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How to avoid getting scammed online?

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How to avoid getting scammed online?

‍Online scams are one of the biggest threats to Internet users. The risks are everywhere, from clicking on unsafe links to sharing personal information with strangers.

Scammers and cybercriminals use every trick in the book to exploit unsuspecting users and steal their money, private data, or personal information.

If you’re using the Internet on a daily basis, there’s a good chance you’ll be exposed to an online scam sooner or later. These con artists lurk on social media, job search sites, as well as dating websites trying to find their next victim.

Scammers often target naive or trusting people—people who are likelier to believe that the world isn’t a bad place and that these things don’t happen to nice people.

But the truth is scammers prey on anyone with an internet connection. You could be next! Because virtual con artists exist, and they’re actively searching for their next victim.

How do you know if someone is trustworthy?

It isn’t always obvious. Scammers take advantage of people who trust too easily, especially if they appear to need help in some way.

They will also take advantage of anyone who gives personal information—even something as simple as your first name—so fast that it seems unnatural.

If you know what to look for in potential red flags, though, you can protect yourself from most scammers before they have a chance to rip you off.

Google it!

If you’re unsure whether something is a scam, Google it! You might find a forum where other people have already discussed it or a blog post where someone else has already posted their opinion.

A lot of scammers will try to sell you something that you don’t need or that isn’t even real. If you Google it, you’ll probably find out that there have been warnings posted against it.

This isn’t a foolproof way to avoid scams, but it definitely helps! Also, if you don’t find anything on google, it makes it also untrustworthy.

Don’t rush. Take your time!

People who are scammers are often in a hurry to get something from you or con you out of something that you have. They might say they need your help with something and promise you a reward for your assistance.

They might ask you to send money to someone in need. Sometimes, they might even ask for your help in getting out of a sticky situation—like needing a lawyer for a bogus criminal charge, for example.

If you feel pressured to act quickly, it’s probably a red flag. If you feel you should give someone your personal information before verifying their identity, you should also be cautious.

Read everything carefully.

If someone emails you or sends you a link to something, read it carefully before clicking on it. Scammers often use links that are almost identical to real sites that people know and trust.

For example, they might link to the “apple.com” site, but the link might actually take you to a site that looks like it’s apple.com but is actually a phishing link.

Once you’ve clicked on a link, you can’t un-click it. If you land on a site that looks suspicious, close the page immediately, then Google the site to see if anyone has reported it as a scam.

If you land on a site that looks identical to the real thing, close the page and don’t continue until you’ve verified that it is, in fact, apple.com.

Don’t trust anything in an email

Email scams are one of the most common types of Internet scams out there. These malicious emails usually mimic the look of an invoice, a shipping confirmation, or a payment reminder.Email scam

If you are not cautious and click on the provided link, you may end up on a scam website attempting to steal your personal information.

If you’re unsure whether a suspicious email you received is real, don’t click on any links, and don’t provide your personal information. Instead, report the email to your Internet Service Provider and inform the sender that you don’t recognize their request.

It is also recommended that you don’t open emails from unknown senders. This is especially important if you expect a sensitive email like a payment confirmation.

Instead of clicking on the email and going to the website, use a web browser such as Chrome or Firefox to open the email and copy and paste the link without entering to see where it redirects you from there.

This way, you won’t risk visiting a fake website.

Another helpful tip is to look up the email address in Google; often, scam emails already have a scammy-looking email address.

Research the company before you buy anything

If you ever encounter an online shop you’re unfamiliar with, make sure to research the company before making your purchase. You can try to find the company’s official website, reviews on sites like Trustpilot, comments from customers, or contact information.

You can also use a scam search engine to determine whether the site is safe. If you’re buying something online and you’re unsure whether it’s legitimate, try using a credit card or a cash-back credit card.

This way, you can dispute the charges if you are scammed.

Stay away from shortened URLs

Shortened URLs are links that have been shortened for easier sharing on social media. However, these links usually lead to malicious websites.

Avoid clicking on these shortened links at all costs. If you have to share a link on your social media account, don’t shorten the URL; type it out in full.

Instead of clicking on a shortened URL, copy and paste the full link into your browser’s address bar. This way, you can see where the link is taking you before you click on it.

Don’t click on ads that look suspicious

Ads are another trap that scammers set for unsuspecting users. These ads may lead you to a malicious website, or they may try to trick you into clicking on them to earn money.

If you come across a suspicious ad, don’t click on it. A good rule of thumb is to avoid clicking on ads that look too good to be true.

If the ad promises you a free gift, insanely huge discounts, or an easy way to make money, it’s likely a scam.

Use a VPN at all times

Again, this is a good rule, regardless of whether you are meeting a new partner or a random person online. If you’re meeting someone online, you’re likely to eventually exchange personal details.Vpn

While you might trust this person, it’s important to understand that not everyone online is who they say they are. If you exchange personal details without taking proper precautions, scammers will have the information they need to successfully hack into your accounts and steal your money.

When talking with someone new online, make sure to use a VPN. Not only will a VPN prevent others from discovering who you are, but it will also stop you from accidentally sharing your login information with a scammer.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) ensures that your online activity is encrypted and secure. VPNs allow you to connect to remote servers that are located in different countries.

This way, your IP address will be hidden from prying eyes, and you’ll be able to access geo-restricted websites and content. VPNs are essential to protect your privacy and avoid getting scammed while online.

Stay away from websites that seem too good to be true

If you’re looking for love online and stumble across a dating website that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

There are countless fake dating websites out there—websites that appear to be legitimate but are actually scams.

If you find a dating website that you haven’t heard of before, make sure to do a bit of research about it before signing up.

You can use tools such as WhoIs and Domain Tools to determine whether or not the website is legitimate. Don’t be afraid to walk away if the site seems to be a scam.

There are plenty of authentic dating websites out there. Don’t waste your time on a site that isn’t legitimate.

Don’t pay anyone you haven’t met in person.

Try to meet them in person if you’re buying something from someone, especially if the deal involves money. If you can’t meet them in person, have them sign something in front of a notary before you hand over any money.

If they refuse to do either of these things, walk away from the deal. There are plenty of stories of people who thought they were meeting someone in person and ended up being robbed or kidnapped.

It might seem extreme, but the world is full of scammers, and you don’t want to be their next victim!

Meet-and-greets are too good to be true.

If you’re meeting someone online, their first impression will be based on their profile. Scammers know this, which is why they pay special attention to the creation of their profiles.

They will likely use a fake photo or stolen images, create a detailed but fake backstory, and present themselves as someone they’re not. Avoid falling for this by meeting in public, ideally in a cafe or bar, and not in your home.public space

Meet in a public place with lots of people, so you’re less likely to get scammed. If you feel too uncomfortable meeting someone in person, don’t feel obligated to do so.

If you choose to meet someone in your home, meet them outside first to make sure they are who they say they are. Alternatively, you can meet them in a public place and have a friend accompany you.

If you have a smartphone, use the scheduling feature to set up a date. That way, you won’t have to give out your phone number if you feel uncomfortable doing so.

Beware of overly generous gestures

If someone you’ve recently met online offers to do something generous such as paying for your rent, giving you a new laptop, or flying you around the world, be wary.

Not only could this generosity be fake, but it could also be a way for the scammer to get you to trust them. You should be suspicious if someone offers to pay your rent or help you with other financial burdens.

After all, why would this person be so generous to you? Be wary of overly generous gestures, and always be sure to check the authenticity of these claims.

Learn from others!

If you have a friend who has been scammed or has been tricked into giving away personal information, ask them what they wish they’d known before they got scammed.

Once you know what people should have done differently, you can avoid making the same mistakes. If you hear about someone else being scammed, report it.

Scammers are often behind multiple scams at once. If you report scams you’ve encountered, you can help others avoid the same fate. These scammers need to feel like they aren’t getting away with anything, and the only way to do that is to make sure people are informed about what to look for!

Conclusion

There are always people out there trying to scam others. No matter how careful you are, you’ll probably come across a scam at some point. The only way to avoid getting scammed is to be cautious.

If you want to stay safe while browsing the Internet, make sure to follow these tips and stay mindful at all times. The Internet can be an amazing tool if you know how to use it, but it can also be a dangerous place if you’re careless.

Don’t let scammers take advantage of you and your data. Stay alert, and you’ll be fine.

Remember that scammers are always on the lookout for their next victim. They want to trick you into clicking on their links or ads so that you end up on their websites and provide them with your personal information.

To avoid getting scammed, be careful what links and ads you click on, what and & where you buy from, who you trust, and what ads you click on.

Scammers are becoming increasingly common and finding new and creative ways to trick money and personal information from unsuspecting victims.

Fortunately, many of these scams can be easily identified if you’re on the lookout. If you’re meeting someone new for the first time, there is a high chance they could be a scammer.

Stay safe online by recognizing these red flags when meeting someone new. Never share personal or financial information until you do your research and feel comfortable doing so.

Stay informed, and you’ll have a better chance of spotting and avoiding a scam.

Is Canva the best design tool? Canva Review

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There are many reasons to consider using Canva as your design tool of choice, and here are just a few of them: It’s free, easy to use, and helps you build your own custom design.

I’ve been using the Pro version of the app for over two years to create social media posts, make Youtube Videos, and use it for Website headers and design calls to action.

If you need to create professional-looking designs that are also on-brand using an easy-to-use program, you will really like Canva, and you might even be willing to pay for Canva Pro. On the other hand, if you are a graphic designer, you will not require it—it’s intended for those who want to appear like design professionals, not those who are.

Creating graphics is now simple and quick using Canva. Canva’s free version on both mobile and desktop is a good option if you need to create a quick thank-you note or other graphics in a hurry. The mobile and desktop versions are identical and can be used simultaneously without any problems.

I’ll discuss the benefits of using the free version of Canva. Canva has long been one of the best logo designers and online poster creators, so I wanted to see how the Pro version measured up. According to the company, Canva Pro “has been created to make you look professional.” However, does the Pro version have anything to offer the real pros?

In this Canva review, you discover how the tool works and whether it is a good choice for beginners, professionals, and organizations seeking to create high-quality, eye-catching graphic designs.

With over a million fonts, images, and high-quality graphics, this design solution offers a range of robust functionalities, including a simple drag-and-drop function.

