Graphico Blog

The following article is based on an excerpt from The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media, written by Paul Chaney, Internet Marketing Director, Bizzuka.

Much the same way a power company connects homes and businesses with electricity, Facebook is a “social utility” designed to facilitate connections between people as well as businesses.

Accordingly, it can be highly useful as a business tool. This article addresses various ways that businesses can market using Facebook.

I’ve noticed that many companies use other parts of the platform (Groups and personal profiles, in particular) to set up a presence, but they never bother to create a Public Profile.

One possible reason may be that Facebook lists Public Profiles under the advertising category, which may lead people to believe it is a premium feature. It’s not. Businesses can set up a Public Profile at no cost.

Facebook Public Profiles, which mimic user profiles in design and function, allow users to express their support of your business by adding themselves as fans. They can write on your Wall, upload photos and videos, and join other fans in expressing opinions on topics introduced in discussion groups.

You can send regular updates to fans, and, unlike personal profiles, which are limited to 5,000 members, the number of fans you can have on a Public Profile is unlimited. In addition, you can set up a business page without having to provide a personal profile.

One of the best reasons to have a Facebook Public Profile is that it can be indexed by search engines. That is no small consideration, because Facebook is one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet.

If getting noticed on Google and other engines is an important part of your online-marketing strategy, then using Facebook Public Profile makes perfect sense. After you set up a Facebook Public Profile for your business, make it your base of operations from which all other forays into the network extend.

Facebook Events

Another useful Facebook feature, one that can be launched directly from your Facebook Public Profile, is Facebook Events. With it, you can let fans and others know about upcoming events and activities your business will be hosting.

A restaurant can use Facebook Events to promote appearances by musical acts. A B2B company can promote upcoming webinars or workshops. Nonprofit and civic groups can enlist support for fund-raising activities.

Remember, activities that Facebook members engage in are reported in the newsfeed, so word about the events can spread quickly and virally.

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups allow you to create or participate in as many as 200 affinity- or geography-based groups. Each can serve as a viral channel for extending your presence within Facebook, and each can be used as “fishing pools” to help you find prospects and build relationships.

Before you set up your own group, however, participate in two or three groups to learn how they operate. As with Facebook Events, use Facebook Groups to supplement your business page, not act as a substitute for it.

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads resemble Google AdSense ads in that they are primarily text based, but they do allow inclusion of a small graphic.

You can opt to include Social Actions, which are stories about a user’s friends that are related to and displayed alongside your advertisement. Whenever a user takes an action associated with the ad, that user’s avatar and screen name will appear along with the ad on the friend’s profile pages. That result implies endorsement, so use the component wisely.

The problem with using ads on Facebook Ads or other social networks is that members rarely click on the ads. The average click-through rate for Facebook Ads is estimated to be an abysmal 0.008%. That means for every 10,000 times an ad appears, it is clicked on only 80 times.

People don’t visit social-network sites to view advertising; they visit to be social. Still, Facebook Ads provide another way to extend your presence on the site, so they may be worth considering.

Facebook Apps

One of the first things you’ll notice when you begin participating in Facebook is the bevy of widgets (what Facebook refers to as “applications,” or “apps” for short).

The apps, created by third-party developers, number into the scores of thousands and cover every conceivable category, from games to music to travel to just plain fun (and just plain stupid).

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, but sooner or later “app fatigue” sets in. My son, a veteran “Facebooker,” told me to forget all those extras and concentrate on the basics: the Wall, photo galleries, and status updates. That’s good advice, if you ask me.

Some applications can be used to promote your business inside Facebook. One way to do that is by developing branded applications, or “appvertisements,” that connect your company and the people you wish to reach in a more useful, meaningful way.

For example, Buddy Media, a company that develops branded applications, has launched dozens of campaigns for leading brands. Its data shows measurable success in engaging users.

“In particular, users spent an average of 2 minutes and 35 seconds engaged with our branded applications per visit, or 75 times greater than the time consumers spend interacting with traditional banner ads and five times greater than the time spent watching a typical TV commercial,” said Buddy Media CEO Mike Lazerow.

You don’t need to develop applications yourself.. You can incorporate many of the business-oriented applications already available in the applications directory, such as business cards, networked blogs, and testimonials, to help promote your business.

It’s worth looking through the business category to see which applications might be useful for your business.

To keep cost down you went with a local small hosting company. Their server’s hard drive crashed. Your site was hacked and hacker was kind enough to delete all your files. Your web host disappeared with your money and your data. Even worse case there was earth quake and your ISP’s building has gone down and everything is lost.  EVEN WORSE- it’s your own fault!? You forget to pay your host and they take your site down. GoDaddy charges $159 to restore your site from their back up.  Okay wake up from your dream, hopefully you never encounter this situation. But if you are not prepared for these situations, your site may be lost forever and you have to start over. That is why it is of the utmost importance that you keep regular backups of your data.

Where this backup should be preserved?
Put it on a disc! In most cases your site can fit on one DVD that will make it easy to restore if necessary. You can also store this on a jump drive or another machine; however it is strongly encouraged to keep a backup on disc too.

How frequently should a backup should be taken?
If your site is not changing over a period of time then I will say take backup only once and keep it on your floppy or hard disc or data disc or DVD wherever you like. In case you need to restore it, just do it and see your web site up and running.But if your site is changing over the period of time then it becomes very important to take regular backup. Web sites like amazon.com have very tight backup schedules and very expansive backup infrastructure.

Should I back up my Database?
…..HECK Yes!!!

