding is linked to marketing and includes your business name, slogan, logo and colour palette. Branding is an attention-grabbing profile, and critical for cutting through online noise to place you ahead of your competitors. In order to be effective, branding must...
Building Negative Keyword Lists
Negative keyword lists are as important to your Google Ad Words campaign as a well built keyword list. Often an overlooked step in PPC management, negative keyword lists can not only elevate the ROI of your Google AD Words campaigns, but actually stop you from...
5 Ways to Quick-Start Your Business
1. Start with a Great Idea You know what you are passionate about. Entrepreneurs are well known for working hard at what they love but on their own schedules. Sketch out a strategy outline to solidify the viability of your idea. Give yourself a launch date and stick...
Why Contractors Need A Website
Building Trust If you are a skilled tradesperson working as an entrepreneur, you will benefit from having a website that showcases your talent. Websites reflect professionalism and allow you to attract new customers by legitimizing your business. Finding new leads can...
Why build a social media following?
Build Loyalty New customers are important, but repeat customers build a foundation for entrepreneurs in the form of solid financial statements and profit gain. Customer retention and loyalty are inexorably linked. When you have social media followers, you have time to...
Intellectual Property Rights – Three ways to protect your idea
Surprisingly, one main reason entrepreneurs resist their creative urge to start a business is the feeling that once their fantastic idea goes public, it will be stolen. Intellectual property thieves certainly abound but there are ways to protect your idea before,...
Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Info from Phishing Attacks
What is phishing? Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to steal sensitive data like credit card numbers and login credentials. Phishing entities disguise themselves as authentic websites in order to deceive users into installing malware or revealing sensitive information....
Site design process – in 10 easy steps
Our content collector will be working with you step by step from concept to completion on your website ensuring we exceed your expectations. There’s a process we follow to make sure everything is in order as we build a client’s new site, and here it is; We receive...
Why You Should Write a Company Blog
FAQ – Customer Courtesy and Engagement SEO – Internal linking Marketing – Drive Traffic to Your Site Customer Service: One of the best ways to address an expanded FAQ is through blogging. FAQ style blogs are full of relevant information and can save you and...
Top-Of-Mind Awareness (TOMA) and how to use it.
Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) is the brand that immediately comes to a customer’s mind when thinking of a specific product. This is exactly the way you want your customers to think because TOMA means they are most likely to buy from you. When you concentrate on...
How to Identify Your Target Market
What is a target market? In a nutshell, your TM is your customer base once they become aware of your products or services. Further explained, your TM is the targeted set of customers identified by demographics, psychographics (internal attitudes and values) and buying...
Hooray for entrepreneurs!
Entrepreneurs, we salute you! We know you work hard and have made some sacrifices over the years to establish your business. Starting your own business is not for the faint of heart, and you’ve had to overcome a measure of fear and the monotonous stability of working...
Be Clear
Clear about what? What You Do Where You Are How to Reach You - Contact Information When You Are Open for Business Have you ever spent (too much) time on a website because you finally found the perfect contractor but can’t find their phone number? You search their...
Why Video Rocks Web Design
Videos are the newest trend in website publishing Video Is Trending for Online Business We all know how hard it is to keep up to the...
All About Native Advertising
In a Nutshell: Native Advertising is Paid Content Content is King, and when advertising publishers and business owners collaborate by offering interesting and beneficial information to the public, engagement happens (share, engage and react), and that’s the end goal....
Pinterest for Business
What is Pinterest? “The World’s Catalog of Ideas” Pinterest is a visual discovery site that allows users to share and “pin” images to their boards and a great marketing platform for businesses. Easy to navigate, Pinterest invites user engagement from the moment you...
Great Photos mean Great Business
Why High Quality Images Are Important for Business First impressions really do count when it comes to website building. Quality images create the best user experience possible as you introduce your business to the online world. Your customers will connect the quality...
Sponsored Content – Does it work?
What is sponsored content? In a nutshell, sponsored content is content marketing. Written as an article in an online publication, they read like editorial content but are paid for by a sponsor, or advertiser. A sponsor’s goal is to gain the attention of readers to...