Canva is an uncomplicated yet reliable tool that helps you turn an elementary thought into a breathtaking design that you may either display online or print. Therefore, this is an excellent professional tool for creating images for anything and everything.

What Makes Canva Unique?

There are many design tools available online such as Photoshop, Pixlr, PicMonkey, VistaCreate, and Vectornator, among others. Despite these, Canva has impressive characteristics and a vast library of templates, making it superior to others.

There are over a million royalty-free images available on Canva. However, for subscribers, Canva also offers a range of pictures. These images are available in stock and are divided into over a hundred categories. Users can choose a category based on a tag or description and then find an image as required.

An extensive selection of user-friendly apps and millions of fonts and pictures makes Canva so appealing. Furthermore, the plans are very budget-friendly, so new and experienced users will be impressed by this tool.

Regardless of the scale of your project, Canva Pro has the tools you need to create graphics. You won’t need any design knowledge, as all you do is drag and drop.

You can test out Canva for 30 days for free. If you like how easy and user-friendly this tool is, you can sign up for the paid version. You can do many things with the paid version that you cannot with the free version.

Many of you may have already perceived Canva as a complex tool with limited features, as it is a freemium tool. However, this tool offers users many unique attributes you might not find in any other tool.

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Is there anything Canva can’t do?

You can make your own designs with Canva’s simple interface, which is composed of drag-and-drop functions. With Canva, you can create designs using high-quality photos, illustrations, fonts, and layouts.

Using Canva, you can create amazing websites, social media posts, or blog posts. The tool has a user-friendly interface with numerous tools to assist you in designing.

Furthermore, a variety of other tools are useful when users want to finish their work fast. Here are some Canva features:

Canva free Version.

Many small businesses have benefited from using Canva’s free version to create sleek but quick social media posts, banners, and cover photos, among other things. Using the free version of Canva, you select a template like an Instagram cover photo and then add your own elements via drag and drop. It’s quick, easy, and convenient.

You can use Canva’s free version to create everything from greeting cards to social media cover photos, presentations, and even videos, but you need to stick with the existing templates. I believe it is a fantastic option for creating quick content to share with friends and family.

The only thing I dislike about Canva’s free version is that I am sure I am not the only one. When you look through the designs to select one to use, the ones you like the most (i.e., the best ones) are only free on the Pro plan.

It’s worth looking at Canva’s free version if you want to create graphics for friends or business purposes quickly, but it’s too basic and restrictive for professional creatives. Creative professionals are likely already using other software, so Canva Pro may be a good choice for the middle market.

Those who want more than the free version but aren’t confident creating their graphics with more complex graphic design software can benefit from it.

You can create anything from presentations and videos to social media posts and marketing materials using Canva Pro. You can find everything from CVs to reports and invoices in the ‘Office’ tab. In addition to YouTube options, Insta reels, and LinkedIn Ads, you can create video messages with Canva Pro.

Let’s look at the stand-out features now. With the paid version, you get approximately 600,000 templates instead of the 250,000 offered by the free version and all the features listed below.

Brand Kit is part of Canva Pro.

Canva Brandkit

With every design created with Canva Pro, users can stay on-brand with their company’s brand identity. Brand Kit is a terrific feature that allows you to build your own brand kit. Brand fonts, logos, colors, and pre-designed templates are all accessible with this function. This function is ideal for new and growing companies that want to maintain brand consistency across all touchpoints.

Unlimited photos with Canva Pro.

You get access to over ten million photos, graphics, videos, audio, and fonts—in addition to the ones found in the free version of Canva. The premium quality photos available for Pro users are one of the program’s greatest benefits.

The Canva Pro Background Remover tool

Canva Background RemoverWith a single click, Canva Pro’s Background Remover tool worked like a dream, saving me about ten minutes of work in Photoshop. This might be a great feature for anyone who publishes products using their own photography.

The brightness, contrast, and saturation are also simple to use, and although they don’t offer as much control as you might get with Photoshop, they would be suitable for almost everyone except professional photographers.

You can use Canva to make and save images with transparent backgrounds to use them anywhere. Everything is possible with this tool, from Snapchat filters to creating logos and buttons.

The tool will help you create consistent designs across all backgrounds, regardless of the image you place on them.

Using Canva Pro, you can perform magic resizes on images.

changing Size Canva

Do you want to post your design on Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook? Using the Canva Magic Resize function, you can accomplish this!

Re-doing a design for another purpose is often time-consuming. Among my favorites is the Magic Resize tool, which operates on everything you create within the software—enter your dimensions, and it takes care of the rest!

Canva Pro is an animation creator.

Canva’s paid version allows users to animate their designs with just a single click. Users can animate any design, from work presentations to social media posts, by clicking the ‘animate’ button and downloading the result as a GIF or video.

There are 14 animation styles to pick from, which adds a nice amount of variety to your design. It’s relatively easy to use, although not as sophisticated as the best animation software.

Animation adds a new dimension to the design, so whether you want to draw in customers with a lively presentation or stand out from the crowd, this is the answer for you.

Using Templates & Folders Teams

Creating team-oriented designs is now simple with Canva. With Canva’s shared home for your designs, you can express your vision while maintaining consistency with the brand. That way, you can save time and maintain consistency across all of your brands with design folders and team templates.

Schedule Social Media PostsSchedule Posts Canva

You can use Canva as a Social media tool to Schedule your post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You even can see statistics like Impressions, Clicks, and Engagements on how your social media posts perform.

Canva Pro offers more features.

There are so many attributes to describe in this assessment. Other features include more than 3,000 fonts, simple to use a direct print feature, Canva Pro’s ability to plan and schedule content directly (great for social media creatives), and Version History, which lets users know what has changed and restored design versions.

Canva Pro also includes all the publish functions modern creatives require (including logos with transparent backgrounds), 1TB of storage, and lastly, the ability to use Canva Pro on all your devices.

The plans and prices of Canva

With over 100 design options and over 250,000 free designs, Canva’s free version is enough for most casual users. You also get 5GB of cloud storage and free photos and graphics.

With a free account, users can accomplish many things and create various designs, but paid accounts with Canva give designers a wide range of options and features to use.

In addition to the capabilities listed above, Canva Pro gives you everything you need. For $119.99/ year, five people may use Canva Pro for $12.99 monthly or for 30 days for free.

An alternative to Canva (and one that seems to compete with Canva and similar tools) is Adobe Creative Cloud Express, which has the same capabilities (and costs the same $9.99 monthly subscription). There is also a free version. For comparison, a single Adobe application such as Photoshop or Illustrator costs $9.99 per month. However, learning the ropes is more difficult with these applications.

Compared to Adobe’s apps, Serif’s apps are cheaper and arguably easier to use. Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer, for example, will cost you $54.99, but that’s it.

Canva Pro is a great choice for individuals who will be working with it frequently, but it’s an amazing bargain for teams of five individuals.

The Pro Plan is the only one offered, but bigger businesses should also consider the Enterprise plan, which costs $30 per month per person and includes everything the Pro Plan offers. In addition to team-oriented features such as workflows, template locking, unlimited storage, and 24/7 support.

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Is Canva the right tool for the job?

You have nothing to lose by trying Canva, as it is simple to set up and use. You do not need to download the app if you do not want to; you can sign up online and get started. It’s particularly great for creating quick graphics to post on social media or invites for an event.

Is Canva Pro worth it?

Canva Pro impressed me greatly, and I found it to be much better than the free version. Should you get it? That depends on what sort of creative you are and how skilled you are at graphic design.

A Canva Pro subscription does not include tools for making custom designs for the variety of items it offers, so a graphic artist would not want to use it. However, a craft business seeking to expand without dealing with difficult software will benefit from Canva Pro. It covers all of the design and marketing demands we could imagine.

If you’re a design expert, you don’t need it, but if you’re creative and want to appear like an expert designer, you should acquire it.

If you want to create professional-looking designs without much hassle, you’ll appreciate Canva, and you might even want to pay for Canva Pro. On the other hand, if you’re a graphic designer, you won’t require it – it is precisely what those are seeking to look like design pros rather than those who actually are.

At the end of the day, Canva Pro is a decent tool for making simple designs.

Canva is an online design tool that is very easy to use. It is also a reliable tool, given many satisfied users and Canva pro review testimonials.

This tool makes it simple and fast to design. Those who are not very artistically inclined can benefit from it the most. You can browse through the thousands of templates and layouts and see for yourself that even the free options include high-quality images and modern looks that would be suitable for all industries.

The pricing plans are fairly priced, given how extensively they are used. In addition, I think users can obtain anything they want from the tool without spending a single dime.

Support:3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)
Features:5 out of 5 stars (5.0 / 5)
Ease of use:4 out of 5 stars (4.0 / 5)
Price:3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)
Average:4 out of 5 stars (4.0 / 5)
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How to build a ecommerce website?

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Want to earn money by selling online? Then you need to know how to build a ecommerce website and what you want to sell. And most important, how to market your e-commerce business?

What products can you sell online?

Online you can sell almost anything as long as enough people are interested. Ecommerce websites are built to sell many different things in all sorts of different niches and markets. To make your e-commerce business successful, you need to know how to set it up and market it properly. But first, you have to know what you want to sell.

You can choose between four main products to sell online:

  • Shippable and Physical goods can be harder because you need to decide on your fulfillment model. When you want to hold your own inventory, you need to manage everything and are responsible for shipping to customers. Or you use the dropshipping method, where the manufacturer handles the fulfillment process from start to finish. Another model would be to send your product to a fulfillment house that handles the shipping for you.
  • Digital Products like ebooks, software, games, multimedia, and everything else that is downloadable or can be viewed online. It is an easy method because you only need to give access to the product so a user can view or download it.
  • Services that help people and businesses with all types of different problems.
  • Courses, subscriptions, and other memberships: where you provide user premium content and access to exclusive tools and knowledge.

The good thing about e-commerce you can either sell only one type or sell all at the same time. This should help you find your preferences, not necessarily your idea. So write down what you want to sell it helps you with future decisions for your e-commerce business.

Choosing your product

Many people have great ideas but don´t know how to choose a product to sell online. It can be helpful to use tools that can assist in product research, like the Jungle Scout report tool, where you can research all types of products from amazon. You get data sales estimates, competitor reviews, sales rank, and an opportunity score that weighs the demand and competition.

