Online PR Tools to Boost Your Business
The growth of small and online businesses is expected to continue for the next few years. As such, new and potential players in the market can take advantage of this upsurge and grab as many loyal customers as they can. The best way to do this is to maximize their market presence, to establish a good reputation, and to build a positive image for the business. This can all be done with the right online PR tools in one’s arsenal. Websites, online newsletter, blogs, web articles and social media are some of the popular tools for online public relations. They can all be used together in creating one solid and high-impact campaign for one’s business.
Establishing a good website should be the first step in one’s PR campaign. Good websites generally offer well-written and informative content, easy navigation, steady posts of new materials, and search engine friendly key words. Websites that sell retail products should have good quality images and accurate product descriptions on their sites for their buyers to appreciate. From there, business owners can design their marketing and press release plans to strengthen their presence in the market. Just make sure that the newsletters have updated and informative content. Posting web articles or getting bloggers to review your products can also help widen your reach and spread positive news about your business. Setting-up a separate blog site for the business is also a good option. They are relatively easy to maintain and their popularity makes them a very powerful tool. After getting the attention of the market, businesses should look into their client retention strategies which can help grow the business. Offering subscriptions to online newsletters is one way to keep in touch with customers on a regular basis and ensure that your products will always be at the top of their mind.
A continuous online PR program is something that all business should consider if they want to sustain the consumer’s interest in their products. Gearing-up with the latest PR tools and strategies is one way to keep up with the competition.
Image credit: Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Small Business Big Marketing: Marketing Ideas For Small Businesses
Just because your business is small doesn’t mean you can’t compete with your larger counterparts. In fact, marketing on the Internet has made it more possible than ever for small businesses to build brand equity and get solid sales figures. Let’s now discuss some marketing ideas that have worked for numerous small businesses and that can work for you.
Start a Blog
While blogging was primarily a way for people to share personal information with others a few years ago, it’s now big business that many companies use to connect with their target audience. When done correctly, blogging can help you reach your customer base and keep them updated on promotions. Typically, it’s best to incorporate a blog into a page on your website where it can easily be found. Although you will want to include promotional content, it’s wise to also add general industry information that your audience will find interesting and useful. Doing so can help you build authority and hopefully get consumers over the buying hump.
Social Media
Another marketing technique that many small businesses thrive on is using sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. By creating a page for your business on one or more social media sites, you can conveniently spread the word about your business and establish a following. Much like blogging, you will want to add quality content that your audience will find interesting. For example, you might re-post content from your main website or re-post other relevant content from other profiles. To be successful, you will also need to network by following relevant people or businesses, responding to comments and interacting in general. In time, you can expect to drive a significant amount of traffic to your website through social media. The best part is that it’s completely free to use.
Email Marketing
Allowing customers or leads to sign up to your email list is also an effective way to market your business. By creating an account with a company like Aweber, you can get an opt-in box where anyone who is interested in your business can sign up to receive updates. From there, you simply send out periodic emails that contain promotional material as well as general content. This technique tends to work well because many customers like the somewhat personal nature of email. It also ensures highly targeted traffic because each person on your list has to sign up. Consequently, many businesses that use email marketing have a high conversion rate.
Guest Posting
In addition, guest posting on other blogs in your niche can be incredibly helpful for driving direct traffic and expanding your customer base. It works by searching for relevant websites or blogs in your industry that already have serious followings. You then contact the owner and ask if you can submit a guest post. Once you get the green light, you simply write a quality article and post it. All of a sudden, you can be viewed by numerous people who may be interested in your business.
About the author:Kerstin Kruse
Kerstin has a strong passion in graphic design and marketing. She designs business cards in her Sydney studio for her clients, as well as producing large format print and digital print.
How Google’s Penguin Update Changed Online PR
Google have the monopoly over online search. It’s apparent to anyone who uses the internet. Did you know:
- There are 7.2 billion daily page views through Google.
- An estimated 88 billion worldwide monthly searches.
- Google currently has a global market share of 86%.
Pretty astounding statistics when you think about it. So when Google released the Penguin algorithm, affecting how we search and what results will arise from those searches, the internet sat up and took interest.
Knights of the Round (Pivot) Table
April 24th 2012 saw the release of Google’s Penguin update. On a basic level, it sought to remove any unsavoury or ‘black hat’ methods of building links. For example, this might include spam marketing and keyword stuffing. Google search was going to be a shining example of chivalry and righteous goodness.
Imagine a digital Camelot and you’re halfway there.
So it looks like it’s a case of quality over quantity and even though PR might not have been affected in the past, it looks like they might have to also consider what Penguin is doing to them now.
Online PR, or rather good online PR shouldn’t be affected too much. Sending out the brand message effectively and professionally means that you are not doing anything wrong, according to Google.
However, if your PR strategy has been a little less than clear, then now is a good time to really evaluate what your intentions are and work out how to proceed more effectively in the world of online PR.
Laying down the law
As Penguin is taking a hard stance against irrelevant and poor content, the PR releases you create must be well written, informative and useful. Basically, you (and Google) are putting the reader’s needs first. Relevant content is given a higher ranking over the most optimised. Trust, it seems, is becoming the new currency of the internet.
Online PR should be part of a long term strategy that encompasses the ideals of what good PR should be, whilst also placing it in a location on the internet where it will be of most value.
Combined with other forms such as adverting, guest posting and the application of social media, online PR can still communicate with its target audience. If that audience engages with the content, then the job is done. Building communities is exactly what the Penguin update wants you to do.
The bottom line
Google’s Penguin update doesn’t provide an exact formula for ensuring your PR is still going to rank. But it does steer you towards the essentials of what is important – unique content.
Of course, the important point is that you should already be doing this. Maintaining good relations online through effective use of PR means that your content will be shared. People will do your job for you.
Bio: PR Fire is a leading news distribution and online PR agency that will introduce your services and products to consumers, media and bloggers.
