Tag: blogging

Promoting a Blog with RSS Feeds

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date November 1, 2016
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cloud of words or tags related to web design on a vintage slate blackboard with a chalk and cup of coffee

An RSS feed, or Really Simple Syndication feed, is a web-based news feed to ensure website subscribers are able to find new information as soon as possible. Typically, once an individual user has subscribed any new information added to the blog will be presented to the RSS feed subscriber. Depending on the RSS feed used, full text may be shown or just a summary.

RSS Autodiscovery

RSS autodiscovery is precisely what it sounds like. When this feature is added to the coding of an RSS feed, aggregators and browsers will be able to find content from the RSS feed and distribute it accordingly. Focusing on keywords and keeping content original will further enhance the visibility of your RSS feed.

FeedBurner Promotion

Launched in 2004, FeedBurner is a powerful feed management tool currently owned by Google. This unique tool gives a webmaster traffic analytics and access to an optional advertising system. Perhaps the most valuable service, FeedBurner allows users to track feed subscriptions.

Flipboard Integration

Cellphone users are undoubtedly familiar with the functionality of Flipboard as a news delivery service. When a user adds a complete RSS URL into the search functionality through the service, it will automatically be added to the Flipboard database. This can also be done through services such as dlvr.it.

Utilize RSS Directories

RSS directories function as a repository for RSS feeds. With nearly 400 directories and RSS search engines available, there are many opportunities to get your blog in front of potential customers or readers to further your reach. Many sites have compiled the available directories into an easily navigated directory.

If you are struggling with your social media content and outreach strategies, Skynet Solutions can help you succeed in this growing medium. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags blogging

Marketing

The Importance of Business Blogging

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date August 15, 2016
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Navigating the ins and outs of SEO and search engine indexing can seem like rocket science at times. The process of creating updated new content on the same pages over and over is a nearly impossible task, so other methods have to be implemented to drive traffic to a website. The two most common outlets for driving website traffic are blogs and social media. While social media is a separate entity that links back to a website, a blog can be an indexed addition to an existing website. Increased Traffic Having more pages on a website logically means that that website has more opportunity to appear in search results with a wide range of different, but relevant, content. By implementing a blog, the website will also continually be seen as updated by search engine crawlers. This process helps a website obtain higher search result placement. Social Media Crossover When a new blog is posted, it creates social media-ready content that can be shared by others who find the information valuable. New blog posts are also beneficial in delivering new content to social media outlets that link back to a website without constantly trying to formulate new, exciting posts. Since social media is a separate entity, a repository of blogs that have been posted to a website can be spread out over time on social media for continual content updates. Establishes Company Views If a company has the same viewpoints as their clients and customers, a blog can enhance the relationship between the two. When individuals that read the blog find value in the content, they are more likely to use the products or services offered by that website. Most blogs allow comment sections to enable real-time interaction with visitors. If your business is in need of professional, keyword-rich blog posts with valuable content customers will appreciate, call us today or contact us through our online form! We would love to help satisfy the blogging outreach needed to grow your business.

Tags blogging

Marketing

Building an Online Presence

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date July 18, 2016
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The perfect website that exhibits the personality of your brand has been built and filled with content reflecting your mission statement. Products or services you offer have been listed and are ripe for customers to begin utilizing them. However, without building an online presence, even the best startup company or website will remain in obscurity. Building an online presence can take time and dedication. It is rare that a product or brand will become an overnight success and many take years forming relationships with customers and building their image before they achieve success. With a few simple steps and persistence, brand and website owners can ensure they are on the correct path to success. Provide Valuable Content If a website cycles the same content over and over (I.e. products or services) and never adds new content to the site or related outlets, what is enticing clients to return to the site or new clients to check it out? The addition of a blog, podcast or video updates can provide consistent, new content across several mediums. Utilize Social Media Social media has made it easier than ever to connect with a target audience. In the past, businesses were less accessible to the general public. With social media consumers have the ability to voice their concerns, good or bad, about products. Social media platforms allow a broad reach with minimal effort; however, choosing social media platforms that fit your business and marketing model is key. The biggest draw for businesses to adapt to and utilize social media is that companies have the ability to humanize themselves and meet with people on an individual level. Consistency on social media channels through regular posting and replying to individual and community concerns can be the most helpful component in establishing an online presence. Track Progress By tracking website stats and social media engagement, businesses have the ability to see what works for their specific needs. With most social media platforms, tracking is done painlessly for you. Following website analytics and determining what has created peaks of consumer activity is invaluable for growing and maintaining an online presence.

