Small business owners often feel like circus performers – spinning plates like mad and hoping that if we keep everything moving it won't all come crashing down around us. That sort of stressful environment forces us to think on our feet, but we often don't get a chance to really think things through.

Making snap decisions about your business website could really hurt. You owe it to yourself to make your website a priority. Consider this:

Community classes, seminars and YouTube webinars say you'll make money with social media in just minutes a day.

Then reality hits.

How can you keep control of your marketing in the face of such disheartening obstacles?

When you hire experts for your social media, web design and other marketing, remember these are partnerships and you’ll need to hold up your end of the deal to get the most out of your investment. Here are a few ways to help your partners help you.

While we certainly don’t advocate turning toward the Dark Side of the web, spammers also employ perfectly ethical techniques that legit businesses fail to use themselves. You’re just as smart as a spammer -- learn from their experience.

You know those teeny little graphics that show up in your browser window next to the title of the web page you’re looking at? Technical and/or graphic folks may already have this covered, but for many of us, creating a favicon for our own website is pretty far down the to-do list. If you haven’t given it much thought before, maybe it’s time to reconsider this little doodad.

Technology is providing mighty powerful tools to make it ever easier to fulfill Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people, for the people" pledge. Helping local governing bodies reach their constituents in new and better ways is an exciting direction for us at Sprocket Websites. You are one of "the people" – are you using technology to stay informed?

"I don't always program on a DNN site, but when I do, I prefer Script Injector." Would the Most Interesting Programmer in the World say this? Probably not, but it IS a good tool. Here's a situation where I wanted a diagram on a page to look like a normal paragraph and wrapped diagram, but with description text popping up when you hover over a particular section. Is there a module for that? The one I chose was Script Injector, and rolled up my sleeves...

When everyone around us is speaking a language we don’t understand, we feel dumb and out of the loop. Some of us even make decisions without a clear understanding because we’re afraid to admit our ignorance. Let’s face it -- it’s hard to keep up with our swiftly-moving world.

Here are 7 basic terms you should know when discussing your website. If you’re already familiar with them, great! If not, your secret is safe with us.

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!