How to build a ecommerce website? 1

To find good products during your research, look for an acceptable price range depending on the type of product you want to sell. So a water bottle shouldn´t cost more than $40, depending on the function. But a TV is more expensive, so the price range is, of course, higher.

Also, find products with a decent sales volume of around 250 units per month at a minimum. Avoid products that you can only sell on specific seasons when you want monthly profit. Look for top-selling products that ideally have under 100 reviews because the more reviews, the harder it is to sell when the competition already dominates.

Don´t recreate an already successful product. It is better to provide more value and maybe combine two successful products into one when it makes sense. If you want to sell a physical product, it’s a good idea to choose something small and lightweight. More weight means more shipping costs and storage fees which make you a lesser profit.

The product you want to create shouldn´t have too complex materials and be a manufacturing challenge. So try to keep it as simple as possible while still providing enough quality.

With Jungle Scout, you can discover products that already have an existing demand on Amazon with low competition. But it only helps you to know what will sell enough.

No matter what you want to sell, there are three criteria that you need to check off:

1. Trending In google trends, you can find trending words; maybe it is a niche that you can tap into with your product.

2. Light product keeps your costs low

3. Cost-efficient: Your product needs to have low production costs but offers high enough value so people will buy it.

Finding a product is about filling a gap by solving a problem that other companies aren´t doing or not doing well. The more unique benefits your product can provide potential customers, the better.

To figure out what people buy that is valuable, ask the following questions:

  • What do you buy?
  • What can you not live without?
  • What is popular now?

To find what unique value are searching aks yourself:

  • What problems do you hear people complaining about?
  • What improvement would you make for a certain product?
  • Is there something you want to buy but can´t find it?

It is a good idea to ask your friend and family this question. You can also search for answers on social media or look on websites like Quora or Reddit.

When you brainstorm ideas, find something with which you have a personal connection. This will make it more fun to sell the product, and it makes it easier to know how to market it to customers, and you may craft better sell pitches to potential buyers.

It is also helpful when you try some products to get firsthand knowledge of your market. Remember, you don´t need to make something entirely new rather, something that is more valuable to people and makes their lives easier.

At least one part of your product needs to be unique, the design, function, context, or price. Write everything down that interested you in your research.

Choosing the idea

Once you have made a list of ideas, it is time to narrow down potential products.

Get rid of ideas that have:

  • High shipping costs can hurt a new e-commerce online store
  • Legal implications like nutritional supplements where, e.g., medical claims could land in legal hot water.
  • No relation to your interests, expertise, or passion. If you know the product and love to learn more, it will make your life a lot easier.

How to build a ecommerce website? 2Now you can choose your favorite product idea from your list. You need to find an idea that stands a chance on the market. So once again, you can use a Tool like Jungle scout to research your product. But it is also possible to look at online marketplaces like amazon for bestsellers in different categories.

If you have a specific company in mind, look on their website and read reviews of their products. You can use sites like Trustpilot to get customer reviews for different niche product sites. You often see what bothers customers, which are the pain points you can improve with your product. And bad reviews of the competition can also give you opportunities to tap into the market with a more valuable offer.

When you pick something you want sale online, you also should look for google search terms and keywords that customers select to find specific products. You can use keyword research tools like Semrush or Ubersuggest to get data on how high keyword traffic volume is. It is good to find product niches that are not too small or too big. With Semrush, you can get many useful insights into potential competitor websites.

Of course, ask people what they think of your idea. It helps you to find out if people are really interested in your offer. An idea would be to use a survey tool like Typeform that you can share. There you ask specific questions and can discover what people think about ideas.

You either use an advertising campaign to find people that answer the question, or you create a giveaway or gift card for Amazon, for example. It will help you so more people answer your questions by giving them a chance to win a reward. In return, you can collect their email to later send them product news and launch dates when they are interested.

How to build an ecommerce website?

When you find your product, you need to do even more detailed research on your competition. Find out who your direct competitors are and who are the biggest players. And what you like and dislike about their approaches and website. Think about how you can integrate some of their strategies for your own e-commerce business.

It is also a good idea to make a business plan that establishes your goal and details how you want to run your business and reach your customers. But the detail of how you write a business plan depends if your needs and investors. If you don´t need investor funding, you can make a short plan. Write down what products you want to sell, the pricing strategy you want to use, and what marketing strategies you want to try to get customers.

A business plan includes what your business is and what you are selling. And how you earn money and finance it. Aswell what your operations model is. The outlines of a business plan are like this:

  1. Executive summary
  2. Company Overview
  3. Market analysis
  4. Products and services
  5. Marketing Plan
  6. Logistics and operations plan
  7. Financial plan

To make it easier, you can find a lot of free business plan templates online.

When you make a plan, it’s time to think about naming and branding your online businessTo find your business name, you can use a name generator like namelix.

But remember, it is not easy to find a name that catches the eye describes your brand and isn´t already taken by someone else. So keep it simple and differentiate yourself by being creative and original. Also, look if you can get the name as a domain address to build your e-commerce website. To create a memorable and simple logo, you can use a design tool like Canva.

Another important aspect of building a business is to register it in your country. Research what type of business you want to start, if a Sole proprietorship or Cooperation, and so on. It all depends on what you plan to do as each one has its benefits and drawbacks of financial and legal aspects.

Remember to look at what other permits and licenses you need to become an entrepreneur and build your business.

Now it is time to build your online store. First, you need to buy a domain and choose a hosting platform to create your website. You can either use drag-and-drop online shop website builders like Shopify or use a WordPress website builder with the Woocommerce Plugin.

For WordPress, you can find many beautiful prebuild themes and plugins that are easy to install and customize. Remember to test everything, that it is responsive, you have enough secure payment methods, and that the payment processing works. Make your site easy to navigate, provide an overall good user experience, and have many optimized pictures and graphics for visual effect.

If you don´t have the technical knowledge to build an e-commerce online store, you can either hire a freelancer or sell your product on marketplaces like Clickbank or Amazon.

How to market your e-commerce business?

How to build a ecommerce website? 3

Once everything is planned out and set up, you need to get customers to start selling products. You need to have a good online marketing strategy to make sales. To know who would buy your product, you have to find your targeted audience and create a buyer persona.

It is important to have SEO knowledge so your website appears on search engines like Google and Bing. When you find the right keywords, you can get a lot of free organic traffic to your website. With content about your product and niche, you can also attract new users to your store.

Integrate a call to action when someone subscribes to your email list. For example, send them a discount code or a small freebie. Email marketing is important because you can send users product offers and provide them with information and updates about your company and niche.

Another method to get customers to your e-commerce store is to advertise online. When you have an ad goal and know your budget, you can advertise on Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc., or Search engines like Google and Bing.

What can also bring many potential customers is Influencer marketing, where you hire an Influencer to advertise your online store to their followers. You can also build a social media presence for your e-commerce websites, where you keep followers up to date, answers question, provide customer service, and get reviews.

On your website, you should make it possible for customers to write reviews and testimonials. Also, integrate friendly and responsive customer service. This will build more trust when new users visit your site and think about buying your products.

It is important to track all your marketing efforts and look at what makes sales and what needs improvement. Not every marketing strategy will work. It is a trial-and-error process. But if you plan your budget, have a goal in mind, and know your targeted audience, your e-commerce store can be successful.

How to advertise online?

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Reaching an audience and getting traffic can be a hard and long process when you only use organic SEO traffic. So if you want faster results, you need to invest in online advertising. But what online advertising strategies work, and how to advertise online?

The Benefits of advertising online

No matter what type of business, if it is large or small, to sell products and services and promote your business, you need to reach many people to create an income. And online advertising can help you, even with a smaller budget than traditional ads, reach a bigger and more targeted audience.

Internet advertising is way more accessible for every business and makes it easier, more quickly, efficiently, and affordably to reach the right people.

Having a blog, shop, or landing page is fundamental and having a social media presence is useful. But without the right online marketing strategy, you won’t get traffic. This makes online advertising also an essential solution.

You get access to reach an audience all over the world and at every time possible. And you don’t need a big budget to get more visibility and boost your sales and revenue.

In 2016 Internet advertising spending already surpassed TV ad spending. In 2020 Digital ad spending reached $341 Billion compared to all traditional ads with $379 Billion.

What makes online advertising so effective, it is simple, flexible, easily measurable, and relatively cheap. You also can see in real-time results how your campaigns are performing. It is also way more customer-oriented because it isn’t one-way communication but rather a two-way one.

You can increase your brand awareness by showing your content to individuals in and outside your networks. Ads also help you better understand your audience by using targeting and the analytics of the ad platform. It is possible to see what content performs better and helps you archive your business goals.

What are the most effective online advertising methods?

There are many types of online campaigns you can create.

1. Search engine advertising

SEO AD

With search engine advertising on Google Ads or Bing Ads from Microsoft, you can improve your website positioning. It helps you advertise your products, services, or content through advertising services. Users can find you more easily because your advertisement will be shown in the relevant search results of a used keyword.

Usually, the type of advertising is pay per click (PPC), which means you only pay for each click you get on your advertising campaign. Like CPM (Cost Per Thousand), there are some other ways where you pay for every 1000 Impressions or Video views your ad gets.

It is a highly personable method to get a lot of traffic if you choose relevant keywords and reach a good search engine position. But your position also depends on what you want to pay for a certain keyword and if you use keyword research to find the right keyword.

Search engine ads are most used by users who have the goal of getting web traffic and conversions. It is one of the simpler and more efficient advertising techniques.

2. Social Media Advertising

social media ad

Social Media platforms offer effective ad methods to reach a very target audience. You can choose between all types of demographics like gender, age, region, interests, and much more.

The most common ad is promoted posts to reach leads, website visits, or app installs. Similar to search engine ads, you can choose between Pay per Click or Cost per Thousand. There are also some other choices like Pay per Video view or App install.

With this type of ad, you can maximize your social media channels and create brand awareness. Choosing the right Social Media network depends on the audience you want to reach and your budget.

3. Banner and Pop-Ups

popup

Both banners and Pop-Ups are one of the first online advertising forms. Banners are strategically placed in different formats, sizes, and designs within a website. When the users click on the advertising banner, they will be taken to the site they choose.