What type of backup should be taken?
There are two types of backup: incremental and full. This depends on what type of backup tools you are using. There are many backup tools like oracle provides their utilities to take different type of backup.

• Incremental Backup - The backup’s controller compares the existing backup to the data that you wish to backup. If it is an exact match between the two, then no additional files will be backed up. However, if you have added or edited any file, these files will be updated in the backup, thus the incremental name.
• Full Backup - Here all files are written to the backup, even if they already exist in the most current backup.

Who should backup my site?
Graphico Design of course!!  Go Daddy $159, Rebuild your site $800 - $1500, Spend $35 for a back up disc from Graphico Design…Priceless!!!

Conclusion:
So now you decide how do you want to take your backup but I will say if you are web site owner then its is your religion to take regular backup without a failure otherwise…..results are very serious Talk to Graphico Design.

 

 

Some small businesses reach a point where they need to share and store large amounts of information. There are many questions that arise in this situation. What type of server do I need? How much memory do I need? How much will I have to spend on IT? What happens if my server goes down? What is a cloud server and why would I need one? Each business situation requires a customized solution, not a packaged one. Graphico Design can help evaluate your needs and set your business up for server success. We can advise you on how to run our customized administration tools to make your business run more efficiently from your server. Visit our web site and contact us for an evaluation.

You have entered the wonderful world of Search Engine Optimization. Everyone wants to know how to move their site up the infinite Google search list. Graphico Design knows how to take your current website and update the code to help move your website up the search engine lists without having to pay for placement. It is all in the programming! There are many criteria for the search engine formulas to rank your site, but the most important thing you can do is make sure SPIDERS can find you and learn how to talk to them! If that sounds completely insane to you or you are vaguely familiar with the technology, our team at Graphico Design can help you. A local insulation company hired us to Search Engine Optimize their web site.  After making improvements and finding a very affordable pay per click campaign, their site link was moved into the front page of the google local insulation searches and grew their business quickly!

Want to learn how to talk to spiders? More importantly, do you want to grow your online business? Visit our site and contact us for a free evaluation and quote.

Should I use a Content Management System for my site? What about a flash based site? PHP and Java Scripting? Whatever happened to good ol HTML? If you are not involved with web technologies, all this stuff can sound like a foriegn language. The following is a designers view of what the benefits and drawbacks are to the different types of programming for web sites

Content Management Systems:
Benefits -

• Great for multiple users and keeping web content consistant throughout the site.
• Good for pre-programmed widgets such as calanders and other tools that can be added to the site at the drop of a hat.
• Low Cost

Drawbacks -

• Can be a bit constraining to design and have some technical glitches with Explorer. (of course what language doesn’t

Flash:
Benefits -

• Fantastic for design looks and transitions.
• Very astheticly pleasing to the senses.
• Wow factor.

Drawbacks -

As of yet, there are no Search Engines that can read flash so it is completely useless unless combined with other types of coding. (There are rumors that the people at Adobe are working on correcting this - in which case Flash would be the champion) 2. Higher cost for programming.

more later…

·         Your web site may be your first impression of you and your company! 

·         A website is one of several tools in a well thought out marketing plan.  Having a website alone does not automatically mean your business or product will skyrocket. A professional will know this and help you achieve your goals.

·         Graphico Design employs expert and skilled web designers and knowledgeable programmers who possess technical expertise in website designing.  A technically sound website is a very strong marketing tool that has a tremendous effect on the buying behavior of the customers. These designers keep themselves equipped with the latest technical know-how in order to stay ahead of competition from other web design companies.

·          Just having a good looking website does not ensure a guaranteed increase in web traffic and sales.  Graphico Design will incorporate marketing techniques in the web development process that suits your business’ needs and requirements.

·         Just because a site looks great does not mean the coding is correct.  There are many areas that must be address that you “cannot see” that will make or break your sites performance.

·         Graphico Design provides greater flexibility to an online business. After thoroughly analyzing your business, our professionals come up with solutions that satisfy your business needs using specific technologies.

·         Getting help from web design companies leads to improvisation of existing plan and design of promotional materials. You’ll receive customized marketing for newer websites as well as for existing ones.

·         Web development is a very time consuming process. Devoting large amounts of time on it might prove to be a hurdle for smooth functioning of smaller organizations. Hiring a Graphico Design will save time and resources for in-house software development. For more information contact us. A website that is designed well, making use of white hat SEO techniques, stands greater chances of scoring high in major search engine results. They are most likely to get indexed in search engines, leading to better web traffic.

·         Websites that are easy on usability and navigation are preferred by visitors. Such sites give the required information to users in less time, and have better chances of generating a sale.

·         Website maintenance is achieved through quality web design services. Well designed sites do not need maintenance in very short spans of time.

Content management systems can be great and necessary if you have multiple individuals that are all adding content to different parts of the same site. However, in most small business situations there is one individual who is responsible for keeping up with the content of the web site. We have found that in most cases, even if you are very web savvy, managing your own content through a CMS is too time consuming to be financially beneficial. The client may end up prefering to pay a web master an hourly rate to update their own content, in which case there may not be a need to use a CMS in the first place since is does cause many design restraints. The Key is to make up your mind before hand how many people will be adding content and if all of them are savvy enough to understand how to get that information from point A to point B.

The members of Graphico Design have created this blog to keep a record of topics related to Small Business Solutions. We have learned many important lessons from our interaction with our clients and we are putting it out there so that others can learn from our mistakes and our successes!

Graphico Design’s new website is officially launched.