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Author Archive

Speed Up Your Website to Drive More Sales

By Debbie Campbell   |   October 11, 2010

I’ve just started redesigning my business website – it’s been about a year and a half since I last did it. One of the main reasons is that most of my work over the last year has involved WordPress projects. I think it’s high time my own website was built in the content management system I recommend to clients!

As I’m working through the new site, I’m culling content from the old one. Some of the revised verbiage includes text about creating maintainable websites. What does that mean, exactly? Aren’t all websites maintainable? Read More »

Small Business Websites Are Not Business Cards

By Debbie Campbell   |   September 25, 2010

When I first started my small business over five years ago, I set up a few ‘web design packages’ to help me think about estimating and pricing projects. The smallest one was ‘The Business Card Site.’ It was a one or two-page website that would basically have a logo, a bio on the client, and a list of services.

No one ever hired me to create a small business card site, but I’ve had a number of clients in the past few years who had me create larger websites that they subsequently treated like a business card – look at it, put it away; out of site out of mind. Read More »

4 Steps to a Better Twitter Profile Page

By Debbie Campbell   |   September 11, 2010

You’re probably already using Twitter as a way to connect with customers in an effort to reach more people through social media marketing. If you’re using a default Twitter background, you’re missing out on an opportunity to extend your website’s branding even further, and this article is just for you.

Customizing your Twitter profile page to suit your business is easier than you might think. Here’s what you need to consider: Read More »

Web Design That Fits

By Debbie Campbell   |   August 25, 2010

Recently I was approached by a potential client who wanted a quote for a custom website for his business. I’ll call the potential client Brian; his business is making beautiful, hand-crafted widgets.

Brian’s brick-and-mortar business is well-established, but only has a very small web presence. Due to pressures from web-based competition in the last couple of years, he now feels he needs a larger, more comprehensive and content-rich website to compete effectively.

Brian has put a substantial effort into mapping out his new site. His content is solid and focused Read More »

3 Ways WordPress Makes Life Easier for Small Business Owners

By Debbie Campbell   |   August 11, 2010

WordPress is great for small and medium businesses who want more control over their company website – and the ability to manage it by themselves, without having to resort to calling a web developer every time they want to add some new content. Here are three ways that WordPress makes things easier for SMB owners.

  1. Add new blog posts when you’re on vacation.
    I know – you’re asking: “What’s a vacation?” But if you’re given the opportunity Read More »

What’s the Value in Your Website’s Sitemap to Search Engines

By Debbie Campbell   |   July 25, 2010

Sitemaps can be helpful both for your human visitors and for search engine optimization (SEO) – the art and science of improving the visibility of a website in search engine listings. Learn about sitemaps and how they can help your business website get noticed.

What is a sitemap?

There are two kinds of sitemaps – Read More »

Making Your Small Business Website Work Overtime

By Debbie Campbell   |   July 11, 2010

Social media tools like Twitter and Facebook (once primarily the venue of college students, but now a highly effective networking and marketing tool in its own right) are great for small business owners. Twitter lets people get to know you by allowing you to post short 140-character updates – tweets – about what you’re doing, business news, resources you want to share, customer service responses, and more.

Nearly half of social media hits to websites now come from Facebook. With Facebook pages, you can create a mini-version of your business site and build your community of business “fans.”

But who has time to keep up with all of that? Read More »

5 Mistakes You Could Be Making On Your Website

By Debbie Campbell   |   June 25, 2010

You could be making some common mistakes with your business website and not even realize it. Here are some common ones – and what to do about them.

Your website marketing is feeling neglected.

Does the copyright at the bottom of your site still say 2009? Do you still show the bio of an employee who left three years ago? Are there old broken links on the site?  Was your last calendar update last year? All of these are symptoms of simple neglect – and they’re typically easy to miss. How to fix this mistake: Read More »

10 Do’s & Don’ts of Small Business Web Design

By Debbie Campbell   |   June 11, 2010

Thinking about giving your older website a makeover – or planning your first business site? Here are ten basic design do’s and don’ts to remember whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or working with a web designer. They’re a solid place to start for many small business websites – and once you know the rules, you can bend them as needed to make your site as audience-appropriate as it needs to be.

1. Do be consistent. Read More »