Nowadays, we are oversaturated with website banner ads, so most people barely pay any attention to them.

The same goes for Pop-Up ads, where a window pops up and takes you to a different website. While this method was efficient years ago, it is now a waste of money unless you only want to have cheap clicks.

It is better to insert a Pop-Up on your own website to invite users to do a call to action, like subscribing to your email list.

4. Advertising on blogs

Guest Blog

It isn’t the banner on websites but rather a type of indirect advertising that is usually done through storytelling and branded content. It’s a form of collaborative advertising where you need to search for websites and blogs with a larger audience in your niche.

And pay them to review or write an article about your product or service. While depending on how much traffic the website gets, you either pay them with money or give them your offer for free.

Similarly, you can also hire journalists to get press releases on relevant news sites. Share about your business and the new offers you provide.

Another option would be to guest blog on a fitting niche site. There you write your own article and include your product or service. It doesn’t need to be reviewed; it can also be a related article where you can link your offer. This advertising form is a good option to get new potential customers and traffic.

5. Mobile advertising

phone

More people than ever use their phones to search online. Advertising on mobile is a good opportunity to reach these people. You can both can use Google AdWords and social media to create mobile ads.

But you need to make sure your website is mobile-ready and responsive so text, videos, or images are viewable on different types of phones. It is also important to have a fast-loading website, and the call to action stands out and has a visible button.

6. Video advertising

How to advertise online? 4

Video is an effective way to present your offer and give the user an idea of what your product is about. You can set up Video campaigns on sites like Youtube, Twitch, TikTok, and other Social media Networks.

Video ads can appear as Pre-Rolls before a video or in-between, or at the end in different formats and content options. It is up to you if you want to create a video more like an ad for your product or a story type to get brand awareness and maybe go viral.

7. Influencer

Influencer

With Influencers, you can find a large audience in all types of different niches. They can do reviews and product placement. Influencers can help you reach a very targeted audience when you work with them, and they create a successful ad for your product.

It is important to be very selective with Influencers. When done right, it can gain you more traffic and leads than most other advertising campaigns.

8. Remarketing

Remarketing is an advertising form where you find users that already visited your website but didn’t convert. This can be done if you have already made an ad on Social media or Search engines and tracked your conversion and website visits. You just need a campaign with collected data and select that you like to advertise to the user group again.

It is also possible to create Look Alike audiences to target people that more likely will convert to potential customers through your ad.

How to advertise online successfully?

To create a successful ad campaign, you need to make sure you keep the following tips in mind:

1. The Website

Before you start an ad, you need to make sure you have a website that loads quickly, has an easy-to-navigate design, and an overall good user experience is guaranteed.

This will help you keep the user who clicks on your ad, stay on your website and look for what you have to offer.

So take the time to define what people can see when they come to your website. It can be a special message or anything that is fitting and useful and can generate conversions.

2. Investigate your audience

Nothing is more important when you want to sell or promote something than to know your target audience. So make sure to do your research and find the people that most likely convert best.

It is difficult when you start, as it can be a trial and error process where you have first to invest some money into ads. Then you can see what demographics, like age, gender, interest, and region, engage the most with your offer.

3. Type of advertising

Above, you already saw a selection of advertising methods. To choose what best suits your business online, you need to do some research while having your budget in mind. For example, when done right, Social Media Ads can work well while costing less, but if you want more traffic and have a higher budget, Google Ads are a good choice.

It is a good idea to choose one or two advertising platforms and try to master them. And if you don’t find success after some campaigns, move on. Rember, no matter what you select, some campaigns will fail, so keep in mind you will most likely lose some money in the process.

But when you create successful ads, it will be worth it as you can renew and improve this campaign in the process.

4. Have a goal

Without knowing what you want to accomplish, it is very hard to create effective ads. So decide your goals if you want to get more traffic or gain more leads and sales and improve your brand image and awareness. Whatever it is, make sure to focus your advertising campaign on these goals.

5. Make a template for your ad

It is important to think about how you want to gain people’s interest. You need to know what pictures or videos you want to use and the message you want to write. This is very important as you have to use the right visual elements and call to action to gain users’ attention.

People who show emotions can work. Also, animals or stunning photos can get the attention you need for your ad.

Keep in mind that various ad platforms have different rules for how you can create ads. So make sure you research these rules and look at what image resolution you need and how many words you can write in your ad.

A good website to design your ad is Canva there, you find many ready-to-use templates, images, and videos for all types of platforms, and easily customize them to your liking.

6. Use your Brand voice

No matter where you want to advertise, it is important to have a clear voice in the message you want to share. It means that you need to keep your vision, mission, and values in mind. And know how you reach your target audience. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should use things like Memes when you want to reach a younger audience, especially if it doesn’t fit your normal image.

7. Have a good call to action

If you want your campaign to perform well, your message needs to have some type of action for the user, like “visit our website,” “buy now,” “sign up here,” etc. This will let the person know what they can do on your site, and it increases your engagement rate.

8. Check your Campaign

Before you create the campaign, make sure your ads don’t have spelling/ grammar errors, that your images and text are of good quality, and your ad looks professional overall. It is also a good idea to integrate your logo and brand colors in the right places.

9. Time and Budget

Know your budget on how much you want to invest. For most campaigns, you can set a time when and how long you want to run it. It is also possible to set a budget weekly, daily, or for the full campaign.

Keep in mind sometimes a campaign can be more expensive than your set budget. This happens because many users will see your ad, and some may click sooner and others at a later time.

Ad Campaigns have a bidding system where you choose what you are willing to pay for the desired action. It is an auction that determines whether your ad is shown to your target audience. The ad networks have only limited ad space, so they run these auctions to see what each advertiser is willing to pay for ad space.

In an auction, the highest bidder wins. So if you pay $10 per click on your ad and the other bidder only pays $5 per click. In reality, you need to only pay the lowest amount possible, which would be $5.01. But it is hard to know what other bidders pay, so the additional factor is important, which is the overall quality of your ads. It also determines how your ads are displayed on the ad networks.

So even the lowest bid can get a good position if the ad quality and engagement are high.

To know what you should spend to make a return on investment, you can use the following equation:

Lifetime Value (LTV) x Average Lead-to-Customer Rate x Average Conversion Rate

LTV is how much a customer is worth to you over time in their relationship with your business. The average Lead to Customer Rate is the rate when your leads become paying customers. The conversion rate is when a new contact is willing to fill out a form on your content offers.

If you combine these metrics, you can determine how much you should spend on ads to break even.  That this equation works, you need to know what your maximum ad should be so you can see a positive return on investment. When you know the three factors about your business, like in this example:

  • Lifetime value: $500
  • Average lead-to-customer rate: 10%
  • Average conversion rate: 10%

The equation would be $500 x 0.10 x 0.10 = $5. This means you can spend a maximum of $5 per click to break even. So the goal should be to spend less than $5 to have a positive return on investment.

10. Measure results

It is important to keep track of your campaigns and analyze your results. So you can see what works and what doesn’t and make changes accordingly. A good idea is to split test, which means using different target audiences and messages and images. Then you can see what combination works the best.

Online advertising is a good way to get traffic and conversation. But it will take time and money, and it is a trial and error process. However, it can grow your business a lot. Even more, if you combine Search engine optimization and Ads.

Infographic:

How to do an Effective AD Campaign Infographic

 

How to build an online brand?

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When people hear the term brand, they might think about company logos, catchy slogans, or a specific product from their favorite company.

All of these are parts of a successful brand, but a brand goes much deeper and more important than that.

Especially if you want to start an online business, you need to know how to build an online brand. And what are the strategies that work for branding?

What Branding means?

Beyond the outside appearance, a brand shows what business is all about.

A brand is similar to people who have different names, faces, styles, and ways of communicating that give unique impressions.

Businesses also have names, products, voices, logos, colors, and fonts that affect how people recognize and see your company.

A brand for your online business will be a vital part of your success, making it one of the leading online marketing strategies. It is also important to maintain consistency when you extend your brand to every part of your business.

But it all starts with establishing your brand, how it is going to look and how it will feel.

Why is branding important?

The goal of the brand should be that your customers can connect and experience your products and services at a deeper and more emotional level.

An online brand is used to get your name out there, so potential customers and clients can recognize and become familiar with your business. This is essential, especially if you want to get noticed as a leader in your niche market.

Branding creates a unique image in the mind of online users and can make a lasting impression.

Your company stands out among your competitors in your field, and you can show what makes your business a better choice.

When you focus on building a high-quality and long-term brand, it will help customers feel they made a great decision and that it was worth paying for your offer.

Consumers will remember the brand that made an impact on them. It is why you need to make a good brand design that is easy to remember and recognizable among other brands.

If you establish your brand online, it gives your business brand loyalty. This is an important aspect of a business because when people have trust in the quality you offer, they will more likely remain loyal to your brand and won’t buy from your competition.

Good branding also makes sure your business has enough credibility and reputation so you can attract new customers to buy from your business.

When you create a brand, you get more control over your image, your product, and the messages and values you want to represent.

How to build an Online Brand?

Building a brand takes time; you can not do it in one day. You need to have a clear strategy and patience to get it done — every step matter to shape your brand identity.

1. Research your customers and your competition

brand

The better you know your customers, the easier it gets to find out where your brand focus should be. It is why you need to research and create your targeted audience. Even if you don’t know what demographics and interests potential customers and clients have

You can start with a general description of your audience and later narrow it down along the way. When you simply describe your target audience are only women, this isn’t enough, so be more specific. It will make it easier to create your brand around them when you know not only the gender of the target audience but also their age, location, language, interest, etc.

If you have competition in a similar market, you can get inspiration for your brand and information about potential customers. It will help to get an idea of how you can make your brand more unique so that it will stand out.

You learn how the competition succeeds and what quality they offer and where they lack. With this research, you can discover how you can make sure to showcase why your offer is better than the competition.

Another thing you can do is to look into reviews from customers there, you can see what experience people are having with the competition. And find out where the company is falling short.

Also, check the competitors messaging and values they have across their platforms and channels. You only need to pick a few competing companies in your market to get started with your research.

