Jelly Blog

The small business platform now has a built-in shopping cart for e-commerce functionality. We have integrated three merchant processors for your convenience -- Paypal, Google Checkout (Google's version of Paypal), and FirstData. Paypal and Google Checkout transactions are handled on their respective websites, whereas, FirstData is completely integrated, so the user never leaves your secure website. Product descriptions, photos, weights, prices, sale prices, coupon codes and more can be maintained in the control panel. Shipping is calculated based on weight, quantity or cart total. Customers can log in to their account to view past invoices.

I've added another enhancement to the blog page. You can now add categories (often referred to as tags or labels) for each blog article. This allows you to categorize your articles and gives your readers a way to filter articles by clicking on a category link. You'll find them on the right hand column under the blog archives. To add/edit categories, simply click on "blogs" in the control panel and click the edit button. You'll notice a new field for the categories toward the bottom of the page.

The more popular your website is, the better it does in organic search rankings. One way search engines determine your site's popularity is to look at all the sites that link to it, and their popularity as well. The thinking goes like this. If a well-known site has a link to your site then your site must be special, so your site will gain credibility as a result. It's kind of like hanging out with the "in" crowd in high school. Unfortunately, search engines care more about the popular quarterback than the band geek (hey, I was a band geek). But as long as the football quarterback gives a high five fist bump to the trombone player, that band geek is slightly more popular. The same goes with your site. If a national insurance company has a link to your small business masseuse website, you're suddenly a bit more credible in the search world.

There are some relatively easy ways to get links to your site.

• Ask a local publication or trade magazine do an article about your business. Of course, you'll have to think of something that's interesting for them to write about. If they post the article online, ask them to add a link to your site.
• Donate to a charity, school, church, etc. and ask if in return they will add your link to their site.
• Get memberships with local merchant associations and chambers of commerce. Most allow links in their members directory.
• Answer questions that people have on message boards. Find topics that you are very knowledgeable in and post away. Be sure to include your link in your profile signature. Hint: this is a very easy and effective way to boost your popularity because search engines visit blogs and message boards more frequently than "static" websites that don't change very often.
• If your business has a physical address, add your link to your free Google Local page. See Free Exposure with Google Local for details.
• Submit your site to the DMOZ (open directory project).
• Ask another business similar to yours to add your link in exchange for you posting their link on your site. It's very important to avoid doing this with websites that have nothing to do with your business as this could trigger suspicion by the search engines that perhaps you're simply exchanging links for the sole purpose of boosting your rankings. So be selective and only do this with a limited number of high-quality businesses.

No matter what, do NOT list your site with a company that allows you to post your link for a fee. These are link farms and could actually work against you. The reason is because the sole purpose for having links on their site is to give you a boost with search engines. However, years ago, Google and their brethren caught on to that fact and no longer give you credit. In fact, it could do you harm.

One more very important item to consider is how your link is built. The anchor text makes a very big difference. See "How to create an effective link using anchor text".

When most people think of a link, they usually imagine a clickable web address like http://www.jellysites.com. However, what people often overlook are the links that contain words like "click here" or "affordable small business websites". The truth is, there are two parts to a link--where the link goes when clicked (ie the action), and what text is displayed to the user (ie anchor text). The anchor text is what you see and the action (or link) is behind the scenes and is embedded in the HTML of the page. An example looks like this, <a href="http://www.jellysites.com">click me</a> where "click me" can be any text.

When placing your link on other websites (in other words, creating incoming links to your site), it's best to use keywords for the anchor text rather than simply using the web address. For humans, keywords are a bit more reassuring than an obscure web address. But just as importantly, search engines tie those keywords to your website. For example, "affordable small business websites" is more descriptive than "http://www.jellysites.com". The search engines are going to associate "affordable small business websites" with the website that the link goes to (http://www.jellysites.com). As a result, when someone does a search for affordable small business websites, www.jellysites.com will have a higher organic placement than using the web address as the anchor text.

It should be mentioned that anchor text doesn't have to be text. It can be an image or combination of text and image. However, since search engine spiders can't read text that's in an image, it's best to use text.

As mentioned in Using Incoming Links to Boost Search Rankings, it's extremely helpful to populate the World Wide Web with links back to your website. Here's an example that you can use when submitting your link:

<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com" title="Click for more information about affordable small business websites">Affordable Small Business Websites</a>

Note: the "title" attribute is what displays when you roll over a link. It's not required, but gives your visitors a little more information about the link.

It's also a good idea to vary the anchor text you use on other websites. This gives you more opportunities to use different keywords. What's more, if you use the same anchor text everywhere, it could alert search engines that perhaps you are using an automated service to post your links on other sites, which has a negative effect.

People have asked me how they can increase their fans and followers on their social media accounts. After all, your tweets and posts mean nothing if nobody sees them.

I recently received an e-newsletter from a Chicagoland salon and spa that offered a discount in exchange for becoming their fan on Facebook. The offer was for $10 off any service. In addition, the first 20 people would be entered into a raffle for a very nice spa package that they offered. This is a great idea for two reasons. Not only does it give incentive for people to "fan" them on Facebook, but it also gives a sense of urgency to do it right away. As you know, if you don't close the deal with them in front of you, they'll go off and "think about it" but probably never actually do it.

This example uses Facebook, however it can be applied to any social media service. For example, you could offer something in exchange for following you on Twitter or YouTube, or by connecting with you on LinkedIn. Once you have gained a respectable size of followers, get ideas of how to use your account at Using Twitter to Increase Traffic to Your Website.