Logos and how to use them
Logos and Business Identity Your logo is a symbol that identifies your product or service. With reams of information and image overload now expanding our sight-line, it is hard at times to put basic information in a ‘nutshell’. Yet, that is what your logo must do so...
Top 10 Reasons for Buying Online Ads – part 1
Online advertising connects your customers to you and helps you establish an accurate web presence. Online ads boost SEO, complete your branding strategy and are cost effective.
Top 10 Reasons for Buying Online Ads – part 2
Online ads improve the visibility of your brand, products and services. Beyond visibility, they help you adapt and evolve your business parallel to new technologies. Building trust through branding and keeping pace with generational buying trends, is the new...
How to write a Business Plan Part 2
(Just in case you missed it, here is Part 1) What we will cover: Sales and Marketing Summary Business Operations Section Financial Information Final Statement Sales and Marketing: In this section, you will focus on your strategy for reaching your customers and how to...
How to write a Business Plan – Part 1
You will design and write: An Amazing Title Page Your Executive Summary Business Description The Marketplace Section Sales and Marketing Summary Business Operations Section Financial Information Why write a business plan? Three big reasons. Your plan is proof that...
Keeping Websites up to Date
Websites Need Maintenance! Current website content is absolutely vital for Google SEO. In other words, old content fades away in search engine land, leaving the path clear for your competitors. Now that you have your website built, you can just sit back and watch the...
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions for SEO and How to Write Them
What are title tags and meta descriptions? Title tags are HTML elements unique to each web page and are displayed in search engine results. Title tags are displayed on the search engine results page, and when clicked, take the viewer directly to your web page. They...
The SEO Benefits of WordPress
WordPress - Your SEO friendly CMS Good SEO (search engine optimization) practices improve the online visibility of your new website. If you are using WordPress for your CMS (content management system) you have an advantage. WordPress is a strong platform for SEO...
Website Maintenance for Business
Expect stuff to break! A website can be compared to a brick-and-mortar store. One day, you need to replace a broken window, the next day the POS isn’t working. There’s a tear in the showroom carpet that needs repairing, and your shelving needs updating. Okay, we get...
What does it cost to build a website?
So, you want a new website? That’s great! Considering the potential for business exposure, you have made a good decision. Profit expansion is your new possibility, but, what are the costs? The do-it-yourself way The best way to price out your do-it-yourself website,...
Keywords in Content
With keywords, you can find out what people are searching for, then use those keywords in your online content to lead customers to your store. By writing content around these popular keywords, you will rank higher in search engine listings. The importance of using...
A New Year Begins
A new year begins! Last year, thanks to the convenience and comforts of online shopping, (according to Huffingpost Canada), retail stores sold 17% less while online shopping rose by 31%. Lower prices offered by e-commerce remain attractive, and while personal debt...
How to list your business on Google Maps
You just launched your new website, but notice your shop is not coming up on Google Maps. Don’t panic. We will show you how to get your business listed by Google to boost exposure and encourage positive reviews. First, create a free Google account at...
Choose a Canadian .ca domain name.
Buying a domain name is one of the first decisions you will make on your new e-commerce adventure. Although there are several domain name extensions to choose from, you may want to stick with our tried and true Canadian .ca designation. We’ll tell you why. Only...
Current website content = SEO
Websites Need Maintenance Current, relevant website content is absolutely vital for Google SEO. In other words, old content fades away in search engine land, leaving the path clear for your competitors. Now that you have your website built, you can just sit back and...
Content for Your New Website
Every time we receive a new order, the web department goes wild with helium balloons, party horns and confetti. Well, not really, but what we want to say, is welcome to the world of e-commerce! We are excited you chose us to build your new website! Collecting content...
Top 10 reasons to start your home based internet business – part II
One of the biggest trends we see in e-commerce is home-based business start-ups. This is an exciting trend, considering the possibilities to troubleshoot unemployment, career burnout and high start up costs for brick-and-mortar storefronts. Let the countdown continue....