2. Select your focus and personality

A brand needs to have a focus and a unique personality. So you need to select a positing statement with one or two lines and states where you want to position your personal brand in the market. This isn’t something you share on your website, but it helps you to answer the right questions about your company.

You can make a positioning statement like this:

  • We offer [Product/Service] for [Target Market] to [Value Proposition].
  • Unlike the [Alternative] we [Key Differentiator]
  • Example:

This unique value proposition is the thing that makes you better than your competition. You need to make it a part of your brand messaging.

What you can do is imagine your brand as a person. Think about how you would describe your brand with three to five adjectives. It needs to be something that your audience can identify with it. Here you can find some ideas for adjectives.

Think about how you would personify your brand; it gives your an idea of the individual quality you want to have.

It can be an animal, a celebrity, a sports team, or anything that has a prominent status that represents the vibe you want to give your brand.

For example, the brand puma has an animal not only in the name and logo but also shows the vibe. A puma is a fast animal, so people connect it with running, which is a big part of the brand.

3. know your product or service

Of course, you might think you know what you are selling, but you need to look beyond the surface to find what makes it special. Identify the biggest benefits your offers have. When it is unique and interesting, you can include it in the messages of your brand.

4. Choose a business name

It depends on the kind of business you want to start, if a name matters very little or a lot. It is probably one of the first big commitments a business owner has to make. The name has an impact on your domain, logo, your marketing, and your trademark registration (generic trademark names are harder to get).

You need a name that is unique and can not be confused with existing players in the market. Also, make sure your business name is broader and not only for one category, especially if you plan to expand your product line.

To find a good name, you can use this business name generator. Or you try one of the following approaches:

  • made-up word: Pepsi
  • unrelated word: Apple for computers
  • suggestive word or metaphor: Buffer
  • Describe it literally: The Shoe Company
  • Remove or add letters, or use Latin endings: Tumblr (Tumbler)
  • acronym from a longer name: HBO (Home Box Office).
  • Combine two words: Pinterest (pin + interest)

You also need to ensure the name is available for both a domain name and if you want to trademark it. You can also ask close people you know if they think it is too similar to another business they know of. Or maybe they have a better idea.

5. Create a slogan and a mission statement

A Slogan is a catchy short tagline that describes your brand. It is for your social media channels, website header, business card, and anywhere a few words can make a big impact.

You can change your slogan over time, but make sure it is a short(one-liner) catchy and makes a strong impression.

Use the slogan maker to find some ideas. You can make it rhyme or describe it literally. What also works is positioning your brand like the strongest coffee, for example. And a metaphor, for instance, “Redbull gives you wings,” as well as integrating your customer’s attitude like Nike’s “Just do it,” is an approach you can make.

Now you can create a mission statement that states what you hope to do, and every part of your company should reflect that.

The mission statement doesn’t answer the what but the why. So why do you sell this product, and why did you start your business?

Here are some examples:

  • Tesla: “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
  • IKEA: “To create a better everyday life for the many people.”
  • JetBlue: “To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.”

It needs to be something that shows the purpose of your brand. The mission statement includes a general description of the company, its function, and its objectives.

Ensure that everything you do with your brand reflects it.

6. Decide the look of your brand and design a logobrand

Think about how you visually represent your brand, the colors, and the font you want to use across your own website.

Colors not only define the look of your brand, but they also represent the feeling you want to communicate across everything you do. Choose a color that is different from your competition so consumers don’t get confused.

Color psychology can help you with your choice when you want to pick colors for your logo.

This infographic gives an overview of the emotions different colors generally evoke.

Source: The Logo Company

Use a tool like Coolors to find out colors that work together. Make sure you grab the hex code and save colors to generate different shades to find the ones you like.

Now you can choose a font that you want to use on the website. You can pick two fonts, one for the heading and one for the body text. For your logo, you might select another one that fits your brand style.

To get fonts that work together, use Font Pair. And if you need inspiration, use Stylify.me, where you can enter the link of your favorite website to see what font they use.

One first thing people think when they hear a brand is a logo. It is why a logo represents your brand, so it needs to be unique, identifiable, and scalable so it works at all sizes.

Also, make sure the colors and fonts you choose work together with your logo.

You can either design with design tools like Canva, for example, or hire a designer and start a contest on 99Designs. If you want to make sure that nobody uses a similar logo and it stays unique, you need to trademark it.

7. Finding your voice

When you know your audience, you need to figure out how you can communicate your ideas. To do this, you need to choose a brand voice. They can come in many different types, be it a professional or casual voice. You can be serious or funny and direct or laid back.

Whatever you pick, it depends on how you want to speak with your customers. But ensure you stay consistent with your voice on all platforms where you want to represent your brand. When you have no consistency, people may get confused and don’t want to connect with your brand identity.

8. Defining your brand message

If you want to reach your audience, you need a clear brand message to greet them. The message should simply make it clear who you are, what kind of products or services you offer, and how it will benefit the customer.

And it should only be a couple of sentences long, also known as an elevator pitch. It means that you can sell your brand in the amount of time you would spend with someone in an elevator.

9. Promoting your brand across platforms

Now is the time when you need to promote your brand. You can do this through different social media pages or use online advertisements to reach a target audience. Another marketing strategy you can use is to write helpful articles about your offers and similar topics.

Keep in mind to use your brand voice, values, and message consistency on all platforms.

Also, make sure to have an about us page where you tell a story about your brand. Share what your mission is, what values you want to meet, and what motivated you to start the business.

Give the customer a story that they can identify with and build a connection to attract potential customers.

Improve your brand as you grow

The process of building an online brand starts with finding a business name and designing a logo, and having slogans and your own messages. But the more your brand grows, the more you need to have a constituency in place when you interact with customers.

You also need to make sure to shape and evolve your brand when you get more customers. You learn who your customers are and how you can speak to them.

While you never have full control over how people see your brand, it is nevertheless important to make a great first impression and have a good reputation.

And with the right marketing strategies, you can grow your brand into a successful business.

How to start a Local Marketing business?

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Want to build an online business? Why not create a Local Marketing business where you help local organizations get seen online and promote their company?

Sure, you need to know how to communicate in person and have online marketing and SEO skill to attract local clients. But it can provide you with a new opportunity to make money online.

Why building a local marketing business?

Often local organizations don´t have a good online presence, if any. But nowadays it is more important than ever to appear on the internet. If you have knowledge about local marketing strategies, you can build a business and help many small shops, restaurants, and other local businesses to get their own website and to rank in search engines. It can greatly benefit them by attracting new customers.

And the more you support locals in your community, the more you can grow your own business.

While many local shops or restaurants often don´t have their own website or aren´t present online. It is necessary to appear in directories like Google Maps and Yelp. Their business needs to be indexed on Google so local people can become more aware of their organization.

Some companies also need their own website, but without having technical understanding, this is a hard task for them. You can help them build their site and do SEO and online marketing for them.

Why do you need to communicate in person?

It’s all about communication with people. Be it a video meeting or in person, it is a face-to-face business. The local companies are dealing with people all day. They are used to working with people, which is why it is important to be comfortable with talking to other people. If you only like to be behind a computer with only Email as a communication medium, then this is not the right business for you.

You only get a client when you network in your local community. As talking is key with potential clients, you also need to listen carefully to what they say. Different clients have other interests because, for example, a lawyer wants to have a website with information about his business and a phone contact page. Versus a small store, they may only need to be appearing on google maps.

For clients, it can be intimidating as they often don´t know what you are talking about. And they may think you charge $500 an hour and that your services will be very expensive. They don´t see the value of your services. This is why it is important to address your client’s needs. Let them tell their story to build trust with the local company.

Skills you need for a Local Marketing Business

Before you can build your own marketing business, you need to learn all types of skills to provide an amazing service.

Search engine optimization Skills on how to do keyword research, create content, and how to use the SEO Elements like meta title and meta description Internal and External links… It is necessary to have knowledge of Google Analytics, Search Console, and Bing Webmaster Tools.

It is also important to have Local SEO skills about Google My Business and Bing Places for Business. You need to have (Name, address, and Phone number (NAP) consistent and the same all across the websites they acquire. And it is useful to understand the Local Schema code and web directories like yelp or any website that has the name, address, and phone number on it.

You need to learn how to motivate people to get reviews and get rating stars on Facebook and Google.

It is about helping people, and they pay you for your time. Sell packages to people, not charge hourly because if the local companies don´t see an end result won´t hire you. Pricing is based on your experience of what you offer to the client. For example, for new site development & onsite SEO, you can price it at around 1000$ depending on the complexity and if the SEO competition isn´t high.

You can upsell ongoing SEO & site management based on your hours invested. When your client’s site grows, you need to spend more time maintaining it. Showing google analytics and other statics can help prove your work and how it benefits their organization.

Make sure they understand if they don´t use ongoing services, they need to find their own hosting services.

To get a client, you need to make them excited by giving them the earning potential they can get when you build them an online presence. Don´t offer your services for free what you can do is charge an upfront fee of $500, and when you create their website, you can showcase and price them other $500. After that, you can launch it on the internet and do the SEO for free.

Then you can upsell them for ongoing Marking services like SEO, Social Media, or Email Marketing.

What you can earn depends on how much you hustle and what you do to get new clients. And also on what marketing skills you have.

How to attract local clients?

Ask yourself who are the people in your life that service you use, be it a hairstylist, plumber, or lawyer. Or do any of your friends and family have a business that needs a better online presence? They maybe know some local business owners.

You need to visit meetups and local events on different networking groups. Present how you can help local businesses by attending speaking opportunities. Of course, for people, it sounds scary to speak in front of an audience, but you can practice and improve yourself. When you get better in networking, you can reach more potential clients.

If you have a regular hangout, be it in a coffee shop, pub, etc., try to make new contacts there. Also, announce on your personal social media account your new local marketing business. They might help you to find potential new clients.

Later on, you can ask for a referral when you grow your client base. Something like:” if you know anyone that would appreciate our service, let them know about us.” Reviews on Google can help attract new local organizations. Or, if you do a good job, you can get recurring clients.

Make sure to work in your environment, so use WordPress only if you are comfortable with it, and then no other site builder like Wix or Jimdo.

