2. The second rule of thumb for SEO copy writing or copy writing for the web, is: “use keywords”. Keywords, for those who are uninitiated in SEO, are the words which your target audience may use in the search field of a search engine such as google, when looking for information, products, services etc.

If you’re selling lemons, tell people how many lemons they need & why, example:  3 Reasons You’ll Love Our Lemons (yes I love alliteration in titles too). For goodness sake, don’t talk about grapefruit in the title when your blog or article is about a fruit of a different matter entirely!

Good luck with practicing these top 2 copy writing title tips on your web site or blog.

Blog post courtesy of Anita Hamilton

Well, since your marketing communications are likely to and should encompass the following components, I think you’ll agree that it’s critical:

• advertising
• branding
• graphic design
• sales promotion
• online marketing

A typical pitfall for many folks when creating marketing communications is too much “noise”. You know what it’s like when you’re watching a t.v. show or movie and someone in the room asks a question….your concentration or focus is broken and maybe you miss a crucial moment in the show that comes back to haunt you later. Yikes!

In marketing communications, noise is anything that prevents your intended audience from receiving the complete, clear and brand-consistent message you intended to impart.This can come from within the communication itself, during message delivery, or from noise (competition) in the marketplace.

Do you sometimes use different versions of your company name, tag line, or logo, depending on whether it’s printed on your business card or website, or if you’re talking to people, sending emails, or advertising in print?

Are too many visitors coming to your website and leaving immediately (website stats show a high bounce rate)?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, you could use some branding and copywriting help, both important components in a good marketing communications strategy.

You can’t be all things to all people. Who do you know that is an expert chef, plumber, politician, dancer, and doctor? So why try to manage your business (which you’re an expert in, by the way) and also try to create all your marketing communications materials yourself? Leave it to the folks that specialize in marketing communications, and focus on your core dancing (or plumbing, etc.) business.

2. Affordable (not free) Web Hosting: For the few companies that are truly based in Hamilton and offer web hosting services – many of them have yearly hosting & set-up fees that top the $300/year mark, putting their web hosting service out of reach for many small businesses.  And for the alternative hosting issue that crops up – “free hosting”. Definitively, there is no such thing as “free web hosting”. Everything comes at a price – usually “free web hosting” means, you’ll have advertising on your website. This is not something that looks attractive or professional on a business website.

3. Web Hosting Provider Accessibility: Another very common trend with “online only” web hosting providers, is the way they are set up to minimize human interaction with their clients. In fact when checking out their websites, you’ll find that many of them don’t even list a telephone number that you can call. And you may have an experience similar to one I recently had…I tried to use their online contact form to make an inquiry….actually, 3 different online forms on their website….and none of them worked! And of the 2 of the local Hamilton web hosting companies that I was able to get a working email address for, neither of them responded to my inquiry email! How’s that for customer service? And that was when they didn’t even have my web hosting business…what would it be like if they were my hosting service provider already and there was a problem? No number to call….online forms don’t work….no response to emails – Help!

If you live in the greater Hamilton / Burlington / Toronto area and would prefer to deal with a local, affordable & accessible web hosting service provider then we’d love to talk to you about your web hosting needs.

Graphic Design services eligible for this discount include:

• custom logo design – brand your company
• business card design – your calling card should leave a lasting impression
• print design – brochures, envelopes, stationery and more
• custom web design – we’ll design a new WordPress website for your business

Contact us before December 8, 2011 to arrange your free, no-obligation Zebra Quest™ consultation and lock in up to $200 in savings (or more) on your next graphic design job with The Write Imprint.

If your business needs a new logo design or identity/branding, then a professional graphic designer is a must…not an option. Do-it-yourself logo design should never be considered when creating the visual representation of your business…there is too much at stake.

In fact, it’s better to have someone at arms’ length designing your logo as they will think like a potential customer, versus an employee or owner. After all, your logo has to attract your customers, not employees, right? (well, hopefully both, but you know what I mean). The same holds true for copy written website content. I often find that owners or employees of a business that attempt to write about their own business, are stymied. They are so familiar with their products & services, they take them for granted and don’t know how to explain the features and benefits to someone who isn’t already familiar with them.The best graphic designers can produce top quality, creative logo designs, business card designs, website designs, brochures, advertisements and other commercial publications. Typically graphic designers work with either client-supplied images or stock photography, and some even create their own artwork. Choosing the right font(s) is an important part of the graphic design process, especially when it comes to logo design. For brochures, websites, and other online and print publications, layout is also critical when considering the overall aspect of the graphic design.

That’s why a professional graphic designer is a must for your business.

blog post courtesy of Anita Hamilton

Last Week’s Question: What do Custom Logo Design, Business Card Design, Web Development & Design, SEO, PPC Campaigns, Copy Writing, Ghost Writing, and Written Website Content,all have in common?

Being a resident of the west mountain in Hamilton, I was awakened (as I imagine most area residents were) by lightning and thunder. This was like no other thunderstorm or heat lightning I’ve ever experienced. The lightning was constant with no break for a good 20 minutes, and the wind seemed to be flinging sticks and hail at the house from all directions at once. Torrential downpour aside, it was like a light show out there.

Environment Canada has yet to confirm that there was any tornado, let alone 2 of them. At that hour of the night, it’s unlikely there will be any alert eye-witnesses or home videos to confirm the telltale funnel of a tornado.

What are the chances it was a tornado? Well, apparently pretty good as this is not a once-in-a-lifetime event for Hamilton.

In August of 1999, a “weak” tornado that touched down in Hamilton (again, on the mountain) tore the roof off a house on Stonechurch Road.

And more recently in November 2005 – after a week with heavy snowfall – a series of heavy thunderstorms moved into the area. round 4pm on the afternoon of November 9th a tornado touched down in the the central mountain area of Hamilton (near Limeridge Mall), and damage incurred included some roofs ripped off and trees snapped or uprooted.

Constantly updated by thousands of contributing developers, with new plug-ins and free themes added on a daily basis, a WordPress CMS website is built to serve the end-user website client.

WordPress is likely the premier open-source blogging platform in the world today, which is what it started out as. Over time it quickly evolved into a website CMS that is user-friendly, dynamic and constantly being enhanced by developers across the world.

A word about open-source – what does that mean for you? Simply, no licensing fees to use the software…Does it get better than that? The Write Imprint web designers and web developers (based in Hamilton Ontario) are experienced in creating custom web designs for WordPress CMS websites for small and medium business clients. If you’d like to know more about WordPress, check out their website at www.wordpress.org.

Blog post courtesy of Anita Hamilton