by Amber Miller | May 9, 2016 | Blog, Wordpress Maintenance
Google has stayed to true to form and changed its rank algorithm yet again. With technology constantly changing, they need to do this in order to get a true sense of what people are doing in the way of searching. Unfortunately, that means you need to once again examine your website and make sure it is Google-friendly, or you will find yourself sitting there and wondering why your Google ranking is steadily dropping. The main item you need to take a close look at this point is whether or not your website is mobile-friendly.
A Mobile World
With the increased use of phones and other mobile devices being used to surf the web, sixty-one percent of all users are now mobile users. If your site is not ready for them, you could see your traffic decreasing by as much as one-third. That can add up to a lot of users – and much lower Google rankings.
What You Need to Know
- In order for Google to rate your site higher, it must determine that it is mobile-friendly. To make it possible for this determination to be made, the Googlebot must be able to scan your CSS and JS files, and it does so on a page-by-page basis. This means every one of your pages must pass the scan in order to be ranked.
- Google will put greater emphasis on the loading time of graphics, so you need to make sure they are optimized to the fullest.
- Avoid using small text and flash or it could seriously lower your ranking.
Achieving Mobile-friendly Status
Responsive design is the easiest way to insure your website is mobile-friendly. This newcomer on the scene is created to allow your website to seamlessly adjust to whatever device it is being viewed on. By designing for smaller devices first, responsive design makes it easy to incorporate sizing for all devices – and help Google find you.
If you need help making your website mobile friendly, reachout! Having a support team that stays on top of technology is very important!
by Tina Walker | Apr 19, 2016 | Blog, Marketing
The Divas have been listening to me for months talk about how much I love the Divi theme. I mention it on team calls, I mention it on team Skype and I almost feel like the team might roll their eyes when I suggest it being a good fit for multiple projects. Somedays I feel as if I chant the name “Divi” over and over. Let me share with you why I love it so much, and what it can do for you.
What is Divi?
Divi is a multi-purpose theme created by Elegant Themes. For me, as a developer, it’s the ULTIMATE WordPress theme with endless possibilities for layouts and styling. Combine that with the Divi Page Builder, which is an extremely easy and versatile drag and drop builder, and it becomes a monster do-anything, be-anything WordPress theme option.
Divi Announces Built-In Split Testing – perfect for Opt-In Pages, Landing Pages, and Sales Pages
So many clients use programs such as Leadpages or ClickFunnels and many times those programs are used for the purpose of ease of use, built-in split testing and conversion rates. But, you also have a heavy price for these programs. With Divi’s most recent update, they now offer Divi Leads Split Testing and a conversion optimization system!
With Divi Leads Split Testing we can build amazingly beautiful custom landing pages using a simple WordPress Install with Divi. This is the effective landing page tool that I have been waiting for, because for me, this puts Divi in the category of Leadpages or ClickFunnels at a fraction of the price! The look and feel you see can be created in Divi, plus you have the benefit that it’s fully customizable.
The Divi Leads Split Testing also allows you to not only A/B test pages, but modules within pages, individual sections, or rows. The results are also very in-depth. This includes bounce rates, click-through rates, engagement rates and sales rates.
Complete Websites with Easy User Interface
Divi also can be more than marketing pages. It can be an entire website with ease in functionality that anyone can easily use. For those who want to be able to add or change their own content easily, this is the theme for you. The drag and drop interface is the easiest interface I have seen in my 20 years of experience.
Sometimes with easy interfaces, you lose the power of options. Not with Divi. It integrates with membership plugins, commerce plugins, and community components with ease. It’s used to build full blown powerful website designs. In February, Elegant Themes launched the ability to import Squarespace sites with minimum fuss, as well as a new feature – the dynamic help system which, if needed, Divi will troubleshoot itself and help find the problem and fix it, saving a lot of time and frustration.
The support that Divi has from the WordPress Community is huge and I only see the future being brighter as Elegant Themes continues to offer amazing add-ons, modules, and more tools such as the split testing piece that was just introduced.
by Amber Miller | Jan 2, 2016 | Blog, Blogging, Social Media
The American Dialect Society Declared “hashtag” (#, or hash) as the 2012 word of the year. Now that’s a social media force! This modest little symbol gives the user the ability to connect their conversations on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest and Google+. Hashtags allow social media users to “tag” key words or topics and make them into a searchable link. Hashtags present an extraordinary opportunity for business owners to identify relevant social media conversations and allows their content to be delivered to their desired audience.
What Is A Hashtag And How Do You Use Them?
Hashtags originated on Internet chat networks before they became popular on microblogging sites such as Twitter.