It is helpful to you have your own hosting site and buy domains for them. So you don´t need to share all your login details. A good idea is to include these hosting services as long as they are your clients. It is managed to host, which means they can contact you, and you add and fix their requests and solve their problems.

It is essential to have a website for your local marketing business and a lead magnet that can attract clients through emails.

The all-in-one local marketing tool from Brightlocal is a pretty helpful tool to help you manage your clients and show them reports of Google analytics and business as well as all types of Social Media statics.

Conclusion

Yes, it takes time to establish and grow a local marketing business, but it can be a great service to help your local community. When you improve yourself by learning the newest marketing and SEO strategies, you are on the right track to building a profitable company.

Even if you may don´t want to create a local marketing business, you can find a lot of other opportunities to earn money online.

How to use Seo and Ads for better ranking and more traffic?

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Your Online Business needs the right Marketing method to attract visitors to your website both Seo (Search engine optimization), and ads are very important. It can get overwhelming when there are so many different solutions and digital marketing strategies out there. But if you want an introduction to the online marketing world, you are in the right place. You can learn how to do Seo and Ads and what you should consider improving your ranking and website traffic.

Using Seo

What exactly is Search engine optimization? When you search something in google or bing, you see different websites with results for the keywords which you entered. The websites with the exact keywords or with similar topics are the ones that you see on the first page. The Title and Description of the websites show you what information you can expect if you choose to visit the site.

To rank your website, you need to make optimizations where you choose a fitting Title with proper keywords and the right description. But your first step should be to create an account for your website on the different search engines.

You should make a Google Search Console account to get your website in the Google index so it can be found by other users. Depending on where you build your website using WordPress or another Sitebuilder, you have to find a way to integrate the given id from google into your website. You can do this by installing a Seo plugin in WordPress, or maybe your Sitebuilder already has built-in features where you can enter the Id to verify your website. The next step should be to create a sitemap.xml, which you can also do with the SEO plugin or your Sitebuilder. The sitemap is needed to let Google know when you added a new page to your website so it can be seen.

Similarly, you can add your Website to Bing Webmaster, where your site will be added to the other search engine, Bing.

For further knowledge, you can use this Step by Step Guide for Google and this Guide for Bing to make your website visible in the search engines.

Finding the right keywords for Seo

With keywords, you can attract visitors to your site, but it is even more essential to find the right audience. You have to think about what a potential customer or visitor would type in the Search Engine. Also, ask people around how they would search for your product or service and look into your main competition. See what keywords, content, and titles your competitors use on their websites.

Don´t choose short keywords because they are most likely too broad better to select the so-called Long tail keyword that specifies your content, product, or service. You should use keywords with about three or more words or phrases. These long-tail keywords may have lower search volumes, but you get more relevant traffic and higher conversion rates.

To find the fitting keywords for your website, you should use a keyword research tool that helps to gather data on search volume, how much competition the keyword has, and shows organic search engine results for similar keywords and trends. You should make a list of different phrases and decide which is the most fitting and best one.

Spread the keyword also into your website content, not only in the title and description, however, don´t overuse it in text. This may hurt your ranking in the search engine more. When you use WordPress, install a Seo Plugin like Rankmath, where you can enter custom Seo titles and descriptions for your pages and post. Other Sitebuilder should also have an option to make changes you need, so your website shows in search engines.

A good idea is to analyze and monitor so you can adapt to new trends and competitors to stay on top of the search engine. Keep improving your content and website and stay up to date on changes the different Search engines are making.

Using Ads

Often it can take a long time to rank well with your websites and to get visitors and customers. If you want faster traffic than organic search engine results, you can try paid advertising if you can afford it. This also depends and what type of ads you use and how well you target. This is why it is a good idea to think about what audience you want to reach, where they are from, what age they have, and what interest these people have in common.

It helps to build an audience cycle that you can target it also makes it easier and more cost-efficient if you know what people you want to reach. And it makes sense to try out various ad platforms and types where you can analyze your data to find the perfect audience.

You can not only improve your Seo rankings with paid search advertising; you reach new people who wouldn´t find your website if you didn´t target them with your ad.

Choosing the right ad type is a trial and error process, but if you get to know what works and what not, it can help you grow your online business a lot. Be sure to set a budget and time limit when trying other targets and ads.

Different Types of Ads

Learning about the different ad types can help you to reach with your message a bigger audience. Think about a budget that you can invest in advertising and then decide which ads work and which do not. Finding the right advertising platform depends on the cost and what audience you want to reach.

1. Display Ads and Native Ads

One of the first forms of online advertising is ads that appear on a third-party website that is usually content related. The difference between display ads (da) and native ads (na) is that ad banners are displayed where native ads are part of the website design, which let’s them appear more natural.

  • Normal Text ads are created by algorithms, which makes them similar to surrounding content. (da)
  • Basic banners are images that are displayed around the content. (da)
  • Floating banners move across the screen or float over the website content. (da)
  • Popup ads show a new window in the browser in front of the website that displays your full ad. (da)
  • Video ads autoplay or manually play with a click appear before a video on a third-party website. (da and na)
  • Push notifications are ads that appear when a website user has notifications activated to get notified when the site publishes new content. (na)
  • Recommendation widgets are displayed under articles and show related sponsored content from different websites.
  • In-Feed are integrated into the website feed of the different posts and or in listings on the website.

Display and Native ads have cheaper costs, but the traffic is often lower quality

To use Display ads, you can contact a third-party site directly or sign up for a digital marketing website that pays a base rate.

Native ads are managed through advertising platforms for different content websites.

You can target some site’s demographic, contextual, and behavior which makes it easier to find the right audience for your Product or service

Example Plattform for Display Ads:

Google Display Network is integrated into the Google ads platforms, where you can advertise with banners to get valuable traffic from third-party websites.


Example Plattform for Native Ads:


Outbrain has top publisher websites in the portfolio where your ads can be integrated into big sites with large audiences. It is cost-effective and simple to use, but it is difficult to get the landing page or website approved, and you may need help from an account manager

Revcontent reaches a large number of people in the united states and other parts of the world and has a more detailed targeting option, but ads have to stand out beyond your competition to reach new visitors. You get easier approved; however, the traffic is only medium to low quality.

Taboola is one of the largest native ads networks, where you can get more quality traffic than outbrain. So use Taboola when you need more clicks to your website with similar costs.

2. Search Engine Marketing

With Search Engine Marketing, your ads appear above and at the side of the normal content at the search engine. It is the paid version of SEO where you optimize with the keyword, your Titles, and Descriptions. You bid on different keywords with other companies to appear on top of the search engine.

There are two types of ads which are PPC(Pay per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Thousand)

By PPC ads, you bid on keywords that are valued in terms of competition and search volume, and you pay only if a person clicks on your content.

By choosing CPM, you are charged for 1000 impressions in the search engine. It guarantees that your ad will be shown, but if no one clicks on your ad, you can waste a lot of money.

The Biggest Paid Advertising Platform is Google Ads, where you get for your first sign-up a coupon when you spend a small amount on campaigns.

You should be prepared to spend a larger amount of money depending on how much you target and what keywords you use. Make sure to use long-tail keywords if you don´t have a big budget and use a smaller audience cycle where geo-target a country or region.

You have to try which works best for you but watch your campaign at the start and set a budget and time limit. You can only set an average daily budget, which can be different for some because it will be divided over the month. So if you set a daily budget of 45$ with ten days left, you have around 450$.

Another Search Engine website is Bing Ads from Microsoft; it is not as competitive as Google, but you reach enough people for lower prices. Use the keyword planner Tool from Bing to find the best keywords you can target. It is recommended for someone with a smaller budget to try out Search Engine Marketing.

3. Social Media Ads

With Social Media platforms, you can reach a very large audience; it is cost-efficient and effective. You can reach a highly targeted audience with your ads because you can choose between various options like interest, education, age, region, and many more. The ads are mostly images and auto-play videos with text that appear as sponsored content posts on the social media site.

You have the choice between organic advertisements to get brand awareness and feedback. And promoted posts to reach leads, website visits, or app installs. You can decide if you want to pay for clicks or impressions similar to search engine ads. The cost can vary depending on the platform and targets you use.

Platforms for Social Media Ads:

  • Twitter Ads, where you create sponsored hashtags that appear above the Twitter trends, which can make your brand more popular. Another option is sponsored post ads that appear on the timeline of people.
  • Facebook and Instagram have one ad platform that can make post ads, Messenger ads, and story ads, which can be a short video of 15 sec. or a picture with a link that appears in other user stories.
  • Pinterest is a good provider when you want to sell products like clothes and decorative things or different types of online services. The ads are shown as sponsored Pin posts or videos. On Pinterest, you have the opportunity to reach a large number of female users.
  • Reddit ads can be used to target different subreddits, which are categories and different niches. The language used is only English, but you can also make ads in other languages. It works best if your content is in English so you can better target different subreddits.
  • Linkedin is a social network for business and employment. If you want to target this audience, you need a bigger budget because post ads are very expensive.

4. Video Ads

With videos, you can demonstrate your product or service with how-to-do tutorials and showcases or create brand awareness with a funny, inspiring, or emotional story. The Videos can appear as Pre-Rolls before a normal video or in-between, or at the end in different formats and content options.

Video Ad Platforms:

Youtube is the biggest platform to share video clips of your business with a broad audience, and you can target different niches and Youtuber channels. The ad cost is paid per view or per action, which can get expensive if you want more than a thousand views. But you have many targeting options to reach your audience with a high-quality video.

Twitch is a live stream platform where people stream mostly games but also other activities like traveling and creative skills. Twitch partners can roll ads in a Livestream where your video can be displayed. This is a choice for larger companies with a big five-figure budget or more.

The cost-efficient method is to advertise your videos on a social media site like Facebook or Twitter.

5. Influencer advertisement

An influencer can reach a large community of followers that can drastically grow your business with a good campaign.

You can contact different Video Creator on Youtuber through their business email and suggest your campaign idea similar way, you can reach out to Twitch streamers and other social media influencers.

But don´t choose randomly; you should look into their content, what audience they can reach, how popular they are, and how engaged their following is. Be sure your business is relevant to their content and that the influencer has similar values and principles to your company.

It depends on the number of views and followers and how much a campaign can cost; the price can start at  500$ or less to 100.000$ or more.