Tags blogging, digital marketing, social media

Marketing

Advanced Pest Solutions Gets Website Overhaul

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date June 7, 2016
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We’ve been telling you the past couple weeks about some of the amazing new websites the team at Skynet Solutions has been creating and we have one more we want to share with you today. When Advanced Pest Solutions came to us for a website overhaul, we were excited to have the opportunity to work with them because of the great reputation they’ve built for themselves in Bartlesville. As a local, family-owned and operated pest control company, Advanced Pest Solutions is a staple of the Bartlesville community and provides quality pest control services for communities across Northeastern Oklahoma and Southeastern Kansas. Working with a company that has such a good reputation and strong ties to its community is always fun. However, it also presents a unique set of circumstances to work within. Many local, family-owned businesses, like Advanced Pest Solutions, have customers who have been using their services for years, decades even. And when they change something about their business, whether it’s the location or the hours or the website, they have to do it in a way that is accommodating to their old customers. But, as any business-owner knows, you also need to continually innovate and improve to attract new customers and stay ahead of your competition. Advanced Pest Solutions wanted a new website to be able to better attract new customers, as well as better serve their long-time customers. They needed a site that was clean and inviting, informative and easy to use and that would be easily recognized by their old customers, even in its new and improved form. Our team got to work developing a new website, designing new graphics and images and writing fresh content for the site, including an introductory blog post to help them get their blog page off the ground. Skynet Solutions also hosts the Advanced Pest Solutions website, so we can help them troubleshoot any technical issues they have. One of the skills our team prides itself on, is the ability to meet the varied and unique needs of any client. We’ve developed and designed websites and written blogs and website content for multiple pest control companies, including Arrow Exterminators, Emtec Pest Control and Xtreme Pest Management. However, we’ve manage to make each of these sites and all of their content and blogs unique and different. We tailor all of our work, no matter the size of the project, to the client and their specific needs. The ability to make interesting, relevant and unique websites and content for all of these clients shows the creativity of our design, development and content teams, as well as the personal attention to detail that you get when you work with Skynet Solutions. We take the time to meet with each client, to really listen to them, to learn what they want and need from their website and then have a discussion about the best way to achieve that creatively, functionally and within their budget. The Skynet Solutions team takes the time to get a feel for your company and how you want your business to be displayed. You know what you want customers to see, think and feel when they come to your website. It’s our job to make that vision a reality. As a small business, we understand that the perception customers have of you is extremely important, and we want to work closely with you to maintain and enhance the good reputation you’ve spent years building. When you spend as much time as you do running your business, serving customers, training employees and more, the last thing you need to be worrying about is whether your website is sending the same message. Do what you do best and keep your business powering ahead; leave the website to us. Get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with any design, development or marketing needs, including your online business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags blogging, Developement, google, graphic design, local business, New website, Online Developement, Online Presence, skynet, skynet solutions, small business, trouble shooting, web design, web development, web hosting, website design, website maintenance, website revision

Marketing

Skynet Solutions Helps Eufaula Cove Marina Set Sail

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date May 31, 2016
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Just in time for summer, Skynet Solutions helped Eufaula Cove Marina, one of Oklahoma’s best summer spots, launch a new and improved website. The new website, which is also hosted by Skynet Solutions, features new design and graphics to give it a cleaner look, a redesigned backend to make it easier for employees to use and customers to navigate and fresh content to provide all the relevant information for Marina visitors. Our content team also wrote an introductory, welcome blog post for the blog page on their site, to help Eufaula Cove Marina get their blogging efforts off the ground. Blogging is an overlook and often underutilized marketing resource for many small businesses that has many benefits. It gives you a free opportunity to promote your business, your products or services and any ongoing promotions or specials on your site and social media (we know how paid advertising can add up). It also gives you another chance to show your business’ personality and humanize your brand, which is important because people are more likely to use services or buy goods from a business they feel they have a personal connection with. Most importantly, however, blogging gives you a chance to regularly produce new website content. This is important because the more quality content you have on your site and the more often it is refreshed, the higher your website is going to be ranked in search engine results. It won’t happen overnight, but in time, regular blogging will improve SEO (search engine optimization). Google (the most used search engine) uses a complex algorithm to rank websites. But they have said that length and quality of content are big factors in that algorithm. The best thing for you to do is blog at least once a week, to include relevant links in your content and aim for your blog posts to be between 700 and 1,000 words long. Keeping your entire website, not just your blog, up to date is extremely important for any business, no matter your industry or your size. Did you know that the lifespan of a website is only about three years? Technology changes rapidly in the span of three years, meaning everything could be looking, and running, a little behind the times. Your website also might not be mobile friendly anymore, which is a huge roadblock to success—especially for a local business. According to Google, more searches now happen from mobile devices than laptops or desktops. And the majority of mobile searches are made with the hope of finding local results. What this all boils down to, is that if your website doesn’t work on mobile, it doesn’t work. No matter your business or your target clientele, customers are looking for you online, via mobile devices. And if they can’t find you, or they can’t use your website quickly and easily, they will go to a competitor who has a website that is easy to use from a mobile device. You work hard to make sure your business is as good as it can possibly be. And as the digital face of your company, your website should work just as hard to please your customers as you do. You want a website that looks good, has relevant information about your business that customers seek, loads quickly and is easy to use on every device under the sun! Take some time today to look at your business’ website and see if it is up-to-date. Is it mobile friendly? Is it less than three years old? Do the pages load quickly? If the answer to all three of these questions isn’t yes, it is definitely time for you to overhaul your site. In the meantime, you can always get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with any design, development or marketing needs, including your online business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Marketing

