Articles

Improving Your Website’s ROI – Part 1

You need to routinely evaluate how your website is performing. Don’t just throw money or hours of labor at the Internet and hope for the best.

How do people find you and how can you grow efficiently without wasting time or money?

To get your best return on investment (ROI) of time and/or money, just being found isn’t enough. You’ve got to be useful to your target audience.

If your target audience finds you useful they will happily promote you to other similar people. Just like a snowball rolling down hill. This is the most effective way to grow your business or organization today. Read More …

Global Social Media Trends

Captain Obvious will happily declare that Facebook is still the reigning champion of social media worldwide with a commanding lead of 2167 million users.

Yet, what I find very interesting is that YouTube, with 1500 million users, is almost twice as popular as Instagram with 800 million users. Yet, YouTube is often misunderstood and ignored by many marketers and organizations who could otherwise leverage YouTube to improve their reach and engagement. Read More …

Tech Tuesday: Online Security

picture of a computer cursor hovering over a button entitled "Security"

Given the number of high profile data hacks that we hear about almost every day, using two factor authentication (2FA) is no longer just an “option”.  Its a requirement if you are serious about your security online.

2FA is a way of adding additional security on your online account. The first “factor” is your usual “password”.  The second factor in this scenario is an ever-changing random code that is retrieved from an external device.  The most common devices today for generating these codes are smartphones… Read More …

Focus on Your Audience

Website Wednesday

Short & Simple Ideas to Improve Your Website’s ROI

A good website will connect with its audience. To do this you need to do your homework, know what your audience wants, and organize your content in ways that make it easy to navigate.

But wait, there’s more! With millions of websites fighting for the same viewers I think you have to do more…

(click the link or the picture to learn more) Read More …

Adapt or Perish – Facebook Marketing Reality

a picture of a smartphone with a Facebook login and lying on the table nearby are some word tiles spelling out "Social Media"

When planning Facebook marketing it’s crucial to have realistic expectations given the current state of the “pay to play” environment.

There have been a lot of changes since 2007 when “Fan Pages” were first rolled. At the time it was amazing to think that any organization could reach out and directly engage with their audiences simply by posting on Facebook.

Currently there is chatter in the online marketing world saying that organic reach is now less than 4% of your audience.

At Market Street we don’t believe you have to hand over your checkbook to Facebook just to get the word out.

Read More …

Is Your Website Getting Found

picture of online search engine webpages

A Good Website Gets Found Easily

Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo love websites that we design because smart SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is built into everything we do.  We keep up with the latest rules and recommendations from Google to make sure that your website will not be at risk of losing traction in search results.

We Are Here to Help

We go a step further than most and actually show you simple ways you can tune your online marketing materials for better search results.  At Market Street we give you as much education as possible to help you do what you want without having to come back to us for help. Read More …

WordPress 4.7 Just Released! Don’t Click The Update Button Just Yet…

WordPress 4.7 just released! But, wait, don’t go pressing that “Update” button just yet.

First – Make sure you’ve got access to a full backup of your entire system. Database, plugins, uploads, core software, themes, child themes, CSS customizations, etc…

Second – Make sure you know how to actually restore from your backup. Otherwise, its like you have a backup generator in the garage, with no idea of how to use it when the power goes out.

Third – Wait a few days. Seriously. As always, this update has been tested extensively with hundreds of volunteers running it on their sites and reporting back with any errors. Read More …

Digital Analytics Intro

Let this really sink in for a moment: Mobile devices have given people instant access to information that includes who and where your competition is, real-time pricing comparisons for products and services, and even feedback on customer satisfaction.

All of this allows potential customers to develop a perception of what your organization is like without them leaving their home, stepping foot inside your building, or even calling you on the phone.

With the proper data you can learn how to best apply your limited resources of time, money, and talent to make strategic improvements that will stimulate growth and improve their perception of you online. Read More …

Free Photo Resources

There are numerous ways to get photos and use them on your website.

Unfortunately some of them are illegal.

Copyright law and intellectual property licensing and use is one of the most difficult things I have to explain to most website owners.

This is a semi-frequently curated list of online resources that I recommend you consider using. Read More …