How Blogging Increases Your Traffic
In theory, blogging will help you get more traffic to your website. So they say. . .
But in practicality – how does blogging help you and why is it important?
HOW BLOGGING HELPS
Blogging on subjects related to your website, related to your primary products and services create branches that stretch out from your website thru and to all the various search engines and content curating system on the web.
Your “virtual real estate” increases with every new page you create.
And with this increase of territory, you are more likely to have new visitors stumble upon your website.
Even though there are keyword and search engine tools out there which help you find what people are searching for. There is no way to know everything. So when you write informative articles on your own blog, you tap into a variety of topics that search engines piece together from your post relative to what people are looking for.
Does this make sense? If not, stop reading!
Watch this 3 minute video 
For the past few years, I’ve dedicated my time to learning how to optimize website properly and link build with the most authoritative sites to help my clients get the traffic we’ve predetermined would be best for them.
However, in recent months as we’ve added blogging services for our clients and as I’ve begun blogging here, I’ve seen tremendous increases in traffic which enter into our sites – not thru the optimized pages, but thru the various blog articles.
TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD START BLOGGING
If the above information hasn’t yet convinced you, to start blogging, here are 10 black and white benefits to adding a blog to your website.
1. Blogging is a quick and easy way to update people on company news, specials and sales.
2. Blogging increases the marketing reach of your website.
3. Blogging establishes your self/company as a thought leader in your industry.
4. Blogging helps your website traffic increase.
5. Blogging makes your website content fresh and gives people a reason to come back.
6. Blogging with comments turned “on” allows your website to be interactive; creates community.
7. Blogging with comments turned “on” gives your visitors a voice.
8. Blogging makes your company more personal and approachable.
9. Blogging with links to your home and other pages increase the overall SEO of your site.
10. Blogs easily integrate with social media sites like Twitter and Facebook – helping your website spread.
THE ONE REASON WHY PEOPLE DON’T BLOG
You don’t have time.
Luckily, I have an answer for that as well.
We currently blog for seven different client websites across four different BEAUTY / HEALTH RELATED industries. These blogs are either apart of the client’s website, or are on a separate domain. But either way, they still help the client’s brand to reach more people and increase their website traffic.
Would you like to see the blogs we write for our client? Learn their schedule and our pricing? Or would you like to discuss how to get a blog setup on your website?
Send me an email at: arvell@dtspeaks.com or just call: 918-200-9572.
Cheers,
Arvell Craig
Watering Your Professional Relationships
Communications is to relationships as water is to plants.
Professional relationships as with personal ones need continuous communication.
In years past, I’d keep in touch by either sending out an email, or I’d try to connect in person over a scone and short americano.
Lately, I’ve been writing blog articles – then tweeting and posting them on Facebook.
When it comes to finding your style or method of communication, how do you decide what to do or what to use?
There is a simple and profound saying I keep hearing that goes:”
Meet people where they are.
If they are on Facebook all day everyday, then why not use Facebook? If they are visual and have a habit of subscribing to video channels; you probably should start a Youtube channel.
But then again, if they are NOT on Twitter, post-pone the tweets. If they aren’t responding to your direct mail, or Yellow Page ads, you need to find a new method of communicating.
And so the moral is – don’t be afraid of technology – especially if your customers or prospects are using it. If needed – give us a shout for consulting or training on the best uses of social media or anything else internet related.
Speak soon,
Arvell
How To Research Your Market and Competition
This post is the fourth of a series of blog posts on things you need to do before you build your website. Please share your thoughts and feedback. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Below is a 6 minute video of how I do market research online. I like to know who my or my client’s competitors are in Google in 4 different areas. In addition, I like to know what my customers are typing into the search engines when they are looking for a product or service related to my offering.
I’m sure you will be able to gain a few keys to help you as you are planning out your website project.
Please feel free to give us a call in your need more thorough analysis especially if you are marketing on a national level as supposed to a local one.
Theories on Successful Website Design
I want to run down a few thoughts and theories – some proven some not- about what makes a website design successful. Comments are welcome and encouraged. 
1. You have a phone number near the top of the page.
Not hidden where no one can find it. Not just on a contact us page. Most people are 3x more likely to call you when interested in your company as supposed to filling out a contact form.
(image is from BerkshireDentalGroup.com)
2. You have an interestingly written about us page.
Other than the home page, your company page / about us page is the most popular page on your site. It normally gives basic background information on your company and lets people know a general overview of why your company exists and who is in charge.
In times past, small businesses would write as little as they could in order to make themselves look big. Nowadays, companies should be a bit more person and share the story of how the company came together even if it’s still only run part-time by two people with other jobs.
(image is from Wufoo.com)
3. You have a clear call to action on every page.
You should know in advance what you want people to do on your website. And that thing you want them to do should be stated very clear. Within the text you should say what you want them to do. At the top and bottom you should have a larger text link or button declaring that same desired action. “CALL US”, “SIGN UP FOR MONTHLY NEWS”, “BUY THE PRODUCT AND GET 15% OFF UNTIL THE 15th OF THIS MONTH.” Stuff like that.