A hashtag contains a word or phrase followed by the “#” symbol. When a social media user uses hashtags to find particular words or topics, they will be able to view all the posts that contain that same word or topic. Creating your own hashtag can be a very powerful marketing tool. Your goal is to create a hashtag that will start trending among your followers and send a reminder of your business. So, how can you utilize hashtags to benefit your brand?
1. Strive for business –specific conversations. Take advantage of Twitters’s news, advice and business variety resources. Look to #smallbiz for small business advice, as this type of hashtag can provide a large number of results and the information it contains could inspire your next marketing tactic.
2. Consistency and Simplicity are best practice. When creating your own hashtags, it is important to consider keeping your tags simple and direct. Do not create long or complex hashtags. They are not search-friendly. You also need to keep in mind that weighing you tweets down with excessive hashtags will only make you look desperate to your followers. Keep it simple by using 1-2 hashtags per tweet.
3. Create your own hashtag. Hashtags are the perfect way to create buzz around your marketing campaign. Events are a great way to create conversation around a hashtag. So, get creative and develop your own business-specific hashtags.
4. Use hashtags to cross social media channels. Connect your different social media outlets and reach more people by using the same hashtag in each of these platforms. Imagine the number of people you can reach by using ALL of these platforms.
Things To Consider
- Don’t use more than two hashtags per post.
- Anyone can search and view your hashtag links if you use a public account.
- Never send spam with hashtags.
- Use relevant hashtags.
- Monitor hashtags to see how much activity it receive before you use them in your post.
- Don’t use spaces, commas, periods, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation points or any other special characters.
- Create a unique hashtag for your business.
- Follow trends and make use of them.
- Generate a buzz by offering a promotion or contest to get people talking about your brand. Users are more likely to retweet hashtags if you offer prizes to do so.
Which Social Media Platforms Support Hashtags?
1. Twitter: Twitter has been called the “birthplace of modern hashtag usage”. Hashtags via Twitter are generally used to represent specific topics of conversation. You can find an item called “Trends” on the Twitter sidebar that generates a list o f suggested hashtags based on your tweets.
2. Facebook: Facebook has supported hashtags for a couple years. Popularity on this site is not as prominent as on Twitter. Clicking on a Facebook hashtag will take you to a list of posts that contain the same hashtag. The results you see come from people you know, as well as those users you do not.
3. Instagram: Instagram hashtags are used to complement photographs. This also helps you to discover new accounts and may lead to you picking up additional followers. Instagram has also created specific hashtags to encourage certain photo posts. #ThrowbackThursday is used to encourage users to post old or “retro” photos.
4. Tumblr: Hashtags on Tumblr are not links when they are used within the body of the post but, instead posts have a “Tag” section that you enter your tags. Tags will function like those in Twitter and be organized by topic. The “#” will be inserted automatically.
5. Google+: Google gives you an option to search within Facebook and Twitter for specific tags. Clicking on a hashtag in Google+ will generate a list of search results that include the original hashtag and other posts that have related tags and keywords.
6. Pinterest: Pinterest hashtags are placed in a pin’s description allowing users to click on the link and be taken to a list of pins that may contain that hashtag. Keep in mind that not all hashtags are indexed. Pinterest can be a great social media marketing tool if you know how to optimize your pins. Use key words in your pin’s description. The pin should also come from a URL that has the keyword in it. Keywords should also be included in the picture’s file name.
The Hashtag, a once lonely keyboard character, is swiftly becoming the most powerful punctuation mark in human history. Harness the mighty marketing power of a Hashtag and watch your social media base flourish. You will be hashtagging like a pro in no time!
References
5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing. by Uri Bar-Joseph. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2327748/5-brilliant-ways-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing
How to Use Hashtags on Every Social Media Network. Michael Patterson. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-use-hashtags/
The Beginners Guide to the Hashtag. by Rebecca Hiscott. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/#HB7807Cbwu
by Amber Miller | Jun 29, 2015 | Blog, Featured, Infusionsoft
Considering taking your business to the next level with AUTOMATION? Don’t know where to start? Overwhelmed with all the options out there?
Here’s an informative, no-nonsense approach from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer©, that compares two popular systems: Ontraport vs. Infusionsoft.
http://thesaleswhisperer.com/office-autopilot-vs-infusionsoft-by-an-infusionsoft-consultant/.
We here at Smart to Finish are knowledgeable and experienced business automation experts, and we can help you make an informed decision on the direction to take your business automation!
by Amber Miller | May 21, 2015 | Blog, The Team
(Q) How big is your family?
