Website Basics: How to Get Your Business Online and Promote It (LMT Presentation 7-2010)

Website Basics: How to get your business online and promote it.
Welcome

Get your business online
Choose a domain name and purchase it:
Choosing a good domain name: memorable, relevant, easy to spell
www.yourbusiness.com
Cost: $10-20/year
Use Go Daddy to search available domain names
Web Hosting:
Cost: $7-10/month (paid annually)
Check out: Host Gator, InMotion Hosting, Fat Cow Hosting
Create your website
Choose your content management system: Dreamweaver, Wordpress, Template Builders, etc.
Add content and publish
Promote your website
Search engine optimization
Social networking
Blogging
Marketing & Advertising

Choosing a Content Management System
Content Management Systems: Dreamweaver, Web Host Sitebuilders, Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress, etc.
Wordpress is ideal for small business owners: free to use, easy to customize, variety of templates, greater control over SEO.

Themes control the appearance of your website and how information is organized.
Choose the theme that fits your content, instead of the other way around.
The three slides that follow are examples of websites built on Wordpress.
Each site uses a different theme, so the appearance and organization of each is drastically different.
Wordpress Themes & Examples

Screenshot of the Wordpress admin panel.

Install new Themes with the click of a button in Wordpress 3.0.

The Wordpress page editor is similar to Word.
It’s also easy to insert images and video on your pages.

Questions?

Demystifying SEO
WHAT: SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization
WHY: Optimizing your website for search engines makes it more likely your website will be seen by people searching for keywords relevant to your business. In other words, it helps potential clients find you online.
HOW: There are a few simple things you can do to start optimizing your website yourself.

Top 3 DIY SEO Strategies
Content
Page urls
Title Tags

SEO Strategies: Content
Web Copywriting:
Copywriting for the web is not the same as for print.
Internet users scan rather than read closely.
Present information in short, concise chunks.
Write in the inverted pyramid style: most important info first, then flesh it out with description.
Use headings to help visitors scan your pages easily.
For SEO:
Include most important information first, search engines only scan the first 1/3 of your pages.
Use descriptive keywords throughout your site.
Repeat those same keywords in your title tags and page urls.

SEO Strategies: Page Urls
Use descriptive, keyword-rich page urls:
Example:
Instead of:
http://massagebybree.vpweb.com/About-Me.html
Try:
http://massagebybree.vpweb.com/about-bree-brouhard.html
Or:
http://massagebybree.vpweb.com/about-massage-by-bree.html

SEO Strategies: Title Tags
Title tags are one of the most important elements on your site for SEO purposes.
Make your title tags descriptive and keyword-rich:
Instead of “Contact us”, try:
“Contact Alderwood Massage Therapy”
Or even better: “Contact Alderwood Massage Therapy | Swedish & Deep Tissue Massage | Salem, Oregon”
Title tags should include keywords used in your website’s content.

Questions?

Go to ProfileAdd Profile Badge to get the code to insert on your website.
Go to GoodiesWidgets to get the code to insert on your website.

Recommended Wordpress Plugins
All in One SEO Pack
Google XML Sitemaps
Wordpress Backup
WP-DB-Backup
PCRobots.txt
Contact Form 7

Recommended Links
GoDaddy Domain Name Search
Free Wordpress themes
Download Wordpress
Search Wordpress Plugins
Google Analytics
Google Keyword Tool
Google Webmaster Tools
Intro to Web Copywriting

Rebekah L. HickeyRLH CreativeWeb development and designweb: www.rlhcreative.comphone: (503) 877-5814email: rebekah@rlhcreative.comJoin me online: Facebook: facebook.com/pages/RLH-Creative Twitter: @rebekahickeyLinkedin: linkedin.com/in/rebekahickey
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Website Basics: How to Get Your Business Online and Promote It (LMT Presentation 7-2010)

by rebekahickey on Jul 28, 2010

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Website Basics: How to Get Your Business Online and Promote It (LMT Presentation 7-2010) — Presentation Transcript