Small business website resources

08-Jan-2010 Below you will find a list of resources that I have found incredibly useful in working with my clients to get their sites live.

Website Report Card
This is a great resource to find mistakes in your site.

Google's Search Engine Optimisation Starter Guide (519kb PDF)
This is a 22 page document that Google has put together to guide you in optimising your site.

Ingress Online's SEO Cheat-Sheet (255kb PDF)
If you can't be bothered reading the entire 22 page document above, here is a short 2 page cheat sheet to get you going.

Ingress Online's Content Starter Document
This is a document I give to my clients to get them thinking about their site strtucture and to get them to map out their site.  To save time and confusion I recommend you map out each page of your proposed website in a word document so you know where everything goes and what words, links and formatting will appear on the page.

Ingress Online's Meta Data Spreadsheet
It is useful to list all your web pages then write the Description and Title of each page with a list of keywords so the Search Engine Robots know what you site is about and can index it accordingly.  Download this simple spreadsheet to get you started.

Online Retailer Exhibition & Conference
When web-based retailing has been growing at 20% a year or more for the past decade, and other retailing channels are showing modest or no growth, it's no surprise that retailers are focusing more than ever on their multichannel strategy, and are shifting more of their budgets towards enhancing their online channel.

Internet shopping in Australia is expected to top $18 billion in 2009, and that's not including in-store sales influenced by consumers researching their purchases online. 

Small Business Big Opportunity - FREE BOOK
This is a great free book from Sensis and goes into great detail about advertising and marketing.  It will also help you with your target market and other finance information.

Flying Solo
I am sure most of you have heard of this but did you know there is also a book.  This book goes through everything from pre business planning right up to maintaining your business.  It is great for people who work for themselves and want to keep it that way.

Dynamic Business Article - Making the most of your Website
April 2009

Dynamic Business Article - How to run an online business and grow sales
May 2009

MyBusiness Article - eCommerce 101: Why Should I Buy From You?
April 2009

My Business Article - Back to Basics: Building a Website 101
May 2009

Google Analytics
This is a free service from Google and should be included at the bottom of each page of your site to be able to track your users and their activity

Google Keyword tool
This is a great tool to find your related keywords and the popularity of those words or phrases.

Google Insights
This can help you refine your combination of keywords for your Search Engine Marketing campaigns eg paid advertising.

Business Masterminds
I attend a weekly breakfast with other like minded business people who work together to help each other succeed in business by discussing issues, challenges etc.

Well worth a look if you are interested.