How to earn quality links and understand Google Analytics

Months ago, I had no idea that links were so important to an online business. Even shortly into learning about business and marketing I would not have thought that links would be as big of a priority as they are. I thought that it was somewhat of a passive thing that people would link to you or share your content if they liked it and if they felt like it. I have since learned though, that links can make a big difference to a website and business.

I have learned that one of the big reasons that links are so important is because it brings with it a sense of confidence and trust from others who like what they are seeing and are willing to put their name behind it. The more people and organizations that do this, the better impression new visitors and customers will have of the company or website. I also think one thing that is super important in quality links is to just be authentic and real. Don’t try to make your website seem like something that it’s not. Just be the best at what you are, and those who like that will share it and link to it.

Google Analytics is also something that can be very confusing but important to understand. There is a lot of information that is stored in an Analytics account, and some of it might seem silly or pointless to you. That’s okay. Let the information be stored, because you never know when it will be helpful for you to have that information. And if you never end up needing it, that’s okay too. At least you weren’t wanting it when you didn’t have it. And if later on in your business you really want to look up a statistic or certain information, it’s available to you. Learn what you want to track and what the numbers mean, and it will be better for you and your business.

Social Media and SEO

Search Engine Optimization has always been very interesting to me. The concept of a program or machine crawling through the internet to learn what is out there to be able to suggest and recommend websites and services to individuals is pretty cool. I have learned that it is not good enough to just have good content or a well designed website. When it comes to SEO and people finding you on their own (as opposed to a friend telling them about it), you need to have the right words in the right places in the right quantities to get noticed. I do believe that SEO is something that you need to find the right balance of. You need enough keywords to be noticed by the crawlers, but not too much to look unrealistic or phony.

Social Media is also interesting for me. I have never been one to jump on all of the social media trains, but I am learning just how helpful they can be, especially for a website and business. People like social media, and having a social media presence can be a good sign to those who enjoy that and like to follow businesses on their preferred social media.

Website Optimization and SEO

I love learning about how to make a website more optimized and user friendly! There are so many things that are not that difficult to do, that make a website so much more appealing and user friendly.

One of my favorite things I’ve learned about SEO is that keywords are important but not to be used in excess. Having keywords that succinctly describe your website and what the purpose of it is can greatly help bots that crawl websites to know what your website is about and who to suggest and recommend it to. These keywords can be in the title of your website, the title in the HTML code, in the pictures and images on your site and many more places. Finding those places will make a difference in how the website performs.

I also enjoyed learning about landing page optimization this week and realizing that it is not good enough to just have a great looking website; it needs to be what the customer/visitor is wanting and expecting at the time that they see it. If it’s not what they are expecting, they are much less likely to look more into it no matter how fantastic it is.

Navigating ROI, Conversion Tracking and Ad Optimization

Learning about ROI and really diving into that topic has been so interesting for me! I had heard the term ROI, and I knew generally what it meant, but studying more about what constitutes an investment and such has been pretty cool. I have learned that it is not only about the fact that my business is earning money, but how much money I am making each time plays an effect into my ROI.

Conversion tracking is also something that I found to be more than I originally thought. At the outset, conversion tracking is fairly common sense; as you watch your website and how it’s performing, you look at how many conversions you are getting for the work that your website and ads are doing, and assess accordingly. I learned though, that there are different ways to measure what a conversion is, and finding out the best way, as well as learning how to read the data from Google Analytics takes some work.

I also enjoyed learning about how to optimize my ads and make them more relevant and eye-catching to hopefully convince visitors to click on my ad and purchase my product. There are so many things that I can do, and I look forward to making small changes to continuously improve my ads and quality score.

Learning how to use the Quality Score of your website with Google Analytics

The Quality Score is a very useful tool to have for your website. It helps to give you an idea of how your ads really are doing, and then change and tweak things to improve if needed. Google Analytics is also a very useful tool to use for your website. With Google Analytics, you can learn where most of your visitors are located, what time of day they are visiting your website, which pages they are spending more time on, what they are clicking on, etc. Together, these two tools can make a huge difference in how your website and business do.

I think one of the coolest things about Google Analytics is being able to have your website a certain way, and track how everything is doing, and then change little things as you feel the need to improve. It is very unlikely that the website will be perfect the first time, and being able to track regularly, and change things will give you more confidence in your website and being able to make it better. It is a lot more freeing to have that option.

How to make compelling text ads

There is a lot of complexity when it comes to creating ads on Google. In order to be as successful as possible, the ad needs to be simple and concise. It also needs to tell enough information to catch the attention of the potential customer. It won’t work if it is too short, even though it falls into the category of being simple and concise. It needs both. That is what makes it tricky and interesting.

