One of the most effective ways to market your service or product is by gaining a good reputation and a loyal following. It’s no secret that people tend to believe what their peers have to say, and that is becoming more powerful each and every day.

In fact, 90% of online customers trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% trust unknown users (Econsultancy, Socialnomics).

Because of this, using positive testimonials on your website can be a powerful tool for gaining new customers and increasing sales. If you have a good relationship with your clients, embrace their satisfaction and use their good words to boost your business. Read the full entry

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The retail heavyweight fight between Amazon and Wal-Mart has been going on for more than a decade now.

Wal-Mart seemed to be the untouchable giant, but Amazon has been gaining ground as consumers change their spending habits and make more purchases online every year.

If you’re a retail company that’s been sitting back as a spectator, there’s no need to pick sides. You can have the best of both worlds. An ecommerce storefront can be set up with ease and then you can start drumming up online sales in no time. Read the full entry

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Your business sign says a lot about you and your company; it’s your brand. The more you use it, the more people will recognize you. Unfortunately, many small and medium-sized businesses don’t understand the value of taking physical business signage and translating it to the web.

You’ve already paid for the custom design, so you should use it. In the end, it’ll only improve your brand. Read the full entry

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By now you know that a fundamental part of a business’ success is a strong web presence.  With a staggering 2.4 billion people online worldwide, the internet has transformed the way people find and share information.

But, it’s no longer enough to simply have a website. By creating it with a customer-focused approach, your business can improve its conversion rate and increase sales.

Read on for the most common website mistakes you should avoid: Read the full entry

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When it comes to valuable websites, we’re guessing everyone can name the heavy hitters: Google, Facebook, Amazon,  Yahoo.

But how do you know how much your site is worth?

Do you consult with an oversized rodent who peeks out of his burrow once a year and announces which sites rank supreme? Maybe there’s a wizard at the end of a yellow brick road who’d be willing to tell you (as long as you snuff out that pesky witch first). How ’bout that psychic from Long Island — you know the one with the crazy fingernails? She be able to tell you, right?

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Web Design Package Deals

Before you decide whether to get web hosting and web design from the same provider, it’s important to understand the difference between the two.

Web hosting is how hosting companies make web pages available to anyone surfing the internet. Your web hosting provider makes sure there is enough bandwidth to handle your web traffic, and it may perform site analytics to help you track the performance of your site.

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Ring in the new year by ringing up more sales on your website when you offer credit card processing.

By now, you’ve no doubt heard all about this little thing called the Internet and how people are losing hours and hours of their lives to things like the worst celebrity fashion, Fantasy Football, videos of kittens getting baths (it’s just so adorably pathetic!) and online shopping.

The online sales opportunities for small business are endless, especially if you offer credit card processing. Read the full entry

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If this was the computer you used to design your website, it's probably in need of an overhaul. (Photo courtesy of Blakespot on Flickr)

There are countless website design practices that have fallen out of favor. Utilizing one of these can make your site look downright dated — from silly clip art to uber-bright colors to bad navigation. To help you decide whether it’s time to overhaul your site, we came up with a checklist of some of the biggest signs your site is stuck in a bygone era.

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Ivana Katz has worked with industry leaders in search engine marketing and search engine optimization as well as expert programmers to help her clients' websites be successful.

Anyone with hopes of expanding their small business and reaching more prospective clients will have to launch a website at some point or another.

“These days if you tell someone you don’t have a website, it’s almost like saying ‘I don’t have a phone number,’” said Ivana Katz, founder of web design company Websites 4 Small Business, located in Sydney, Australia.

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