Cheat Sheet: Blog Ideas for Every Industry

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date April 26, 2016
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Even the best content writer has days where they feel like they can’t come up with any content ideas. This is especially true if you have to produce content multiple times a week or every day. No matter how well you know your industry, there comes a day where it feels like the well has run dry. That’s why we made this blog idea cheat sheet. These ideas can be applied to any company in any industry (seriously!), so bookmark this post for a that rainy day when you feel like you’ve hit the wall. Industry predictions:no matter what industry you’re in, there are innovations being made and new developments moving it forward. From software development to agriculture, there is no industry that isn’t constantly changing and developing. So, take a look at what these developments might be for your specific industry and create a post predicting where you see it going in the year ahead. Staff profiles:this is a great way for customers to get to know your company in a more personal way—and for you to get to know your coworkers better! Create a standard set of questions and then run through them with everyone at your office (or one person per department if you work in a large company). Ask questions like “how long have you worked at the company,” “what’s your favorite part of working here,” “did you think you’d work in this industry when you were little,” and “what’s the coolest/funniest story you have from your time here.” Then when you run out of content ideas you can post one of the profiles. Guest post:this is one of the easiest because you don’t have to do any writing at all! Invite someone else experienced and knowledgeable about your industry to write a guest post for you. Maybe this person is management at your company (if they can spare the time), a thought leader in your industry or a coworker from another part of the company who has a fresh perspective. Just make sure to look it over before posting. Even though it’s someone else’s writing, it’s still your reputation. Event preview: this is a great one for companies that host or participate in a lot of events. This doesn’t only apply to fancy, industry events. Is your company setting up a booth at the county fair? Blog about it! Not only does it give you a chance to promote your brand online and show off how knowledgeable you are (and involved in the community—bonus!), but it also makes people more likely to stop by your booth while they’re out at the fair. FAQ post:if you have customers, they ask questions. Whether you’re a pest control professional or a dentist or a jewelry maker, your clients have questions about what you do and how you do it. So round up the questions you seem to be asked most frequently and write a blog post with the answers! Book/movie review:did a book or movie recently come out that would be of interest to others in your industry or your customers? Read it/see it and write a review! Trend or current event story:if there’s something in the news that is relevant to your industry, write a blog about it. Odds are, your customers are seeing the same news story and will be wondering what you think about it, so get out ahead of it and let them know what you think in a blog. Plus, if it’s a really hot topic, it could bring more traffic to your site. How to or beginner’s guide post:nobody knows your industry better than you. Share some of that sage advice with others who are just getting started out. Take a toping in your field and great a beginner’s guide post. If you’re a baker, you could write, “The Beginner’s Guide to The Perfect Sugar Cookie.” Or if you’re in automotive repair, you could write, “The Beginner’s Guide to a Home Oil Change.” The possibilities are endless. If you need any help keeping up with your blogging requirements or updating your content, call the content creation experts at Skynet Solutions. We can write interesting, fresh content for any industry or business, as well as handling your social media and other marketing needs. Whether you’re targeting specific customers or just want to get the word out about your new business, we can handle it. We also have a talented development team who can build you anything from a basic website to custom software. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags blogging, content marketing

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