(image from WorldRelief.org)
4. Your creativity doesn’t compromise communication.
You’ve designed a website that stands out from your competitors and yet you also do not confuse people. Your website visitors should not have to think. They don’t have wonder what it is that you do. You communicate very clearly what you’re all about from the moment they arrive.
(image from Influencers.org)
NOTE: I know there are many other things that make a good website design and I welcome you to share some below. Thanks!
Website Budgeting: Development vs. Marketing
This post is the third of a series of blog posts on things you need to do before you build your website. Please share your thoughts and feedback. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
When you are planning to build an online business or website, I recommend you budget more money on marketing than on development.
Now to be clear, I’m referring to website’s from which you expect to make money. Either directly with online sales, or indirectly from sending your leads and phone calls to your business. The fact of the matter is, many people have this crazy “if we build it, they will come” idea. But in fact this a FAR from reality. The truth is, most websites are utterly lost at the bottom of the search listings. If you do not have a serious game plan, the only people who will know about your website is your Facebook friends and your mother.
In a recent video on how much websites cost, I mentioned that – given a twelve month period, I would plan to budget 75% of the total costs towards marketing and the remaining design and development. Now to me the point is pretty clear, but if it doesn’t yet make sense you – please read on.
The fact is, it takes time for people to find you and trust you. And these two steps are mandatory before they will pay you. So why would you invest tons of money building or designing a site but don’t have any traffic or know if your product will sell?
When you reduce the development costs and focus on marketing, you have the chance to test the market and see whether or not they are interested. . . once you have had a little success, you can invest more into the website knowing you will likely be compensated for the work. Likewise you can also invest more info marketing to get more sales quicker.
Got questions? Comments? Please share below or email me at: info at dtspseaks.com.
How Much Does A Website Cost?
Website design prices can vary tremendously. Yet most business owners doing research have NO IDEA what to expect… I created this video to help potential clients research, budget and set expectations.
P.S. See for listing of the most popular companies in Tulsa and their claimed price ranges for website design and development.
http://sortfolio.com/tulsa-ok
Top 5 Indicators You Need To Upgrade Your Website
Having an outdated website is like sporting a pager and while everyone else uses a cell phone. Even if your business is primarily offline or in a traditional industry, your website appearance speaks volumes about you to others. You don’t need to have all the widgets and fancy stuff as everyone else. But you do need to be current and effective.
Below is short checklist of things for you to look at to make sure you’re not presenting an outdated brand.
Number 5
Your website was built without a content management system. – Thus you need to call your inaccessible over priced website designer to change your phone number or service prices.
Nowadays, it’s pretty much standard that business owners can make basic changes on their website without knowing html or using a FTP program. The most popular content management systems are WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. These tools can be primarily backend systems while the look and design can be just as customized and search engine friendly as static html pages.
At Design That Speaks, we normally build custom websites using WordPress – simply because it is the easiest for client to use. We can however build websites on top of any back-end system.
Number 4
Your website was built completely in Flash. – Flash was so cool… in 2004. Only new movie productions and rap artists build 100% flash websites. And some other people use it for minor aspects of their website, but rarely for the entire site. iPhones BANNED flash usage. Search engines cannot pull out from flash the text of your website. Thus your site is invisible for iPhone users and anyone using a search engine to find your product or service.
Nowadays, people people use jQuery and or HTML5 to create similar effects as flash. And with these newer technologies, the website is readable on mobile phones and search engines.
Number 3
Your website is powered by: YellowPages, YellowBook, Yodle, Homestead, GoDaddy, Yahoo, FortuneCity or some other generic site builder. There are other modern tools which allow your to build a website quickly and often inexpensively. The key is that you need to be able to have control of your website. You need to have the ability to make sure your website is not a cookie cutter copy – both in design and content..
Nowadays, as mentioned in number 5, you can get a website built using WordPress or Joomla for a pretty inexpensive costs. Or you can use a system like SquareSpace and have something that looks alot better.
At Design That Speaks, we can help you write your content so you don’t have to sacrifice your quality by using the same copy that appears on every other site the company built like yours.
Number 2
Your website is width is 760px – built for 13 inch monitors. Again, that was standard in 2005. But now, you’re wasting valuable real estate -hoping people will click thru or scroll down.
Your most important content and call to action needs to be “above the fold”. Accessible without scrolling. But if your website is very narrow you will not have the room to say everything in the more looked at areas.
Number 1
Your website has splash screen that says something like “ENTER SITE” on the home page. Come on now. Once again you are wasting the users time. Unless your website has some type of disclaimer and warning the person before they continue – there absolutely no reason for that screen.
The basic point here is that times have changed. The reasons behind website design practices in 2004 are not all applicable today. Your website is communicating your understanding or lack or modern online communications. Now of course the average user is not going to automatically notice everything I’ve mentioned and discredit you. However, if your website is hindering them from finding you, knowing or contacting you based on these or any number of additional reasons – you will loose business and credibility.
*** I know I didn’t list everything here. Things like scrolling text, black background with red text, and animated .gif…
Please share things you see that turn you off because they scream 1998, 2006 or any era in between.