I like to think of it as a form of a mind-reading game. The main questions to consider are: “What will make the visitor notice my ad?”, “What will intrigue them to click on my website?”, and “What will make it hard for them resist buying my product?”. As business owners who have an online presence, we believe in our product, and we know how awesome it is. It is our job to figure out what will make others realize that also.

This comes through a great deal of trial and error. We will create a variety of ads, and put them out into the world and will wait patiently as we start getting results of our work. After some time, we will be able to see what works and what doesn’t and continue to tweak things as time goes on to make our ads as successful as possible.

The Magic of Keywords and Ad Campaigns

At first glance, keywords seem pretty simple and easy to understand. But, after researching and learning about positive keywords and negative keywords and everything else that they entail, I have learned there is so much more to them than I first thought.

I thought it was very interesting to read and learn about negative keywords; it’s something that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. It makes sense though, that there would be some words that are very similar to your website and product, but have absolutely nothing to do with it, and these words should be avoided in your campaigns. If not, you are just spending money on ads that people will see who don’t want your product, and your money becomes pointless. At best, the visitor will just leave your website. But, this might cause them to be annoyed or irritated about your website. There is a chance that the visitor will then have an aversion to your website, and never want to visit again or mention it to others because of the irritation. So, it is best to provide these negative keywords so that those people will not even come across something that they perceive as a waste of their time.

These were some very interesting topics, and I am glad that I was able to learn a little more and expand my knowledge of Ad Campaigns, Keywords, and how they affect an online business.

Learning how to navigate the world of legality, licenses and taxes

Wow! Just wow! There is so much to take in when it comes to deciding on a legal structure for your business, the licenses that are needed and why and how to incorporate it all.

First off, legal structure. I had no idea there were so many! I had heard of partnerships, corporations, LLC’s, etc. before, but I did not understand that they were different ways of setting up a business. It was a little difficult to find quality information that would help me, but I did find it interesting to learn about the differences between them all and what they can each offer to a business. I was able to learn enough to decide on a legal structure that I believe will be good for me at this time.

And then, licenses and taxes. Boy are there a lot of them! This was honestly pretty difficult and slightly frustrating for me to research. I felt like I would find some good information, and would start reading through it, to find that it didn’t actually answer my question. I found some very interesting things, and it definitely opened my mind to this new world that I honestly hadn’t really considered before this, but I felt that I was reading and learning just for the sake of reading and learning; I wasn’t actually getting anywhere with my research. After spending some time trying to find answers, I decided to ask my neighbor (who owns his own business, and would know the answers I was seeking) if he could help me understand the world of creating and owning my own business. I explained to him what had been going on, and he was able to help me with the things that I really wanted to know. He cut through some of the interesting, but not really relevant for me, information that I had come across and was able to help me with my questions.

Lessons learned this week: spend some time reading and researching so that your mind is open and ready, and then if questions aren’t answered as you want them to, find someone you know who can help explain it to you personally.

How to design a site and convince people to give you their money

Thinking about how to design my website is a little intimidating for me. I like design, and I like to make things look good, but how do I make sure that people other than me like it? What if I like it, and others’ think it’s just “meh”? I do absolutely love learning about this, and I am so excited to make something and then spend the time tweaking and refining it until it is something that I really like and am proud of, and something that others’ will be drawn to as well.

I know that I am a very visual person, and I will leave a site if I don’t like the look of it or the vibe that it gives off, and I know others are that way too. I’m working on my website design and content, and making sure that it is on track with my goals.

Now, learning how to convince people to give me their money…. That’s a little bit more tricky. 😛 It’s not only about having a good, solid product, but being able to market it the right way and make the customer feel a connection to it so that they decide to buy it. I am excited to work on this and try to find the correct way to do this!

Choosing a good Site Builder and Host

I have learned that there are so many different Site Builders and Hosts available to use for an online business, and it can actually be very overwhelming. I had a hard time trying to decide which ones I even wanted to research. It ultimately came down to the ones that sounded familiar to me and the ones that I had heard good things about. I enjoyed reading through different Site Builders and Hosts and learning the unique things that they offer and putting the puzzle pieces together on which ones I want to use.

One thing that I realized in my research is that there are many companies that are both a Site Builder and a Host, which I think is very cool and very convenient. I realize that there are so many people who know HTML and CSS and back-end languages and are able to code their own website however they want, but I also appreciate that this niche has been created for people who don’t know those languages to be able to create and customize their website how they want it. It is very freeing to have this option that anybody can learn these skills without taking years to learn and master the languages.