You can also advertise your business on podcasts where the podcaster talks in an audio form about your offers. Podcasts have gained a lot of popularity lately, so it is a good choice to contact a fitting Influencer that makes podcasts.

Combine Seo and Ads

Starting by finding the right keywords for your product or service so your website can rank well on the search engine should be essential because this can help you attract the user to your site without paying money.

If you already have a budget, you can combine your Seo strategies with a well-targeted ad campaign to find your perfect audience cycle. Maybe start with Search Engine Marketing to boost your website ranking, which also helps to gain more visitors organically. After you learn what your target audience is, you can try out other Ad forms like Social Media and Video Ads.

To make successful ad campaigns, you need to try out different targets, platforms, and ad types. You have to learn how to create engaging ads to improve your click and lead rate, but if you can afford it you can also hire an Online Marketing expert.

No matter what your goal is with your website, if you keep improving and use the right Online Marketing Tools and Strategies, you can grow a successful and profitable business.

How to make money with your art?

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Many people who have a creative side and like to create art often just do it for fun and relaxation. However, the internet offers so many possibilities where you can sell your art and make money. It doesn’t sound too bad to get a little extra pennies or make a living by showing the world your creativity?

But what art can you sell, and how to make money with your art?

What art can you sell?

Before you decide where to sell your art, you should determine what you want to sell.

  • Original art such as paintings, drawings, and illustrations. You can both see the original art and the prints of the same work.
  • Limited or open edition prints (framed, unframed, or prints on canvas)
  • Digital downloads (wallpapers, templates, print at home, art, stock footage, etc.,
  • Custom art is made when a customer or business requests an artwork. It is generally one-of-a-kind art and not again as a reproduction.
  • Merchandise Art print on t-shirts, hats, mugs, clothes, greeting cards, phone cases, etc.
  • Repeat Prints on wrapping paper fabric or wallpaper.
  • Licensing work to other brands or publications (great for photographers and illustrators).
  • Collaboration with a brand like a limited collection sold through a brand partner store

How to make money with your art?

There are many useful and effective ways to earn money with your art.

1. Sell via art sites

If you create physical paintings, you can find different platforms like Artfinder, Etsy, and Saatchi art. However, you need already be established in the market for some sites like Artsy and Artnet.

The platform have all different commissions and rules to sell your art. So make sure to compare the websites and choose the most fitting one for your artwork.

It is also possible to use subscription websites like Patreon, where you offer different benefits and rewards for people that choose one of the various subscription levels.

2. Enter competition and art awards

Entering a Competition and art award is a way to show your artistic skills. While this is not exactly a way to make money unless there are cash prizes for the winner, it is still a good idea to bring your name out there.

Always read the rules carefully because if you want to stand out, then you need to fit the judge’s criteria. However, you still need to be creative and build something unique and extremely high quality so that out of the hundreds of submissions, you will be the one to remember.

3. Sell your art at stock websites

You not only can sell photographs on stock image websites but also any form of visual art like illustrations, templates, and fine art paintings.

On sites like Shutterstock, Getty images, etc., you can find a variety of detailed portraits, abstract designs, and backgrounds that buyers can use to digitally edit pictures.

Remember, as a stock image seller; you don’t have control over who buys a license to use the image in ads you might choose to promote.

If you have any artwork you want to sell as original work, you shouldn’t submit such images to a stock website. It can get compacted when you sell a physical piece the full ownership of the work because many others also have bought a license to use.

But it is still an amazing way to sell digital art and make a passive income this way.

4. Build a strong portfolio website

No matter if you first start out or have already made a name for yourself, building an artist portfolio website that showcases your work is a good way to boost your art sales online.

With WordPress, for example, you can relatively easily create a portfolio website. You can find many WordPress themes and plugins that are perfect for showcasing your work.

Porfolio

Use high-quality photos of your artwork and make the site visually appealing, as it should reflect your artist’s skills. Also, add an about me page where you share insight about your artistic background, interests, and if you studied relevant subjects like graphic design or fine art. And why you choose to create art.

Also, present your credential and give insight into your personal life. Write in a tone and style that feels natural to you because potential buyers might be keen to know the real person behind the artwork.

Make sure to link all your social media profiles, where people can buy your art, and how they can contact you.

5. Use social media to promote and sell your artwork

When you want to start selling artwork, it is almost essential to have a social media presence. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter are good for showcasing your art and building a following.

You can also share digital art and sell it on art platforms like Artstation and DeviantArt.

With such social media site, you can attract new fans to your art and increase your sales. Consistency and creating engaging content are key to growing your following. Also, be authentic and keep your responses friendly even when criticized.

6. Get commissions for your art

If you are skilled enough, you can start taking paid art commissions from friends or any people that want to pay for your art. Let people know on your profiles, business cards, and website how they can contact you and what prices you have. A simple “DM me for commissions” can be effective, so people get in touch with you.

You might also make your own prices depending on how long and how hard they work for the requested artwork. Ensure you choose a secure payment option and make a contract, so you don’t get scammed.

7. Use merchandise platforms or create your own store

There are various merchandise platforms like Redbuble, Designbyhumans, and Society6, where you can sell your designs as a print on demand. This can be all types of clothes, mugs, bags, phone cases, pillows, etc.

merchandiseYour art should be high quality and meet the different resolution standards needed for print on demand. It is relatively easy to upload your designs on such platforms. But still look at how much commissions you get, the quality of the product, and if the company has good customer reviews.

It is also possible to create your online store and work with a third-party print-on-demand company together. Having an online store where you sell your art might be more profitable than when you only sell on merchandise platforms. Managing a shop is a lot of work, especially if you ship the product yourself.

No matter what you choose, you want to make any sales if you don’t promote your art and have a following. You can use many different marketing strategies like advertising and social media marketing to increase your sales and get customers.

8. Create an art book or illustrate book, film, or cd covers

When you have created enough art, you can create an art book or calendar where you can share little details or stories about your art.

Another possibility is finding gigs on Fiverr, 99Designs, Upwork, and other freelancer platforms. To get work, you need a portfolio and share what programs you use, what skills you have, and what designs you can create. Set your prices lower at first, depending on your skill, and increase when you have good reviews and success rate.

Also, think about the licenses of your work and use a contract that explains such details. Most platforms have a contract you can share with customers.

9. Sell NFT art

Non-Fungible TokenNFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are becoming a big part of the modern art market. NFTs are digital files unique to the owner, stored on a blockchain, and bought with the cryptocurrency Ethereum. Blockchain technology is essentially a secure way to verify ownership of digital items.

There are different online marketplaces that focus on NFT art, like Nifty Gateway and SuperRare.

It is an easy way to sell art this way as your work exists in a digital format but still can be bought, sold, and owned as original work of art. There is a lot of interest in NFTs in the art world as it is a relatively new and exciting concept that can potentially draw attention to your work.

The problem is that the NFT art market is pretty volatile, so you can not really predict how much money you could make and what the crypto coin Ethereum in the future is worth.

If you are interested in selling NFT art, do thorough research, learn about the potential risk, and carefully consider if it is the right choice.

10. Apply to sell at art fairs

Art fairs are often the biggest event in the industry. The top fairs attract some of the most influential people in the art world, including galleries, art dealers, curators, and artists. There are still casual art fans who also attend them.

Unless an art gallery already represents you, you are most likely unable to exhibit your work, but some accept applications from individual artists and art collectives.

Search on Google to find art fairs near you and if they would suit you and your artwork. Each website should have details about if applications are open to individuals artists along with rules on how to apply

When you secure a place to exhibit your work at an art fair, be friendly and open throughout and chat with as many visitors as you can. It would be great if you make a sale on the day but try not to be discouraged if this doesn’t happen.

Deciding to buy artwork can take time, so make sure you hand out a business card to anyone you chat with at the fair. Once visitors think through the decision, they might get back to you to buy your art.

11. Network with art buyers

Networking is always a good choice for any type of business. You can find many art dealers and potential buyers if you be confident.

Art exhibition openings have high guarantees to attract keen buyers and collectors. But you usually need to be added to the guest list. On the website or their social media profile, you might find info on how you can attend such an event.

If you make it talk to as many people as possible and have images of your at and business cards you can hand out. While it is unlikely that you will make a sale there, building a network of potential buyers and art exhibits is important.

You might meet someone interested in buying your work or an impressive curator and gallery director, which could lead to your art being represented in a gallery.

Also, use social media platforms where you can share and comment on art from other artists and cross-promote to attract new potential customers.

12. Approach commercial galleries

You can attend exhibition events and talk to as many people as you can, including the director and curators of the gallery. While they might not decide to start representing your artwork after the first meeting, it could if you take the time to build a relationship with them.

Art GalleryShow interest in the work they are representing asked a lot of questions, and become a familiar face at their exhibition openings.

Even if they don’t think you are ready for gallery representation right now, it can help to find out what you can do to improve your work.

Artists that are represented in well-established galleries can access some amazing opportunities like having their work exhibited at big art fairs, getting interviewed by art critics, and getting their art promoted by a trusted name to potential buyers.

But these opportunities usually have high commission costs, which vary by the art gallery, still often around 50% of sales.

When you think the suggested commission charge is too high before you sign, try to negotiate the fees in the contract between you as an artist and the gallery.

How to check for backlinks?

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You might already know that backlinks can help you to get more traffic and rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing.

But what is a backlink? How to check for backlinks work? And how to get backlinks?

What is a Backlink?

A Backlink is a link from one website to another. Search engines use backlinks as a ranking signal. When one site links to another, it means they believe the content is more noteworthy. High-quality backlinks can increase the site’s ranking position and search engine results.

How do backlinks work?

Backlinks can play an important role in search engine algorithm, SEO, and your overall strategy for growing your website. You can think of backlinks as a conversation among websites.

For example, Tom is a blogger and writes an article about a music festival. Another blogger, Rachel, links Toms’s article when sharing her perspective. Since she also writes about the topic on her website, this creates a backlink to John’s post.

Because her website is popular many other sites will link back to her article. This increases the authority of Rachels’s site, and Toms’s article also gets a valuable backlink from a reputable site. It is basically a win-win situation.

Why are backlinks important?

Backlinks can help with three main things:

Ranking

Search engines like Google and Bing see backlinks as votes of confidence. The more votes your webpage has, the more likely they are to rank for relevant search queries.

