Your Business is on Facebook… But are you doing it right?

Today we’re doing a quick run-down of the top.. Facebook crimes!

Really, it’s more like bad Facebook etiquette, but ‘crime’ is more dramatic, am I right?

The following 6 crimes seem to pop up time and again on Facebook pages, and it’s killing your business. If I had to narrow it down to just one, I’d say inactivity is the biggest nono. Businesses today need websites and some sort of social media presence; if your social media page is neglected, it suggests you just aren’t on top of things, or you can’t see the value in Facebook for your business! 

You don’t want to be that guy…

So take a quick jaunt through our horrific crime list, and make sure you’re not a repeat offender, ok?

Video on the Merging of Social Media and Mobile Use

Following on from our blog article on Mobile Websites and why your business needs one, this video presents the latest statistics on social media and mobile use. A lot of our clients ask for advice on social media promotion for their business, but not all of them are convinced of it's value!

Are you a non-believer?

When you look at the sheer number of people on Facebook, and how digitised our world really is, you might be shocked...

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The 4 Latest Tips for Small Business Websites

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Your business is on Facebook... But are you doing it right?

The 4 Latest Tips for Small Business Websites

We’ve talked about writing content, mobile websites, customer-friendlywebsites, and we’ve even dipped a toe into Google Analytics. Today, we’re drawing it all together for small business websites.

1. Writing web content

We’ve spoken in detail about writing content for your website. Some key points from that blog were;

• Try to sound like an expert in your subject.
• Give the visitors what they want, e.g. your prices, your services, etc. 
• Add something to the online conversation, don’t just copy other people’s content. It’ll make your website, and you, stand out from the crowd.
• Write for your customers, not for Google. So don’t just use keywords over and over, make it readable.

This applies to the even the smallest business. Even a business as small as a one-man local dog walking service needs a website. It’s the best way of telling people who you are, and what you do, 24/7; so the content really is essential.

The main difference between a large organisation and a small business, is that your website can be a lot simpler. Your customers might be primarily local, meaning they will use your website for contact details, opening hours, and prices. Get started with the basics and you can build your content up over time.

Top tip for knowing what to write: speak to your customers!

What We Learned From... Tourism Websites

Here at Vital Hike, we have quite a few clients working in the tourism industry, including rental cottages, tour operators, campervan hires, hotels & more. So today, we thought we’d give you a little taster on what we’ve learned from working on Tourism websites!

We’ve tried to keep it tourism specific, but a lot of the tips are adaptable for different industries…

Why do tourism businesses need a website?

Whether you’re a family-run bed & breakfast, a luxury Scottish tour operator, or an independent hotel, trust us, you need a website. Websites used to be nothing more than an online poster for your business, but they’re much more powerful now. Websites are the first port of call for potential customers. If someone in America is looking for accommodation in rural Scotland, their main source of information will be the internet. The drawback for them is a lot of small businesses still aren’t online, so they’re limited to the businesses that ARE online.

"I think I'll browse for top Scottish Cottages!"

We mentioned in an earlier blog that more than half of mobile users now exclusively use their mobiles to browse online. If you’re in the tourism industry and AREN’T online, that’s a huge customer base you’re cutting off.

Mobile Websites - 7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs One

Most of us started out in the world of mobile phones playing Snake on the Nokia 3210. T’was a simpler time... So it really should come as no surprise that mobile usage is primarily games and social media today.

But amidst the Candy Crush marathons and Facebook Newsfeed checking, it seems mobile internet browsing is overtaking desktop internet browsing…

Source: Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley, "Internet Trends," April 12, 2010

Is Your Website Too Bouncy?

Businesses see more growth once they go online. It's becoming a fact. A BCG report found that small/medium businesses with a high internet involvement saw 22% more revenue growth than offline businesses. Can you afford to ignore something that could increase your revenue by more than a fifth?

For business owners who are not already online, the whole process can seem a little opaque; what exactly goes on behind the scenes? What exactly is involved in maintaining and analysing a website?

In the last few blog articles, we have mentioned Google Analytics. This is a program we use to analyse a website’s success/impact; to see if the website is helping to further the goals of the business owner. Now, there are a lot of statistics involved in this process, and it can seem quite overwhelming all at once, so we’re going to dip a toe into web analytics today and talk a bit about Bounce Rate.