Festival and fair season will soon be here. Advertising to catch the tourist’s eye is a must, as are articles in the “weekender” section of the newspaper, radio Public Service Announcements and community calendars. But all of those messages should refer back to one location for complete details – your website.  Keep in mind these 5 points to create your best festival website.

Talk about your low-hanging fruit! Before you spend another dollar on advertising, check to see that your business is listed everywhere it should be. And once you’ve looked into the obvious places, take some time every so often to find the less obvious listings. You’d be surprised at how directories can help boost the visibility of your business – for free!

If you maintain a Facebook page for your business the Timeline switch is going to make a difference. How much of a difference depends on how much you have already invested in your page. While Facebook has been warning us of the coming change for ages, the end is apparently nigh. Fortunately we have suggestions on how you can make the most of Timeline for your old business page – or for your new page if you never got around to creating one.

How violent that sounds! Perhaps we need to lighten up a bit. In our quest to put into action all the marketing books, webinars, articles and presentations available, sometimes the emphasis gets skewed. We learn about “target market” and remember words like “laser,” “zero in” and “drill down.” But do these active words produce the actions we really want?

Who can afford to throw away money? That’s why we study our ROI (Return On Investment). And when it comes time to plan our business budget we have to wonder: If I invest hundreds of dollars on my marketing, will I make that hundreds of dollars back – and more – to make a good profit? Or are marketing professionals just taking my money?

Creative people resist having to do “business” and business people are suspicious of anything that sounds “creative.” But the most successful entrepreneurs are creative people who embrace business and business people who think creatively. Are you using both sides of your brain to give your business the best chance at success? Is your website using both sides?

Meineke used that catchphrase years ago for their mufflers, but it’s certainly been applied to many other products since then. You may say the same for your next website—and then be bitterly disappointed. Or completely satisfied. So how can you know what’s “a lot” to pay for a website?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to consider when planning your website so your budget goes toward the options that are most important to your business.

You know how it happens – you make grand plans on New Year’s Eve to completely overhaul your health, your house, your business. You start out strong but by February, you’re losing steam and by March your grand plans are merely guilty memories.

Improving your website is a goal that will pay you back nicely this year, so don’t sabotage your efforts by biting off more than you can chew. Taking these baby steps towards improvement means you might actually accomplish your goals –encouraging you to take a few more!

This article was updated on 3/13/2019 with the article entitled "Getting Started with Do-It-Yourself SEO."

This article was updated on 3/6/2019 with the article entitled "Getting Started with Do-It-Yourself SEO."

Paying for Search Engine Optimization?
Getting what you paid for?
Wishing you could afford SEO?
Trying to do it yourself?

Or are you just ignoring the whole SEO discussion entirely?

Read on for a few simple tips that help you figure out what you have, what you need and how to make it happen.