Engaging Your Online Customers For Better Sales
May 11, 2012
It is becoming increasingly important for businesses to engage their customers online. Blatant online advertizing is not likely to work as well as interacting with the online community of your customers. Enlisted below are some of the most effective ways to take your marketing strategies to the next level by using your prospective and existing customers as a marketing tool.
- Social networking-It goes without saying that social networking is the single most effective way of engaging your customers. The three top social networking sites with the most active user bases are Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Make sure that you have an active profile on each of these sites, and keep posting pictures and updates that would appeal to your target audience. Creating a profile on these sites and making no effort to keep it going does not make a lot of sense, and will do nothing for your business.
- Encourage user-generated content on your website- Create a blog that is relevant to what you sell, and allow users to submit their own articles to be posted on it. This will create a feeling of belongingness, and is a great way to keep them coming back to your website.
- Create a forum for your users- Having a forum on your website, where users can discuss your products and services is a great way to create an online community, and encourage inter-customer relationships, which will translate into increased customer loyalty.
- Send personalized mails- Shooting across a duplicate promotional mail to all your customers is not going to work, considering that just a fraction of these mails get opened, thanks to increased consumer awareness. A better idea would be to send a personalized mail that starts with Dear (Customer’s name), and actually conveys something that the customer would be interested in. It definitely is worth the effort.
- Reward your customers- Sending out special offers and discounts that are only applicable for existing customers is a fantastic way of telling them how much you value them. Go that extra mile by devising thoughtful rewards that the customers will truly value.
- Lastly, remember that the first person who needs to believe in your strategies is you! These words by New York sales trainer Wendy Weiss, author of Cold Calling for Women say it best- “Fear of rejection is the biggest thing that holds people back but you have to take it out of the realm of the personal.”
For effective Online Marketing, SEO, Web Development Services in Austin, Dallas and Killeen Texas. Call us at Killeen (254-213-4740) or Dallas (972-851-7878) Office.
Google Penguin Update- What It Is All About?
May 4, 2012
‘Google penguin update’ is a term that anyone who is into website optimization, or even works with a website for that matter, is sure to be familiar with. But what exactly does this term imply, and how can you safeguard your website from its effects?
Well, the Google Penguin is a recent update, which is the next level of the famous Panda update. The Google Panda and Penguin can be considered as advanced levels of countering web spam through automated and human effort.
The panda update was a major change that was introduced in Google’s search engine ranking mechanism in February, 2011. Prior to its introduction, websites were ranked purely by artificial intelligence, which used predefined algorithms to decide which sites were most relevant to the user’s search. Search Engine Optimization, better known as SEO, came into play, with webmasters finding an easy way of hoodwinking Google, simply by stuffing keywords into spam content.
While this worked for a while, Google found a smart way to tackle it, with the introduction of the panda update. This mechanism incorporated advanced algorithm into the website ranking process, by using factors like authenticity, relevance, and usability. It was judged that whether user’s would return to the website again for information and penalized copy-pasted content. The Artificial Intelligence then mimicked these criterions, leading to a ranking system that favored sites with fresh and meaningful content over spam sites.
This change affected a whopping 12 percent of search results. Just when webmasters had found a way to tackle the Panda, Google has hit the online world with another update- The Penguin. The Google penguin went live on April 27, Friday, and takes Google’s attempts to eliminate spam to the next level. The websites that are most likely to suffer with this update are those that place optimization above usability.
Here are the 5 top don’ts if you wish to stay unfazed by this update-
- Stuffing keywords meaninglessly into content.
- Hiding text with keywords against a white background to tackle search engines, but not users.
- Showing a different IP address to users, and a different one to search engines, to cloak the actual country in which the website is based.
- Paying people to link users to your website.
- Using duplicate content on your website.
Even though Google has announced that this update is likely to affect only 3% of the queries, it in no way means that you should take it lightly.
We at Centex Technologies work on natural and manual SEO processes to rank websites on Top Search Engine Ranks. For more information on our SEO packages, feel free to call us at feel free to call us at Killeen (254-213-4740) or Dallas (972-851-7878) Office.
Pinterest.com: What It Is? How It Can Be Used To Promote Businesses
April 26, 2012
If ‘social networking’ makes you think ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’, it might be time for you to move on! That’s not to say that these popular websites are becoming passé, but they are definitely suffering from an element of user fatigue. The new kid on the block is ‘Pinterest,’ an interactive social photo-sharing website, which gives users a chance to pin images of anything they wish to, and re-pin any images that might be of their interest.
Put simply, the website is like a board that you could have in your living room, or office reception, on which you could pin articles, pictures, notes, reminders, or simply a newspaper clipping that you found interesting. Pinterest allows you to do just that, only that this ‘board’ is visible to all the users on the site. The concept is quickly gaining popularity, with Pinterest being labeled as the ‘fastest growing social service in the world’.
