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Google Tip for Your Site’s Title Tag HTML SEO

October 25, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Understanding how to write your site’s title tag HTML SEO is important.

The title tag is the line that you fill in, in your settings, that describes what your site is all about. After your url, it is the second thing Google reads.

Google only reads the first 55 characters of your website’s title tag, make sure that you list what your business does first, and then your business name second. Most people do it the other way around, and it is a mistake.

For example, if you are a realtor in Pasadena, California, your website’s title tag should be:

Top Real Estate Agent Pasadena California | Jane Doe Realty

Also include your city in your title tag if the majority of your business is local.

If you are an online wedding store, your website’s title tag should be:

Wedding Dresses & Bridal Gowns Online | The Bridal Shop

Again, make your title tag descriptive of what you sell, including at least one of the most searched adjectives for what you sell.

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

I also have a wide variety of business & marketing downloads you can check out at my Shopify store.

Why You Need Many Sources of Traffic

October 11, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

A lot of people come to me and wonder why traffic to their website, blog or online shop is low or decreasing, and it is typically because they have only one main source of traffic. Your traffic should always be a mix from search engines (organic), referral links, blogs, email marketing, advertising, social media and publicity. These are the main ones, but there are others as well. Review your marketing mix of traffic sources and make sure you are not totally reliant on one. If it goes down, so does your business.

Also to Read:

Easy Local Publicity Opportunity

October 4, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

If you are not approaching your local newspaper’s business writer NOW with a story pitch on how to include your small business in any articles they are planning for Small Business Saturday (November 30th) you are missing out on a huge opportunity – so do this TODAY !

If you are a new business, you could pitch a story about how you are trying to get the business off the ground. If you are an established business, you could pitch a story about how things have changed since you started. Maybe you just want to pitch a story about a major special you will be offering that day, or an event you will be hosting.

Just find an interesting angle, and pitch the story.

Also to Read:

©2019 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Two Sales Tips for Quick Sales

September 27, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Have you ever tried running a 24-hour sale? They truly are the most effective type of sales promotion because they get people to act quickly, especially if there is a tick down showing how much time there is left before the sale ends. Another key sales trick is to say “limited stock” or “only 10 left” or “selling out quickly”. This too will get people to act.

Also to Read:

Cool Promotional Item Idea

September 20, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Believe it or not,custom hair scrunchies that have your business name on them are a hot sales promotional item, according to the Advertising Specialty Institute. Ideal for dance studios, spas, camps, sports teams and gymnastics clubs, even restaurants for servers to wear or as gifts with purchase for makeup and skin care brands.

Sunday Marketing Blast

September 13, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

My tip of the week …If you are running online ads, such as Google or Microsoft ads, always make sure to consistently check and eliminate any negative keywords. You don’t want to pay for clicks that are completely irrelevant.

Ad tip … Google Shopping Ads have a 2% conversion rate, which is a pretty good return. Wordstream has a very informative post on how to maximize these ad campaigns.

Hot trend ... interesting news for fashion businesses as Google released data this week that found that, from the U.S. to India, searches for comfortable attire like loafers and oversized garments are on the rise while searches for clothing like high heels and anything slim fitting are on the decline.

Sales opp … consider selling on Amazon’s Bargain Finds if you have low priced items, where everything is under $20.

Need to know … interesting article about Etsy’s sellers growing frustrations with the marketplace on Vox.

Must read … Small Business Saturday (November 30th) is a huge opportunity for small businesses, so start preparing now with my extensive SBS tips, advice and ideas.

Remember to sign up for my emails so that you never miss a post!

Tips to Make Your Product Photos More Effective

September 3, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Do you find that people don’t read anymore? I have purposely been trying to make my blog posts shorter and use more bullet points because today’s society has no time to read, even if it is useable information.

However, people will look at photos. So a tip that I always give my e-commerce clients, is to use their product photos more effectively – with headlines, size scales and flyouts that point out key features. The goal is to treat each product photo like an ad. I found some good examples on Amazon.

Add Headlines to Photos

Adding a headline to a product photo can be very effective. For example, take a look at this photo from O Naturals:

tips for making product photos more effective

Now, even this might be too much text on one photo, but it is the right idea to make headings out of the main things a customer would want to know. I would actually consider making each of these points a single headline on six different photo slides.

Add Size Scales to Photos

Have you ever had someone return an item because it ended up not being the size they thought. I saw this photo from a company called Aienid and thought they did a pretty good job of answering all size questions (among other things, such as the closure), right in the photo:

tips for making product photos more effective

Add Flyouts to Photos

Flyouts that zero in on certain features on the product itself, are also a good idea, as seen in this product photo from dog collar company, Kurgo:

tips for making product photos more effective

Now, always leave one product photo with no text on it for editorial purposes, but otherwise, start taking the text from your descriptions and add it to your photos to see if it results in more sales conversions and fewer returns.

Also to Read:

Sunday Marketing Blast

August 23, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Another Sunday Marketing Blast with ideas and inspiration for small business owners.

