Business

The Four Essential Linchpins Of SEO

The Four Essential Linchpins Of SEO

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When those new to SEO hear an SEO agency explain that there are hundreds of ranking factors that Google takes into account within its algorithm, it is understandable that they may think SEO is too complicated for them to have anything to do with it. While there is no denying that those who provide SEO services, such as an SEO agency, utilize the vast skills and experience of those who work within them, SEO may not be as complicated to understand as you might think.

Peter Brittain from SEO agency www.seoperthexperts.com.au emphasizes that to get SEO right and to take the actions needed to improve the rankings of a website, they do recommend that you approach a professional SEO agency with “great reviews and a strong track record of client case studies showing sustained success”. They should have all the knowledge and, more importantly, the tools, resources, and software needed to make your SEO campaign successful.

Nevertheless, the more you know about SEO, the more effective those conversations will be with your SEO agency. Being able to articulate what you would like your SEO campaign to achieve and to understand any feedback from the SEO experts you employ, will always be preferable to engaging with them, having no knowledge of SEO yourself.

For example, did you know that there are four basic pillars of SEO that almost all SEO campaigns focus upon? These four linchpins of SEO invariably have to be present; if any one of them is disregarded, the entire SEO campaign is compromised. Here are those four SEO linchpins:

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10 Steps In Preparing For A New Business Website

10 Steps In Preparing For A New Business Website

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Whilst it is the web designers that you choose who will do the bulk of the work to design and build your new business website, that does not mean that you have no part to play in its creation. There are several decisions and tasks you must undertake for web designers to be able to complete their work.

Before you panic, thinking that you are going to have to learn website programming or code, rest easy. Whilst having some knowledge of how websites are designed is useful, those are not the tasks we are referring to. Instead, these are tasks related to some of the services required, some decisions about the appearance of your website, and how you can maximise your website’s effectiveness. Here are all ten of them.

Choose A Domain Name: This should match your name or the name of your business. As for the suffix,  dot com should be your first choice, although many of these are already taken. Otherwise opt for dot net,  dot org, or your country’s domain suffix.

Decide Which Hosting Service You Are Using: Many of the performance measures of your website, such as reliability and load speeds, will be influenced by your hosting company and the quality of its servers, so opt for one with a proven track record.

Decide Upon An Email Autoresponder Service: Assuming you want your business to benefit from the many advantages that email marketing can provide, then you need an email autoresponder service. This is where your subscriber list data is stored, and where you create and schedule your emails.

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Workflow How-To

Workflow How-To

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By Amanda Engler

“Workflow” is a buzzword worth repeating, so I will. WORKFLOW.

Finding ways to increase your workflow without also upping your time is essential in growing, scaling and automating your business. As a mom and solopreneur, I needed to protect my time so I could serve my family and grow my business.

Quickly, I became obsessed with time and figured out a few tricks to protect it along the way. Let’s review some practical tips to help you find your own flow.

Choose your platform

Choosing a workflow or project management platform that aligns with your current needs is the first step in maximizing your time and getting work done. Although applications like Toggl, Trello and Google Sheets are useful (and I do use all of them!), they have a time and place. You will save time designating one application as your workflow go-to.

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The Power of a (written, color, playful, unconventional) Journal

The Power of a (written, color, playful, unconventional) Journal

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By Leslie Hamp

Journaling is my mindful, sacred practice.

I dove in deep after 911 and have been learning, practicing and teaching journal techniques since then.

Whether you’re a busy mom, overwhelmed entrepreneur or creative spirit searching for a way to gain clarity, release stress or get in touch with your inner wisdom, journaling is a valuable tool to help you solve problems, explore creativity and track cycles, patterns and trends in your life.

You may have grown up writing in a diary, which chronicles your day’s events. Journaling goes much deeper, helping you set intentions, get in touch with your inner thoughts, and release whatever is in your heart.

Often I hear hesitancy, fear or anxiety from students who are worried about sharing their innermost thoughts on the page. The fear of someone reading their words prevents many from picking up pen and paper. To overcome that worry, I started showing others how to add visual elements to their journal pages.

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A Safe Place for Survivors and Their Families

The Women’s Resource Center: A Safe Place for Survivors and Their Families

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By Juliette Schultz

Just last year, the Women’s Resource Center in Traverse City cared for over 800 survivors. Some of these individuals sought our shelter, while others leaned on us for emotional support or criminal justice system assistance. Some of these survivors we have never met. They called our 24-hour helpline answered seven days a week by trained client advocates who provide resources, encouragement and support.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, on a typical day Michigan domestic violence hotlines receive approximately 21,000 calls. Annually, the WRC receives over 4,400 calls, over 400 of which are from survivors in crisis.

What are calls like for a Women’s Resource Center (WRC) client advocate?

Crisis calls

“The first thing I try to do is figure out if the person is safe,” said one client advocate. “I ask, ‘Are you safe? Is this a safe number for me to call you back on if we get disconnected?’”

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Determining the asking price of your business for sale

Determining the asking price of your business for sale?

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When you are selling your business, you need to determine the asking price. But putting a price on a business is not like putting a value on your house for sale. If you are looking for a house, typically all the houses in the subdivision are roughly the same size and have the same features so you base your house price on a similar sale. What happens if you have a house for sale and it is a custom built home, the house is larger than others in the area, the land is larger than other lots, how do you determine the value for sale when this is a unique property? The same problems exist in a business.

No two businesses are identical. You have have the same name, the same franchise, the same size of the building, the same price of goods for sale but one location has more sales and profit than the other. Needless to say, the one with more profit will have a higher selling price.

In summary, there are no two businesses that are identical therefore you cannot use the analogy of the houses for sale and see what other businesses have sold in your area. There is no central listing agency for businesses for sale. MLS is used for houses for sale but businesses for sale are sold by business brokers, real estate agents, lawyers, accountant and consultants. Each one works independent of the other and they do not post their business listings on a central processing. Some business brokers will post on The Business Place therefore you can see what others are asking for a similar business. However, location is very important for a business value.

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Why should you sell your business

Why should you sell your business?

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You started a business for scratch 40 years ago, now you are debating what to do. Do you sell the business, do you retire, do you do something else? These are all thoughts which you have been contemplating for many years but now you want to make a decision,
what should you do?

Here is a list of reasons why you should sell your business soon:

no heirs to take over the business
senior staff have been very good to you and you want to give them an opportunity to buy the business
your business is stagnating and needs new ideas
your business has matured and there is no or little upward growth available to the firm
the business outlook is grim and you see that sales and profits will drop in the future
technology or technology is currently being developed which could have a major impact on your business
you are bored and not longer enjoy working in the business

health issues of the or someone in the immediate family which needs a lot of attention
competition is increasing
business needs a large capital injection to grow to the next level
business i.e. a retail store needs to be refreshed with a large large capital improvement commitment
if you need to spend the money on the store today but are going to retire next year, why incur the additional costs when you will not
receive the benefit
you are getting older and you find the the physical requirements of the job too gruelling
the business requires a lot of additional hours to be worked to built it back up because you lost a major client and you are not willing
to make the commitment
you know that you are about to lose your largest client and that will have a significant impact on revenue and profits
the market is changing and you are not able to keep up with the innovations in the market
technology is replacing equipment which you have purchased for a fraction of the cost, now you need new equipment to keep up with the
competitors but still have loans on the old equipment which is not obsolete and worth only a fraction of the original cost.
This happened in the printing industry and entertainment industry when digital equipment replaced older technologies.