How to build a cost effective web presence, part 1

This is the first in a series of articles on how to build a cost effective web presence, or how to get your name out there without spending too much money, if any at all.

This series has been expanded from the talks that I present on this topic.

I focus on helping people in the South African music business establish a presence on the internet, and market and sell their music to the world, but a lot of what I discuss can apply to almost any business or organisation. I have clients in various industries including Fashion, Tourism, Travel, Leisure Boating, Event Staffing and more.

What you don’t need

Here is a list of things that are not required for building a web presence.

Remember you are trying to save money, so some of these things are nice-to-haves, that can be added later.

• Web Developer
• Graphic Designer
• Domain Name
• Web Hosting
• Computer
• Understanding of web coding

OK, I hope I have your attention now.

Part 2 to follow soon, but while you wait, please go and create a Facebook profile for yourself, if you don’t already have one. To have a Facebook profile you need to have an email address, so go to Gmail and create one there. If you already have Facebook, but don’t have a Gmail account, please set up a Gmail address any way.

Then we can talk.

Please subscribe to my blog (using the easy form on the right-hand sidebar) so you will know when I next update.

Top Of The Charts

I focus on helping people in the South African music business establish a presence on the internet, and market and sell their music to the world.

Top 5 Search Engines

If my potential clients are searching on the internet, firstly they will probably use Google as over 90% of all searches by people in South Africa are done using Google.

Secondly, I would like appear on the first page results for organic searches for “music consultant south africa“.

Organic means natural results not paid-for results. Pay-per-click Google Ads can work well, but the minute you stop paying, the clicks stop. Organic results have longevity.

A Google search for “music consultant south africa” today puts my website at the top spot. So not only am I on the first page, I am at the top (and two of my other pages appear in second and fifth place).

So I can tick that off my list now.

Seven lame, business-killing excuses for not having a social media presence. « Visibility Shift

Everything you need is free. If you hire a consultant, you can get a lot of value from a few hours of his/her time setting your site up and coaching you on the unwritten secrets, tips and tricks of really using Social Media brilliantly. – Giselle Bisson

via Seven lame, business-killing excuses for not having a social media presence. « Visibility Shift.

Things to blog about

Thought I would share my “to do” list of topics, ideas and themes I am planning to blog about sometime soon:

• Santana’s Guitar Heaven album review.
• “I am too busy to blog”
• “My customers aren’t on Facebook”
• Websites are dead
• There are more people sharing content than there are creating content
• Stop chasing: news, customers, money
• I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio or read newspapers – how you going to sell to me now?
• “Twitter is a waste of time”

Google Instant Makes SEO Irrelevant

http://www.steverubel.com/google-instant-makes-seo-irrelevant

Google Instant is not in SA yet, but I am sure it will get here soon …

How Small Businesses Can Improve Their Relations With Customers Through Social Media – Search Engine Watch (SEW)

The big question for small business owners five years ago was, “Should I use Google instead of yellow pages to attract new customers?” Now Google is commonly used by SMBs and that question gave way to a new one: “Do I need to be using social media?”

Social media is a much more complex issue than the Google versus yellow pages debate. With dozens of options, most small businesses can’t decide where to invest their limited time. Many become overwhelmed and end up doing nothing. So, what to do?

via How Small Businesses Can Improve Their Relations With Customers Through Social Media – Search Engine Watch (SEW).

YouTube – What the HELL is social media – in 2 minutes

YouTube – What the HELL is social media – in 2 minutes.