Hot trend … mystery boxes are the hot item on Etsy and eBay.

Top sellers … diamond jewelry is in big demand with millennials, particularly single women. If you sell diamond jewelry, you need to read the De Beers’ Insight Report. One key fact is that millennials account for 60% of the demand for diamond jewelry in the US and almost 80% in China, and there is significant growth of single women buying diamonds for themselves.

Marketing tip … step up your video marketing. ImpactBND states that 70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video, 72% of businesses say video has improved their conversion rate, and 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions.

Sales channels … retail is not dead, just youth-oriented. According to a recent survey by Bronto, 98 percent of Gen Zers (born 1995 and later) shop in stores at least once per week, compared to 56 percent of millennials, 44 percent of Gen Xers and 27 percent of baby boomers.

Must read … be sure to read my article 6 Easy Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back to Your Retail Store.

Must read … wondering where to sell online. Read my newly updated post, 50+ online selling sites and marketplaces.

Never Miss a Post! Remember to sign up to get them by email.

How to Market on Instagram

August 20, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

how to market on instagram With the release of my Instagram Planner I wanted to give you a few basic tips on how to market on Instagram.

While I have been using Instagram and helping clients with it for a while now, I actually only opened my own Instagram profile at the start of 2020. This is because, as you all know, social media takes a lot of time and effort, and being a one-person business, I simply don’t have that much time to spend on it. But for those of you who do, here are some tips of mine to make it work better for your business.

Create a Descriptive Instagram Name

The first mistake so many businesses make is not creating a descriptive Instagram name. I don’t mean username, which should be your business name, but your name. For example, my Instagram “username” is attention.getting, but my “name” below (the line in bold) gives insight as to what my business is about.

The reason I did this is because this line gets seen whenever you show up in someone’s followers’ list. It acts like an ad telling people what your business is all about, so make it descriptive to peak people’s curiosity.

Write a Descriptive Instagram Bio

You only have 140 characters, so be concise and accurately describe either your business, or the type of content your followers will see should they decide to follow you. Point form is a good idea. You can use emojis, but don’t overdo it or you will look like a 11-year old girl.

Links In Your Profile

I come across so many Instagram profiles that do not link to back to their business. Since you cannot link within a post, it is so important to link here. You can use an app like linktr.ee because you can then use this as a launchpad to give people several links of yours – from your shop to a blog to a blog post. It is only $5 a month.

Follow People Who Follow Your Competitors

An easy way to find sales leads is to start by following people who follow your competitors. Obviously, if they like their products and services, they might like yours too.

Add URL to Post Images

Again, since Instagram does not allow you to link directly from your post, it is a good idea to try and include your url on your post images. It also helps if someone comes upon your image in a search, they then know where to find you.

Engage with Comments

Search on Instagram using a # and the word you think is relevant to your customers i.e. #bride. Then like the post and leave a short but nice comment. It will get their attention.

Use the DM

Direct Messaging (or DM) is a way to reach out to people who have followed you, and thank them for following by giving them a special offer. Who doesn’t love a special offer? But just once, don’t keep bothering them.

Use “Suggestions for You”

In the right side bar Instagram will give you suggestions of who to follow. I advise following anyone who looks like they could be a potential customer and indicates that they are new to Instagram. Reason being, new people are more likely to follow you back.

Throw Branding Rules Out the Window

I never normally say this as a marketer, but social media is a different animal. If all of your posts use the same background, colors and fonts, (because you are trying to create brand awareness) the problem is that they will become white noise to your followers. In other words, your followers are going to swipe past it in their feed because it looks familiar, so they think they have already read it. Change up your look up to keep people interested.

Want to Learn More?

Plan your Instagram strategy using my 17-page Instagram Planner
400 Instagram Caption Ideas
How to Set up an Etsy Shop in 15 Easy Steps

Etsy Holiday Marketing Tips

July 25, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver

It’s that time of year! My Etsy 2019 Holiday Planner is just out and this year it is bigger and better than ever!

Featuring 23 jam-packed pages of ideas, inspiration, trends, advice, SEO research, worksheets, planner pages and much much more so that your shop can really maximize holiday sales! Below is a sneak peak with three hot tips from the planner.

- SEO: Did you know that searches for red dresses, red shoes, red jewelry, red tablecloths and red nail polish are highest in November and December? So take advantage of searches for this holiday color and maybe even add a red product into your product line.
- Promoted Listings: Do not run Etsy Promoted Listings on every item in your shop. For example, do not run them on seasonal items such as spring items, Easter items, etc. Also, do not run them on listings that have a sales conversion rate of less than 1% (divide orders by visits). As you are paying for clicks, if there is a low chance the click will result in a sale, your ad results will not be as successful.
- Memorable Package Inserts: In each product package include a beautifully printed recipe card that has a Christmas cookie recipe on it. Make sure it also has your shop information on the back or at the bottom. This way when the customer pulls this recipe out every Christmas, they will remember your shop!

Attention Getting

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