Search Engine

Online marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, and as far as I know there aren’t any rules to say you can’t have fun doing it.

Everything your microbusiness needs to be an online success is contained within the next 4 points. Granted, it’s a bit simplified, but the basic idea is bang on. So read carefully and take these ideas to heart:

Step 1: Get WordPress

Forget about what anyone else tells you about websites, the Internet and search engines. Content is what drives search engine results and there’s no better content management tool than WordPress. Of course it does cost £0.00 so that may be a sticking point for some of you corporate types.

If the world wasn’t on the brink of destruction, WordPress would go down in history as one of the most important inventions of the 21st century. You can download a copy of WordPress from www.wordpress.org.

If you don’t like the default theme that ships with WordPress, you might want to spruce up your design. You can either download a free theme from themes.wordpress.net (or do a Google search for ‘free wordpress themes’), or you can buy a premium theme from diythemes, woothemes or from Brian Gardner’s Revolution Theme store (there are plenty more, but these are the cream of the crop). Alternatively you could hire me to design a custom theme for you. That’s a subtle hint that I’m for hire, in case you didn’t notice.

Step 2: Install some plugins

To get the most out of WordPress, you’ll need a few plugins. A WordPress plugin is a little piece of add-on software that helps your WordPress driven website achieve more, and act more like a Website than a blog. For most microbusinesses wanting to run a small website with a blog, consider activating Akismet to protect you from spam, and download cForms II, Sociable, Related posts and the All-in-one SEO pack. That’ll do for the time being.

Step 3: Learn SEO

It doesn’t matter if you know absolutely nothing about Search Engine Optimisation. You should still sign up to Aaron Wall’s SEObook training program. There’s never been a more comprehensive guide to understanding SEO. For those of you who don’t have the time to do the whole course, I suggest Aaron’s guide to Blog Optimisation (it’s shorter, and it’s free).

Step 4: Communicate

Now that you’ve got a website that can do backflips, you know all about SEO and your site looks pretty, you need to start blogging. If you still don’t know what a blog is, or how it can help your business, I recommend reading Problogger or Chris Garrett’s blog. Blogging is probably the most important marketing activity your microbusiness should be doing regularly. There’s never been a faster, more organic way to grow a business while still having fun.

Well, that’s it. Four simple steps to online success. Other than Aaron’s SEObook and a decent hosting account, you don’t need to spend a penny. You’ve still got a bit of time until CERN’s LHC makes the world disappear into a black hole, so unless you want to spend that time with friends and family you can achieve almost everything on this list. Good luck!

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