You can find an ahrefs study for link base ranking factors that the number of backlinks from unique referring websites strongly correlate with organic search traffic.

Discoverability

Search engines discover new content by revisiting pages they already know about to check for new links.

Because search engines revisit popular pages more than unpopular ones, they may find your content faster if you get backlinks from popular pages.

Referral traffic

Backlinks exist to show people useful resources. That is why they are clickable.

If someone clicks on a link to your website, you get referral traffic.

The different types of backlinks

There are two types of backlinks where one is more valuable than the other.

A Nofollow tag tells search engines to ignore a link. They don’t pass any value from one site to another. Typically they don’t help improve your search rank or visibility.

Dofollow links are the backlink type that everyone wants. They need to come from respected sites, so they are valuable. It is the kind of backlink that can improve search engine rankings.

But there are do-follow links that are considered bad or toxic. Those links are from suspicious sites or gained by breaking the term of service from search engines.

It may cause Google penalizes or even de-index your site. Remember, it is not about the number of backlinks but rather the quality that makes the difference in ranking.

What is a high quality backlink?

Not all backlinks are equal there are some attributes that show the backlink’s quality and utility.

Relevance

Google places more value on relevant backlinks because people more likely click on them. This means if a plumber has backlinks from two pages, one is about dogs and one about installing boilers; chances are the latter is more valuable.

Also, a domain with readers of plumbing.com are more likely to click on a plumber website than readers of dogs.com

Authority

Backlinks from strong websites usually have more authority than those of weak ones. In contrast, it doesn’t always transfer to more authority, as Google has a fair number of various methods that assign value to backlinks. Also, internal backlinks contribute to a page’s authority.

Traffic

Backlinks from high-traffic sites will usually send you more referral traffic. There is a small but clear correlation between rank and backlinks from pages with organic search traffic. But the backlink from unique websites and page-level authority seems to be more important.

Placement

People are likelier to click prominently placed links, so some links on web pages have more authority than others. If your link ends up in the site’s footer or along with fifty others sites in the sidebar, then look for other opportunities.

Anchor text

Anchor text is the clickable words from backlinks. Anchor link text matter but isn’t as important as other things

How to check for backlinks

There are various backlink monitoring tools to check your website backlinks, including Google Search Console, Ahresfs, Semrush, etc.

Keeping your backlinks in check is very important. Google Webmaster Guidelines require you to ask toxic website owners to remove their links to your site. If you don’t do this, Google can penalize your website, and your page rank will begin in search results.

You need to know where you can find the backlink, if they are toxic and how you can contact toxic backlink site owners.

While you can use Google Search Console to help grow your site and find your backlinks, it takes a lot of time and is limited in what it can do.

There are faster and better tools available for example, SEMrush has two main areas to deal specifically with backlinks. The first is the Backlink Analytics section, where you can study your competitors. And the second is the Backlink Audit.

With the Backlink Audit, you can check every backlink and sort out toxic ones. This way, you can find and reject toxic backlinks before Google penalizes your website.

With SEMrush, you can email the toxic website owner from the user screen. But the platform can also help you improve your Keyword research, overall SEO, and Marketing strategy.

How to get Backlinks

There are many strategies to get more backlinks:

Earning backlinks

When people discover your content via search engines like Google, social media, or word of mouth and choose to link to your page. The earned link is organic.

To improve your chances of earning more backlinks by creating valuable and relevant content that people should want to link to.

Creating backlink

You can manually add links to your site from other websites. This includes submitting to business directories, leaving blog comments, and replying to forum threads.

Building Backlinks

You can also reach out to site owners, editors, or webmasters and ask them to link to your page. For this to work, you need a clear value proposition. That’s where you can use the following link-building tactics:

  • Guest blogging: Write a post for another website where you link back to your site.
  • Broken link building: Find the relevant dead link on other sites, reach out to them, and suggest your working link as a replacement. Use a broken link checker like SEMrush to do this. Focus on-site that has the highest Domain Authority.
  • The Skyscraper Technique. Search for relevant content with many links, write something better and then ask those linking to the original to link to you instead. Don’t be pushy or spammy; most people happily share your content on social media
  • Become a Source for reporters and bloggers. You can use a free service called Help a Reporter Out (HARO). The platform connects people that need sources like bloggers and journalists to people like you who want links exposure. It is a strategy that takes work, but it can be a good way to build high-quality backlinks with the right pitch.
  • Content Formats: Use the right content format by writing valuable why and what posts, integrating infographics and videos, and publishing ultimate guides on specific topics.
  • Develop something unique. This can be a unique strategy tip or static. While you might not have a unique ingredient, you still got a unique receipt, and that is what matters. Name your strategy and publish it as part of your blog post, preferably a case study. It is a branded strategy with proof and can bring in many backlinks.
  • Unlinked mentions: Find out if there is an unlinked mention of your brand and ask the author to make the mention clickable.
  • Resource pages. There are pages that exist that only link out to other sites. Search for terms like useful additional or helpful resources and further reading. When you find a resource page, you can reach out to them and ask nicely to link to them. Try personalized outreach emails as it improves how many backlinks you get.

How To Rank A Website And Get More Traffic?

One of the biggest problems many website owners experience is that their site doesn’t rank in Seach engines, so they don’t get enough traffic. Many people only look on the first page of Google and Bing, so it is important that your page appears as a top result to get visitors and conversion.

But knowing how to rank a website can be very tricky.

How to rank a website?

You need to ensure your website is listed in search engines like Google and Bing before you can rank. A Google and Microsoft accounts are needed to integrate your website into the search engine result. For example, a WordPress plugin like Rankmath can make it easy to connect your site with Google and Bing.

Depending on how and where you build your website, you can find different solutions to appear in search engine rankings. This is essential before looking for other strategies to rank a small website.

1. Website Audit

A good start is to do an SEO website audit which shows you a full analysis of your website’s health. You can see your site’s strengths and weaknesses, what you do right and what you can improve.

To better understand the benefit of a web audit, you need to know how search engines work. It starts with a Google Bot that crawls every page of every website. Then it indexes your content based on an algorithm created by the search engine.

The audit process will check for issues that interfere with raking your website in search engines. These can be problems that don’t fit the ranking guidelines. You get a report and data to build an effective strategy on what you can change.

There are many different SEO Audits like the one from SEMrush or the integrated solution in the Rankmath Plugin

2. Optimizing Website Speed and Design

A big ranking factor is how fast your website is because most people don’t want to waste time waiting for a website to load fully. You can use a website speed tester like Googles Page insight or Gtmetrix to see your site speed.

These tools show you what slows down your website and what you can improve. The most common mistake is that you have many images and videos on your site that are not optimized. You find many services that can help you with image optimization.

Many big websites also use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) with a network of different servers that work together to provide faster delivery of your content. With a CDN like Cloudflare, you can drastically improve the loading of your internet content, including HTML pages, javascript files, stylesheets, images, and videos.

Also, look that your Web Design is easy to use and aesthetic. You should ensure that your site works on mobile devices because it is where Search engines focus when determining your website ranking.

3. SEO and Keywords

You probably heard about the word SEO which stands for Search engine Optimization. It is the strategy that helps you to rank your website higher and get more traffic. There are many different ranking factors you should keep in mind:

  • Write unique, targeted, fresh, and valuable content
  • Integrate external links and internal links that are relevant to your content.
  • Use fitting graphics, images, videos, and audio in your article
  • Search for relevant Keywords that have small competition but high enough searchers.
  • Place these Keywords in your Heading and subheading, the first paragraph of your article, in the Meta description and Meta title. Also, integrate it in the image alt and article URL.
  • Ensure that your website is fast and mobile-friendly.

SEO Cheatsheet:

SEO Cheat Sheet

4. Integrate Schemas

There are different types of schemas you can integrate into your website. The most common are FAQs, Infographics, Reviews, and a short summary of your article. These schemas can appear in the search result as short information about a specific topic.

If you create Schemas for your website article, you can, as an example, answer a question on your topic and link your site. Then these questions might be searched in Google, and your answer might appear at first. So if a user likes an answer and wants to know more, he can click on your link and get traffic.

Again there are many different tools like Rankmath that let you easily create such schemas

5. Quality Content

Write content on your website that is relevant to your niche. Ensure that it is unique and valuable for your audience. An article should at least have 1000 words. Use a tool like Grammarly to find grammar and spelling mistakes and overall improve your text.

Use the above-mentioned SEO and Keyword techniques to rank your article.

6. Use different Marketing strategies.

You can utilize different marketing strategies to improve your ranking and traffic. For instance, with Email Marketing, you can send your visitors messages about your newest content and offers. A giveaway can also drive new users to your site. Online press releases, guest posts, and reviews can help with traffic as well.

While these strategies do not directly help with ranking, they bring in visitors, and if they stay on your site longer, it improves the bounce rate. The bounce rate is a ranking factor that can help get a higher ranking in search engines.

7. Advertising

If you have a budget, you can create ad campaigns so you appear above normal search results. This is especially useful if you have a product or service to offer. It gets you more traffic and makes your brand more popular, which can help with overall ranking and discovery.

8. Social Media

With social media, you can attract and grow a very targeted audience. A good way is to share your website content and answer posts as well as provide new information on social profiles. Social media shares on your website can also improve your ranking. Integrate a share button where users can easily show your content to their friends.

9. Improve your Domain authority

Domain authority (DA) is a huge ranking factor. It is a metric used to rate websites from 1 to 100. A higher DA means you are more likely to appear on the first page of search engines. When your website has high-quality backlinks from other websites with a large DA score, it can also improve your own score.

You can use SEmrush domain authority or Linkgraph’s Free Bulk DA Checker to see your Domain Authority.

There are many strategies to get more DA, like having quality and updated content. Identifying your competition and finding your targeted audience so you can see what content works. Also, relevant backlinks can help with your DA score.

10. Analyze your data

No matter what strategies you use, keep track of the different methods. Analyze the result to see what you can improve and what you do right. Ranking search engines is a long-term process that is trial and error.

While there are many different algorithm changes almost weekly, your traffic will have ups and downs. But one thing is certain you need to be consistent in content posting and improvement to archive better rankings.