Farewell to SEO… A Dying Industry
Today I was told that “SEO is dying industry”. And this was from a website professional who has likely been in business a lot longer than me…
I remember back in 2000, when I was in undergrad and had first learned how to code HTML. Many of my computer science friends had already been making websites years before me. Then around 2002 when I was hired to redesign some departments at my school, Western Michigan University, those same friends were surprised that I was getting $100-$150 per hour making flash websites…
Fast-forward to 2008, when I started my current company Design That Speaks, and I was still making “plain old websites” – my friends had gone on to learn highly advanced software languages or had transitioned into real estate and other types of businesses. When we would touch-base they would sound surprised that I was not only still working as web designer, but had built a company and been able to support my wife and daughter with the business.
And so today when I heard that ‘SEO is a dying industry’ – I’m reminded of my previous experiences.
With all the hype of social media and facebook and twitter and mobile – one might think that search engine optimization / SEO is going away. The problem is that this is opinion of early adopters. Of techies and geeks. This isn’t the mind of Joe and Jane business owner.
The internet, and all it’s glory is just a kid. A teenager. And there are many business who do not yet even have websites. Many industries do not use the internet for marketing or sales, but just for branding. There are businesses who are still paying hundreds or thousands of dollars per month with the yellow pages or newspaper ads.
And so as long that is true, I know that my business – making website and doing SEO to help business get traffic and sales – will be around for good little while.
And to the other web companies that come and go, or jump on every new fad without digging deep into a specialty – we’ll stay right where we are and assume responsibility for the client’s you leave behind.
Choose Your Path: Branding, Marketing or Sales?
This post is the second of a series of blog posts on things you need to do before you build your website. Please share your thoughts and feedback. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
When you are planning your website design project, you need to know what your focus is. What is the goal and end result that you hope to achieve in the mind of your viewers?
You could likely list out many different end-goals, but I want to discuss just three.
Sales, Marketing or Branding.
I. Branding
A branding focused website is the most basic of all websites. It’s kin to the brochure website. It establishes credibility and provides basic information.
Oftentimes the business owner who want this type of website is not interested in getting any new business. They are simply creating a website to possibly provide additional customer support. They are creating a website because they think they need to. (But dont’ believe it to be critical).
A branding focused site also applies to people who do the majority of their marketing offline. They know their prospect will do a little internet research on their business and thus they want to be prepared for that.
My main comment to the person who is purely focused on branding – is to pay close attention to what their competitors are doing… If you see them having a marketing of sales focus – you may want to be prepared to grown your business online as well before it is too late to play catch up.
II. Marketing
A marketing focused website is geared towards generating leads. Marketing sites have the ability to get in front of new people and lead them to enter into your sales funnel. They are leveraged with social media and their content is optimized in the search engines. On every page of your website you have specific call to actions leading people to respond in a predefined way.
With a marketing focused website you are not receiving money online for the product or service. That transaction will likely happen in person or over the phone. But the website will be promoting a special offer a downloadable coupon or free consultation. You can follow up with them at a later time about paying to obtain your real product.
III. Sales
A sales focused website is ready, willing and able to accept money NOW for your business. While you are sleeping this website can have a pretty green gifts available for your as treats when you wake up in the morning.
When your goal is sales, you need to figure out HOW and WHAT TYPE people are going to be giving you money. If your business income is coming from YOUR CUSTOMERS then you are selling yourself and your products. If you revenue is coming from advertisers or affiliate marketing, your incomes is coming from businesses that pay you a commission or percentage of the sale.
From a technical perspective you have to deal with what shopping cart and payment system you are using. Will you go with a simple solution like Paypal, Amazon Payments or Google Checkout? Something middle-tier like 1ShoppingCart.com or Godaddy’s Quickcart? Or will you need a completely custom solution by a e-commerce development company?
More customized solutions bring more flexibility and more upfront costs. The less custom the less inital costs, but possibly larger chargers per month or per transaction.
Social Spamming or Social Neworking?
Social Spamming:
1- I follow you.
2- I hope you follow me.
3- If you don’t follow me in 24 hours, I no longer follow you.
4- If you follow me, I auto-spam (DM) you.
5- I don’t really know you, care about you, or have every read what you say, I just hope you follow me because big follow numbers means I’m important.
Social Networking:
1- I follow you because I’m slightly interested in you.
2- I read your tweet to see what you’re about
3- If you don’t follow me, it’s fine because I follow for my sake
4- I @reply you to help or respond to your tweets
5- I look forward to the time we can network offline or in a more direct medium
Arvell Craig has helped our agency and our clients achieve dramatic positive results in search engine rankings. We are very pleased with his work, his advice, and so are our clients.
Our current web master is Arvell Craig. He is talented, knowledgeable, and responsive. He provides follow-up and I get regular emails on our website's performance. His SEO services have put Berkshire Dental Group on page one of Google for the search terms we requested. I would recommend him to you as a 'go-to'' resource for your company.
I just wanted to compliment you on all your work! Our website looks really good, I like everything about it for the first time in a long time. I am glad you are taking such a good care of our business! 
You are by far, the the best individual I have ever done business with. The quality of work you provide to the superior level of communications as well surpass all my levels of expectations.