What the website is basically doing, is replacing content with images. There is nothing new about the fact that images and visuals are more captivating to the human eye than blocks of text. Pinterest allows you to bank on this fact, and use it to the advantage of your business. Just as Facebook and Twitter have proven to be a great marketing tool for SMEs, Pinterest is also emerging as a lucrative option for business enterprises for drawing attention to the products that they have on offer.
The great thing about it is that you do not need to invest all the time and effort that goes into delivering your message through words that will grasp the attention of the users. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words! That’s exactly what you are doing on Pinterest- letting the images do all the talking. However, Pinterest is about a lot more than simply posting images of your products online. With a little more innovation, there are endless ways that you can draw attention to your business, and allow make sure that users re-pin your pins.
The basic concept is getting as many re-pins and likes as possible, since each time your pin is re-pinned, a link to your home page. You can create different boards with varying themes, based on user behavior, by taking into account what exactly users want to see when they visit the website. You can also organize surveys, hold contests, and promote offers using the website. So get yourself an invite on Pinterest, and start pinning now!
Website Promotion Strategies For Austin Businesses.
April 20, 2012
Austin Tx is one of the prominent commercial hubs of Central Texas. With wide range of businesses operating from Austin, it is one of the most preferred commerce destinations. The growth of businesses in Austin has increased the level of competition among various businesses. Specially if you own a locally operated business, you need to be on top of your competition to make excellent profits. As a business owner, you need to reach maximum number of potential customers and showcase your products and services in an effective manner. In place like Austin, presence over internet can do wonders for you as people here tend to look for various services and products online. They use internet search engines and various other web portals to find information about what they need. This makes internet promotions a must thing for all businesses.
Depending on the business type and targeted customer’s profile, internet promotion campaigns are to be strategized. For some basic Google Places listings can prove to be immensely profitable while for some, Search Engine Optimization strategies can lead to higher sales. As the aim is to reach maximum number of targeted customers, keywords based Search Engine Optimization or SEO makes sure that you rank on top Search Engine Results for specific terms. Other promotional strategies that can work brilliantly for Austin businesses include Social Bookmarking, Local Business Submissions and Business Directory Listings. All these jobs are specialized ones and should be done only when you are sure you are doing it all in the right manner. As search engines are quick to impose search rank penalties on business websites that are indulged in spamming, you have to make sure that you are using the right methods of doing the same.
Rather than doing it yourself, you can hire a specialized internet marketing and SEO company that can take care of your SEO, Internet Promotions, Google Places Optimization, Local Business Directory Submissions, and Social Book Marking etc in an effective manner, taking care of not being penalized by Search Engines.
We at Centex Technologies with office locations in Killeen and Dallas have years of experience in strategizing and managing various SEO and Internet Marketing Campaigns. For more information on how you can increase your web presence and generate higher ROI, feel free to call us at Killeen (254-213-4740) or Dallas (972-851-7878) Office.
Computer Network Security – All You Need To Know
April 12, 2012
Most workplaces these days make use of computers to run their daily operations. There is a great degree of reliability on computers for all kinds of operational as well as record keeping activities and many companies find it impossible to function without these time saving devices. In large organizations, there is generally a network of computers that is linked together via LAN or any other form of network to facilitate the flow of data and other information throughout the organization. There are several technical aspects that must be kept in mind in order to keep your company data safe from virus or unethical hacking attacks from outside parties.
Information related to customer accounts, financial data, and confidential client related information tends to be stored in the form of computer records which, if leaked out can pose a significant threat to the reputation of the company in the market and shake the investor interest. This in turn can threaten the very existence of the company and lead to huge losses. Thus having adequate computer network security in place is a pre-requisite for all organizations using computers for their daily activities.
There are different anti-virus software available on the internet that may be downloaded to provide a basic level of protection to your company records. However, simply having basic anti-virus software is not enough. You also need to have a firewall in place to keep hacking attacks at bay. There are several kinds of sophisticated viruses that may be able to break through an anti-virus shield but may find it difficult to traverse through a firewall. A firewall can be used as an effective shield for protection of crucial information against attacks by outsiders.
Not having an adequate amount of security in place can prove to be quite detrimental for your business and hamper all activities as there are certain viruses, trojans or spywares that, apart from stealing data may also erase it from your systems or alter it in ways that make it useless for you. Your systems thus need to be protected against such attacks that can bring all business activities to a standstill and cause colossal damages.
For more information on complete computer network protection and for setting up network system for your office, visit us at Centex Technologies. We provide IT support, Web Development, Website Design, SEO and Computer Network Solutions to our clients in Austin, Killeen and Dallas.
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I am a Managing Partner of Centex Technologies Microsoft Small Business Specialist, Certified E-Commerce Consultant, Certified Ethical Hacker, Certified Fraud Examiner, Virtual Instructor and an IT Consultant/Speaker on IT Security, Networking, Small Business Architect, & SEO Internet Marketing. Certifications
