The SEO Minefield

I met and sat with an account manager from an online digital marketing company about 3 years ago, discussing how we could drive our business forward through SEO and PPC marketing.

Search engine optimization

After a back and forth discussion of our marketing needs and the services the company could provide, we were presented with a package that looked very similar to the one below:

  • 10 Keywords
  • 20 Backlinks A Month
  • 10 Press Releases
  • 30 Retweets
  • 50 Facebook Shares
  • On Page Optimisation
  • 1 x 500 Word Article
  • Above Article Submitted To 20 Article Directories
  • 20 Directory Listings

£xx.xx

The account manager’s presentation (at the time) was very convincing: he thoroughly explained the benefits of the package, namely higher web rankings in Google and an increase in website traffic and customers.…

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Service and Utility: Choosing the Best Truck and Flatbed for Your Industry

Owning or renting a fleet for your business shouldn’t be hard, but it often is. And, when you need to replace a truck or flatbed, or buy a new one, for your needs, there are several things to think about that most people won’t or don’t tell you.

Kenworth T880 Flatbed

CM Flatbeds

The first question you should be asking yourself is, “what will I be hauling, and how much will it weigh?” That right there will drive every other decision you make. Payload weight is determined by the GVWR – the base weight of the vehicle plus occupants, cargo, and any additional equipment and tongue weight.…

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How Do You Know When it’s Time to Expand?

This is a tricky question since there is no universal answer. Expansion is a gamble, and a lot of entrepreneurs are hesitant to pull the trigger when they aren’t 100% sure they’ll do enough business to make the expansion worthwhile. And while it’s easy to say you should expand when you find you’re doing a ton of business, even that may be pre-emptive.

Business growth and expansion

The first thing you should trust is your gut – if you feel like it is time to expand, then seriously explore that option. But you should also consider a few other factors.

Competition

Has your competition recently expanded?…

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MBA vs. MSA: Which One is The Best for CEOs? (Infographic)

If the lack of an advanced degree is holding you back from realizing your true potential, maybe it’s time to invest in yourself and your business by enrolling in a graduate program. Depending on your career goals, a Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) or Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree may be just what you need to take your organization to the next level.

Postgraduate student

How a Master of Science in Analytics Education Helps Business Owners

In today’s business climate, technology is constantly changing the way you do business. An MSA degree will help you keep pace with these changes and use the data you collect as quickly as it is obtained.…

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How to Choose the Right Energy Company to Power your Business

If you happen to live and/or start a business in part of the country where you have the advantage of choosing what company you get your energy from, you need to take this decision very seriously. If you take your time and do the necessary research, you can save yourself a significant amount of money on your future energy expenses.

An electricity company worker installs an energy meter

Do not simply start using the first energy company you come across. You owe it to yourself to take a hard look at all of the available candidates to find the one that gives you the most value for your money.…

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How the Right ERP Tools Can Help Scale your Business

The idea of deploying an enterprise resource planning solution might be daunting for small businesses, especially given cost considerations. For one, the more popular ERP vendors such as SAP, Oracle and Microsoft, among many others, are often perceived to have a focus on enterprise clients. And even if the SME were to get enough funding to subscribe to an ERP license, it can be expensive to customize these solutions according to their needs.

Cloud ERP

In some cases, even enterprise clients will be stuck with legacy systems that are rarely updated. Given these barriers and preconceptions, ERP utilization may not always be adequate.…

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Is Your Business Ready for the Cloud?

Information technology (IT) decisions at the small business level can be very challenging; traditional server-client models are often a poor solution for small businesses that need flexibility, scalability, convenience, and support at a manageable price. Cloud-based services are great alternatives for many, but the proliferation of these services can be overwhelming. Here’s how to know if your small business is ready for the cloud.

Business cloud

Types of Cloud-Based Service Models

The three service models on the cloud are infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Each shifts the responsibility for managing the technology to the service provider, freeing up the business owner to focus on his or her own operations.…

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6 Ways to Select the Best Employees

An article appearing in Harvard Business Review showed that of 2,700 employers surveyed in a recent study, 41 percent reported a poor hiring choice cost the company as much as $25,000. The costs of an unsuitable hire come as the result of problems like poor productivity, the individual’s negative impact on morale and expenses of training a new hire.

Hiring the best employee

Here are six ways employers can boost their chances of finding the right person for the job and avoid incurring the expense that comes with a less-than-stellar hire:

Move away from traditional methods

The key to finding the best possible employees may exist within the company.…

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Licensing and Permissions for Planning a Public Event

If you are planning on running a public event, there are a number of procedures that you will need to go through, including obtaining permission or a specific licence from the relevant authority in your area.

Crowd at a public event

It is not uncommon to actually need more than one type of licence for an event and this could involve things like obtaining an alcohol licence or getting consent to erect a temporary structure like a Smart Space building that you are using to host the planned event.

Here is a look at what is involved in planning a public event that is fully compliant with all the relevant rules and regulations that are likely to apply.…

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Is WixStores the Best Ecommerce Platform for Small Business Owners?

The answer to that question is a resounding yes! In fact, there is a recently-launched platform with the small business owner’s needs totally in mind, WixStores.

WixStores homepage

WixStores is Wix’ new online ecommerce store builder. If you haven’t heard of Wix – the company have long been known for having the most feature-rich, hosted site building platform online, allowing for much more design and interface-tweaking flexibility for “non-coder” types who don’t like the generic and rather limited nature of most WordPress themes.

Their new ecommerce CMS has the smoothest drag and drop site-building interface I’ve ever seen, and they’re definitely equipped to compete with the likes of other more expensive hosted shopping cart solutions like Shopify.…

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