Web Resources | Everything you need to know to succeed online

By Beth Hrusch

Are you thinking about launching your business blog? You’re not alone. A recent study by GuideWireGroup revealed that approximately 89 percent of businesses polled use blogs as a way to communicate with their customers. In another survey, Burson-Marsteller found that 15% of Fortune 500 companies have blogs. A successful business blog can generate tens of thousands of dollars in revenue each year, with figures for large corporations typically much higher. continue »

By Brad Egeland

As you maintain and grow your small business, it’s important to keep continued focus on some of the solid practices that helped get you to where you are today. This list is intended to help you do that. continue »

By Monique Martin

With over 16 million visitors a day, no business, big or small, can afford to ignore YouTube. Behind only Google and Facebook, YouTube is third most popular site in the world. And, it’s a goldmine for the marketing savvy. Creating a quality instructional video is a simple and effective way to generate traffic and increase your brand awareness. continue »

By Buffy Cranford

If your marketing budget includes online advertising with affiliate networking Web sites, outlining a successful online Cost Per Action (CPA) plan is essential for increased profits. A CPA describes the price your business is willing to pay an affiliate marketing network for business leads. In this article we examine the basics of CPAs, pricing, marketing and successful CPA examples for getting the most out of your advertising dollars. continue »

By Samantha Gluck

Mobile device technology can be utilized by businesses to announce sales and promotional discounts to customers in their area. Consumers receive messages digitally on their mobile devices making the cost of delivery very low. Messages must add value to the customer’s life, offer attractive incentives and be customer focused. continue »

By Meredith Barnhill

The fastest growing market for Web-capable technology isn’t home computers or even laptops—it’s mobile products like smartphones and tablets. With Apple’s dominance in the mobile market with the iPhone and more recently the iPad, users are flocking to these non-Flash supporting devices. With millions of iPhones and iPads sold, Flash-based Web sites are scrambling to accommodate this growing demographic by utilizing HTML5. continue »

By David Hurley

While it is important to get your pay per click (PPC) ad seen and even more important to get visitors to click on your ad, those aims pale in comparison with your conversion rate. There are simple tricks that can be used to optimize your pay per click advertising efforts, but they are tricks that are often overlooked. continue »

By Meredith Barnhill

To create a business presence in today’s market, you have to have a Web site; however, a poorly designed Web site is almost as bad as having no Web site. There are several common design mistakes that can be easily avoided. continue »

By Melissa J Luther

Congratulations, your business has grown to the point that you need a dedicated server for your Web site. This is great news for your business, but it does increase your server management responsibilities. For one thing, you are no longer restricted to your Web host’s choice of control panel, so you will need to choose one yourself. There are many control panels available, but the two most popular are cPanel and Plesk. The best one for you will depend on your needs. continue »

By Melissa J Luther

In early April 2010, Apple announced its newest “product,” the iAd. As with everything Apple, speculation ran rampant for weeks before the unveiling. What would it be? How would it work? Would it finally knock Google out of its dominant position in online advertising?

Unfortunately, the details are still sketchy and, since the service doesn’t launch until June, it will be a while before we can gauge the true impact. continue »