(A) I was born in Longview, WA. I’m the youngest of 5 kids. YAY – the baby! The one that was spoiled the most. I moved to Arizona when I was 19 with a couple of friends and could never move back after realizing there are places where it doesn’t rain 10 months out of the year!! I got married when I was 23 and have two adult children who live nearby. Thankfully, my son still stops by weekly to do his laundry and my daughter visits often usually dropping off her dog while she is off on some adventure! I am begging, begging for grandchildren – but doesn’t look like it will be happening anytime soon. So, my daughter’s friend has a 5 year old girl and she visits us and calls and us grandma and grandpa, and we shop, play games, bake cookies – we love her as if she was our granddaughter!
(Q) What is one of the craziest thing to happen to you?
(A) I’ll start with one of the craziest things that ever happened to me – when my husband and I were dating we were at a park playing frisbee and he threw it too far and I ran to catch it and wrapped my entire body around a gigantic saguaro cactus! Had to be taken to ER and they contacted poison control because they had never seen so many needles stuck in a person. I was still pulling out needles weeks later that were embedded in my skin!! (Husband proposed to me shortly after that incidence—I’ve made him pay for it ever since!)
(Q) Do you have pets?
(A) After watching our daughter’s dog a few times, we fell in love with the boxer bread and now have two of our own. One is a boxer mix (not sure what the mix is) her name is Merlot. The other is all boxer—100 .lbs of boxer and his name is Brut. We got him as a puppy and he fits his name! We have learned when we leave them alone to shut all doors and put everything up high so they can’t reach it. Came home too many times to things shredded all over the living room!
(Q) Do you like cooking?
(A) I have never liked to cook. During the time we were raising our kids, my husband did all the cooking. I don’t know exactly why, but suddenly I started watching some cooking shows and wanted to chop things. For the past 3-4 years now I have loved cooking. I find it very relaxing. The hubby is happy to come home to a dinner that’s not chicken nuggets and fries anymore!
(Q) Favorite Television Show?
(A) I am addicted to reality TV. I know – it’s so wrong!! I can’t stop myself from watching any of the Real Housewives shows, Kardashians, Deadliest Catch (my FAV), Southern Charm, the list goes on and on….. I know, I know – my family says I need to seek help!
(Q) Favorite Restaurant?
(A) I love In and Out burger restaurant! Thankfully there is not one too close to me or I’d probably be there everyday and if you’ve seen me that would not be good!!
(Q) Do you like Movies?
(A) I love going to movies (I’ll be honest – it’s for the popcorn w/the white cheddar salt)! Since working at home the past few years – I love a slow afternoon when I can sneak away and go enjoy a good flix when there’s hardly anyone at the theater. Never thought I’d go see a movie alone, but I actually don’t mind (I know you’re thinking probably because you don’t have to share the popcorn … and you’re right!)
(Q) Favorite thing to do on the weekend?
(A) My brother-in-law has about 300 acres about 3 hours north of us and we love going up and camping on the weekends. The dogs love running free and I spend time reading and cooking…. And of course enjoying a little vino!
(Q)What is your favorite food/drink?
(A) Oh, speaking of vino – I have a love (well, maybe I should say major love) for wine that started from many business dinners with a previous manager who insisted that I needed to start drinking red wine. It’s healthy she would say. When I tried it I hated it – had to add ice to get it down. Well, I’m a red wine lover now – maybe too much, lol. Hence the name of my dogs! Even my kitchen is wine theme. My mother is moving from WA to AZ (a couple miles from my house) in the next few months. I have a feeling I’m going to need to start buying wine in BULK!
(Q) Tell us a little about your work history.
(A) I worked for 2 large financial institutions in the past 25 years and held various marketing roles. I have been working for Amber a little over a year and love learning the virtual assistant world and working with such great people. I look forward to many years to come!!
by Tina Walker | Mar 26, 2015 | 1Shopping Cart, Blog, Entrepreneur, Featured, Infusionsoft, Marketing
New Tax Rules for Selling to European Countries
If you haven’t heard, the European Union has new rules on value-added tax (VAT), which took effect on January 1.
To put it simply, ANY businesses selling digital goods and delivering them electronically to customers in European Union member countries will be required to collect and pay VAT based on the VAT rates of the country where the customer is located and does apply to businesses based outside the EU who sell to consumers in the EU.
So what does that mean to you? Well, if you are selling digital products to European Countries, it might be something you want to have us setup in your tax settings to collect the tax for those specific countries.
What are the consequences if you don’t? This is a new thing, so we are not sure on that and would probably advise asking your accountant.
If you want help with us setting up your shopping cart so that you are in compliance, contact us at assist@smarttofinish.com, we are happy to help.
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