Small Business Tips

Google recently asked on their Small Business Blog, “if you had one wish for your small business in 2011, what would it be?” and then posted We asked You Told Us summary of the results.  The number one overwhelming theme for small business owners was to move it online.  From moving their business online with a website to finding more online resources to help a business grow.

Business owners are looking for more resources to connect with customers and understand how to use social media.  The survey respondents acknowledged they are receiving more referrals online and want to understand how to maximize that.

Ten percent of the respondents said they want to “Get Found Online” by users searching for their product or service.

I am glad to see small business owners asking for more resources and looking for ways to use their website to connect with customers.  We begin 2011 with a wealth of resources available for free to make these things happen, but sometimes free is not easy.  Here at 44ideas, I will continue to blog about WordPress and search engine optimization techniques to help simplify the basic need to “move it online”.

WordPress has so many uses from your blog to your business website, but look at this … how about a private, password protected project or collaboration site.  Find out how to build a project collaboration site for free using WordPress.

If you are working with a team of folks via the internet this gives you a great place to store and share your work.  You can easily post updates, attach files, images, links etc.  Each user has their own user name and password so if someone leaves the group or gets on your nerves you can remove them as a user.

The P2 Theme recommended in the link above is a real time communication tool.  This is what P2 says about their theme:

A group blog theme for short update messages, inspired by Twitter. Featuring: Hassle-free posting from the front page. Perfect for group blogging, or as a liveblog theme. Dynamic page updates. Threaded comment display on the front page. In-line editing for posts and comments. Live tag suggestion based on previously used tags. A show/hide feature for comments, to keep things tidy. Real-time notifications when a new comment or update is posted.

If you are working with others and tired of endless emails, attachments and file revisions then using WordPress for your project might speed it along with less headaches.

The Google Map that dominates local search results should have the full attention of every business owner in a local market.  If you search for “plumber wilmington nc” you see something like this:

The map takes up most of the search results and sometimes only one or two organic search results will show without the searcher having to scroll down the screen.  Every business owner first of all needs to claim their Google Place business listing.  If you don’t claim it then Google will determine what category your business should be listed in.  Even if you don’t have a website, your business may appear in the Google Map since the listings are derived from other business databases including the Yellow Pages.

Once you claim your listing and completely update your information, you need to decide what categories to list for your business.  This is an extremely important step that can dramatically increase the views of your business in the Google Map results.

Use this tool at Blumentals to look up Google Categories. There is a good short video at the bottom of the page that explains the importance of categories.  Just type in one word about your business and you will see the categories that might apply to your business.  Try every word that you think is associated with your business and pick the categories that apply.  Then go back to your Google Place page and log in to edit your business page and add the categories that apply.

After you have added the categories that were suggested by the Blumenthals tool then add some other specialty categories that are the additional areas you would like to be found for.  For example, this plumber added Kitchen Remodeling as a category and gets this search result in the Wilmington NC area:

Now Google gives a Map result if you search for “kitchen plumbing wilmington NC” and now he is the only business returned on the map for that search.  In a market that is not very competitive this will work most of the time.  You only want to do this for keywords that really make sense for your business and don’t overload this with categories.  However, this is a great way to expand the views of your Google Place page and the Map with your specialties.

Filling out your Google Place profile completely and uploading pictures, videos and coupons will help the ranking of your Google Place page on the map against your competitors who have not even claimed their listing.

If you do nothing else online for your business, claim your Google Place page and update your categories, you will be glad you did.

Creating your own website is easy!  WordPress, Content Management System, is free and easy to use. With a huge community of developers, tons of online resources from videos to tutorials to guide you through any rough spots – WordPress is a great choice for creating and managing your business or personal website.  Lets start with the basics of getting a site set up.

I recommend Hostgator for your hosting. I have found their customer service via live support and their extensive video tutorials to be first rate.  If you want to create just one website then sign up for their Hatchling Hosting for $7-9 per month.   When you sign up for hosting you will be asked if you want a new domain name or if you are transferring a domain you already own.  If you have any questions while signing up then just click on their Live Support Chat button and ask, but it is a pretty straight forward process.  Enter “44ideascoupon” upon checkout at Hostgator and get $9.94 off.   (Coupon codes will not apply to domain names or any service which is not a hosting account.)

After you complete your registration, Hostgator will send you an email with information about how to log into your cPanel.  Click on the link and use the name and password they sent to you to enter your cPanel which will give you access to the settings on your hosting account.  Scroll down and look for the “Software / Services” area:

Click on the smiley face marked “Fantastico DeLuxe” to install WordPress.  Once Fantastico DeLuxe opens you will be need to select “WordPress” from the left side menu and answer the questions.

As I mentioned Hostgator has terrific Video Tutorials which explain setting up your WordPress site:

Video Tutorial Logging into your cPanel

Video Tutorial Using Fantastico to Install WordPress

I did a survey of six web design firms in Wilmington, NC, to find out what they would charge for a simple website for a small business.  The average quote to build a small business website was $2,340.   The quotes came from six web design firms and ranged from $1,000 – $5,000.

My request was for a small business site with only a few pages about my business and contact information, but that I wanted a website that I could update myself and easily add information to.  The quotes did not include hosting, but just to build the website.

Most firms quoted both a custom site and a site built from a template.  The range of prices quoted for a custom site was $1,200 – 5,000 with the average being $3,040.  The range of quotes for a site built from a template was $1,000 – $3,500 with the average being $1,640.

There are businesses that have special needs and must have custom website development.  But there are an overwhelming number of small business that need a basic website with a place for them to contribute their own content about their services.  Should this cost $2,340?

For many small businesses, NO.  A WordPress site with a free template can be set up for just the cost of hosting which is $7-9 per month.  Or if you don’t feel comfortable setting it up yourself, you can find someone to install WordPress and your template for about $100.

In my next few posts I will outline the steps to set up your website and give you the resources to get it done without spending $2,340.