The secret’s out that social media can be used to the advantage of businesses and organizations of just about all walks. And even though for some owners the details are still sparse and the benefits are unclear, there’s a growing willingness to open up shop in an unfamiliar land. As long as it will pay off.

So does it pay off?
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If, as we’ve suggested before, the pages of “static” content on your website are the conference room, think of your blog as the reception area of your office where engaging with new and existing customers is a bit more relaxed and personal.

We’ve talked about the tone of blogging, and some points to remember when communicating with your audience via this medium, but today it’s all about the details. Assuming you already know what you want to say, and approximately how you want to say it, now it’s time to get it onto the page.
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Last week we set a foundation for ranking higher in Google, namely by familiarizing ourselves with some basics of keyword ranking. Today in the second half, we’ll briefly look at three ways to start influencing search engines, particularly Google, to rank your site higher for your targeted keywords. There’s a lot more that space doesn’t allow us to get into now, but for most beginners, this is a good place to start.
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Whether your purpose is to make money, endorse a cause, or cast a vision to the masses, if you own a website you want it to be as successful as possible. And one of the most ubiquitous ways of measuring success relates to how your site ranks in Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages). As such, just about every website owner has asked at one time or another, “How do I rank higher in Google?”
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We met with a new client recently who runs a brick and mortar retail store, and with the help of a Magento ecommerce solution we’ll be implementing for them, they will soon be reaching a bigger market online.

We weren’t surprised to learn that this client was open, even excited, about the potential of using email to reach new buyers. When used as part of a cohesive Internet marketing strategy, email marketing (e-newsletters, e-blasts, etc) are an effective – and sometimes, lucrative – way to bring specific messages to specific audiences.

Here at August Ash, anytime we include something as part of a comprehensive SEM plan, we begin with a strategy, and email marketing is no exception. If you’re entertaining the possibility of beginning a new email campaign, or refocusing an existing one, consider the following.
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Whether or not your organization currently has a blog in place, your first job is to determine if you need one. Not every business will benefit from a blog because not every business has something they want to tell people three times a week…or even twice a month. If yours is that business, acknowledge it and move on to a form of marketing that better serves your site.

As you seek to discover whether or not your organization can use a blog to help achieve its goals, you may find yourself coming to a determination of the blog’s purpose. It’s difficult to say what will matter most in the success of your blog, but without a clear, maintainable purpose, your blog will almost certainly not achieve greatness.

Regardless of how simple or silly some of the most popular blogs in the world seem to be, you can be sure that there is a clear purpose behind each one.
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Blogging has become so accessible that now anyone can join in. The sometimes frustrating side of this coin, however, is that…now anyone can join in.

Not everyone can do it well, though. And like a lot of other things in competitive areas, there’s a certain degree of natural selection at work, where those who produce average content get overlooked, and those who can deliver something remarkable gradually get nudged to the top.
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