Category: Digital Marketing

Often time’s people think that a website is fairly simple; you just make some pretty pictures and put them on the web. Yes! Yes, you can.

But a good web site is a little harder…

Most times people don’t really know what is involved with designing a web site, and that’s fine, that’s my job. But when they don’t know what information they need in order for me to do my job… well then we have a problem.

So, here I am, telling you what you need. I have a list of the most common pieces of information that I need. This is not a comprehensive list, rather a beginning one. It would be best if you could at least sit down and gather all of this information before calling your web professional. If you don’t have all these things, don’t create them. Often time’s the hardest battles are trying to redo the work someone else did because they were in a hurry or didn’t know what they were doing. When something is done incorrectly, it takes 2 to 3 times longer to fix it.

1. Domain Name
   1. If you don’t have one, we can create one.
   2. If you have one, we need a few things:
      1. Username and Password
      2. Where it’s registered
   3. When it expires

2. Website
   1. If you don’t have one, we can create one.
   2. If you have one, we need a few things:
      1. Where it’s hosted
      2. Username and Password
      3. When it expires
      4. What platform or language it’s created in.

3. Social Media for Business
   1. If you don’t have them, we can create them.
   2. If you have them, we need a few things:
      1. Which ones you are listed on
      2. Usernames and Passwords
      3. Admin that use the accounts
      4. Business name used for the page

4. Reputation Management
   1. If you don’t have them, we can create them.
   2. If you have them, we need a few things:
      1. Which ones you are listed on (Angie’s list, Yelp, Etc.)
      2. Usernames and Passwords
      3. Admin that use the accounts
      4. Business name used for the page

5. Google and Google My Business
   1. If you don’t have them, we can create them.
   2. If you have them, we need a few things:
      1. Which ones you are listed on (Analytics, Business page, Etc.)
      2. Usernames and Passwords
      3. Admin that use the accounts
      4. Business name used for the page

Seem a bit overwhelming? Yes, it can be. But in really, since you have followed all my past advice, and kept all the passwords in a safe, secure place… it’s not that big of a deal. And in most of these cases,  you are going to log in, change the password to something ridiculous, like “HowsteNinjasAreEpic” and then send that password to us. We will use it, and when we are done you change it back to “WhateverBoringPasswordYouHadBeforeWas” and  then we don’t have to keep your passwords on file.

So, what are you waiting for? Gather your passwords, you have phone calls to make!

Howste Technical Services

470.236.1999

What are the top 5 most common social media marketing mistakes?

1. Inconsistency in content – posting about things that are personal instead of business related. Or posting only vague things that don’t really show an opinion either way.
2. Inconsistency in timing – if you have a good blog with good information, people start to look forward to seeing it. When it comes out on every Tuesday, they get excited. If it comes out on Tuesday this week and three weeks later on Thursday, then they have lost their enthusiasm to read it.
3. Inconsistency in reaching out – you want people to “like” “reply” “comment” and “share” what you are posting. So make sure that you are talking to your target market and engage them. Why write a post that says “I like dogs” when you can write a post that reads “What kind of dogs do you like?”. Think about what your readers want to read. This will help engage them.
4. Inconsistency in engaging – If you want people to engage with you, you have to engage with them. Reply to other people’s stuff. Get out there, show that you have an educated opinion and a wealth of information so that when people are looking at what you are saying, they can see that you know what you are talking about.
5. Inconsistency in grammar – It is really easy to just start talking. But you have to know who your audience is. Are you talking to a teenager or their parent? Are you talking to a new pet owner or an experienced one? Keep consistent with your target market and they will stay with you. You tend to lose people when you change who you are talking to.