The first question that everybody asks when they first create a Twitter account is "what should I tweet about"? The second question is usually "is anybody actually reading this"? But the question that should be asked is "how can this benefit my business"?

One of the best uses of Twitter (with regards to gaining traffic to your website) is the inclusion of links. Search engines love reciprocal links which is defined as having a link on your website to a site that also has a link back to yours. In this example, you should have a link on your site to your Twitter profile. Then on your profile and in your tweets you should have links right back to your site. Examples of links could be linking back to a blog article on your site, or to a page that has details of a promotion or sale. Keep in mind that if you use a URL shortening service, not all of them are good (see Not all Not All URL Shortening Services Are The Same).

A great use of Twitter is to offer something that can only be found on your Twitter profile. For example, you could tweet about a limited time offer that can only be redeemed if you mention that you saw it on Twitter. If you don't have very many followers yet, see Gain Social Media Followers by Sweetening the Deal for ideas on how to increase your numbers.

If you have a brick and mortar business, you could be missing out on a free Google service that could bring many new visitors to your site. It's called Google Local and takes only minutes to set up at http://www.google.com/local/add. Try doing a search that is geographically targeted (for example, restaurants or movie times in your neighborhood), and you'll notice that in addition to the usual results, a map shows up, peppered with businesses in the area that match your search. And if you click on the "more info" link for a specific business, you'll be taken to a detail page just for that business, complete with information gathered from its website. Chances are that you are already listed and will come up on the map even if you never did anything in the first place. That's because Google recognizes businesses that have an address and automatically compile this handy detail page based on the content of your website. But even if it already exists, you can "claim" it as yours to update and enhance the info being displayed. In order to verify that you actually own the business at the address, they will mail a PIN to the address, which you then use to complete the verification process. Once verified, you can edit items such as your store hours, credit cards accepted, add photos, create coupons, add videos and more--all for free. The whole setup process just takes minutes to do, and can increase your exposure on the Web.

URL shortening services perform a very basic function--they redirect a short URL to a long one. That's all there is to it. However, did you know there's more than one way to do a redirect? And depending on which kind is used, it will determine if the link equity is transferred to the destination URL. Did you hear that? If not done properly, your site will not get any credit for the link you posted. In other words, it's all for nothing and you just wasted a perfectly good post.

There are many types of redirects, but the ones to know about are 301 and 302 redirects. A 301 redirect (the good kind in this case) tells search engines that the page has moved permanently and that all the link equity should be credited to the new destination. A 302 redirect tells them that it has moved temporarily and that it should not transfer the link equity. When deciding which service to use, always look for the type of redirect used. Here is a list of popular services that use the "good" 301 redirect: tinyurl.com, cli.gs, zi.ma, bit.ly, is.gd, snipurl.com (aka Snurl Snipr Sn.im), tr.im

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and has been around since the turn of the century. Yet one of the most commonly asked questions is "What is RSS?". In plain English, it's a way for you to view content that's supplied by a website without having to actually visit that site. Imagine getting your newspapers on your doorstep every morning. In the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee, you've caught up on news, weather, sports and perhaps the latest trends in your industry. Well, RSS allows the same thing in the form of a feed reader (also known as an aggregator). This feed reader allows you to "subscribe" to any of the gazillions of feeds that are offered up wherever you see that little orange icon. The act of subscribing isn't like it was in the "old days" where you gave your email address to sign up for their e-newsletter. Instead, it's simply done by adding a link to your feed reader.

When you see that little icon, it's saying "Hey, here is a stream of information that you might like to read in the comfort of your own feed reader, without having to come back to this website." Once you click on the icon, you'll be instructed as to how to add it to your reader. Follow the instructions and Voilà! it's magically in your reader. Keep adding feeds that interest you and eventually you'll have a bunch of feeds all in one central place. Now you can wake up, drink your cup of coffee and check out all the latest headlines in your reader. If something catches your eye and you want more info, just click on it and it will take you to the website to read the full article. And the most handy feature is that the reader keeps track of which ones you read. So you'll be able to see when there are new headlines and won't mistakenly read the same one twice.

So how do you find a feed reader? That's easy too. There are tons of free readers available, which can be found by doing a quick search for "free RSS feed readers". For gmail users, Google offers the free Google Reader. Another free reader is built into the Thunderbird email client. You can even add feeds to Outlook for free. Once you get comfortable with these free readers, you might feel adventurous and purchase a reader with more bells and whistles. But you'd be surprised what you can do with the free software out there.

Ok. That's RSS from a reader's point of view. But what about the content provider? In other words, how can your business benefit from supplying content via RSS? Every company has something that somebody wants. It might be products, real estate, advice...you name it. Once you've figured out what it is you want to offer, create a feed on your website. Most sites offer this type of functionality. If yours doesn't, contact JellyNeck Solutions to inquire about a site that does. As an example, let's say that you sell products on your website and somebody subscribes to your products feed. The next time they check their reader, your products will be there. And when you add new products, they'll also show up as "unread" (similar to new emails in your inbox). If they are interested, they'll click on the product and be taken to your site where they can get details and make a purchase. Once they're on your site, it's up to you to make a sale. But the point is that you can put your brand, products, news, advice, etc in front of your customers without interrupting their busy schedule. The fact that it's the customer reaching out to you means it's far less intrusive than sending out an e-newsletter to them. This is the biggest way that RSS feeds differ from e-newsletters. With RSS, they come to you instead of the other way around.

Alright! Now that you have a bit of a background on how it works and how it can benefit your business and/or personal life, go out there and get started! Do you RSS?