Put the Web to Work

Facebook offers a great way to promote your business, if you're doing it right. Are you doing things on social media that could jeopardize your business' credibility and professionalism? Like with any marketing, social media marketing needs strategy to be effective. Here are some common Facebook mistakes that businesses need to avoid: 1. Making Too Many "Salesy" Posts.   People turn to Facebook as a place to be part of a community and a place to find relevant, helpful content, not a place to be sold to. If you have too many sale posts, people will burn out quickly and could even unfollow your page. While an occasional sales post (maybe something about a promotion you're currently running) is fine, you want to post more than just sales pitches. You want to be a resource for your fans so that when it is time for them to buy, they're going to come to you. You won't even have to work to make the sale, as they already know you as someone they can trust ...

You don't have to know how to use Photoshop to create great looking images for your social media campaign. Just do a Google search and you'll find tons of online photo editors, many of them very simple to use. Images are a vital aspect of internet marketing and branding them makes them even more effective. Take a look at some of our favorite online photo editing websites that are free to use! 1. Canva. Easily create beautiful designs with Canva. Using the drag-and-drop feature and professional layouts, you can design consistently stunning graphics. The great thing about Canva is that you can choose from pre-sized templates for each social media platform. The struggle of your image being to small or the wrong shape for Facebook, Twitter, etc. is no longer there. You can easily overlay text and logos or add a custom background. Plus, Canva will save your logos and images for use at a later time. The possibilities are endless and if you use all of your own images, it's c...

Many businesses now understand the power of Facebook as a marketing avenue. However, many still question why they would need to be on Twitter or any of the other social media channels for that matter. "I'm on Facebook; isn't that good enough?" We hear that all too often. The answer is no, it's not good enough. While being of Facebook is better than not doing social media at all, the combination of multiple social media channels is important. More and more people are starting to use Twitter, even more so than Facebook in some cases. While the majority of users represent a younger demographic, it's still important for your business to have a presence on Twitter. Here are a few reasons why: 1. Engage Your Customers.  While posting information about your business products and services is the obvious use for Twitter, the social media platform allows you to easily engage your followers. It gives you a channel for listening to and finding out about your custom...

Email newsletters, also known as e-newsletters , are a great way for your business to keep in touch with your customers and new prospects, thus encouraging a steady stream of leads. With the increase in popularity of social media as a way to market your brand online, many businesses forget about the power of email marketing. However, according to Marketing Sherpa, 72% of consumers say that email is their favored conduit of communication with companies they do business with and 61% say they like to receive promotional emails weekly. If you're still trying to decide if email marketing is right for your business, consider these 7 reasons why you should have an e-newsletter: 1. Build Strong Customer Relationships.  In this day and age, building strong relationships with your customers is crucial. Competition is increasing and companies that embrace relationship building are far more likely to generate customer loyalty and gain repeat business. According to ExactTarget.com , 70% ...

MSW Interactive Designs has been hard at work preparing for the 7th Annual Great Bagnell Dam Duck Drop this weekend! Not only are owner's Mike and Sandy involved in the Ozarks Coast Kiwanis Club, but MSW is also a Gold Sponsor of the Duck Drop event. From helping to organize the event to maintaining the website, MSW Interactive Designs is proud to be a part of an event that raises funds for local non-profit organizations! Great Bagnell Dam Duck Drop  The Duck Drop event kicks off Friday morning with the 3rd Annual Duck Drop Golf Tournament! Crazy holes & fun obstacles will be placed around the course to test your game! The event is a 4 person scramble, with a ladies flight this year. Registration and breakfast is at 7 am, with an 8:30 shotgun start. Then join us Saturday, August 1st in the Family Fun Zone, which opens at 10 am. Children of all ages can enjoy games, bounces houses, a dunk tank, martial arts and dance demonstrations, food and lots of prizes. At Noon, the ...

Sometimes the title of the blog is the hardest thing to come up with. How many times have you had some really great content to share with the world, but you just can't come up with those few little words to sum it all up in one title? Unfortunately, the title can make or break your blog. If you can't draw the reader in with the title, chances are they won't even click on it to read it. Here are 5 tips to help you come up with attention-grabbing headlines: 1. Start with the Content.  You don't have to start with the perfect title. You're allowed to revise once, twice or even a few more times. If something magical doesn't come to you right away, don't stress about it! Start writing the blog content and maybe something will come to you. 2. Tell the Truth.  While you may be quite excited about your topic, be sure not to exaggerate things. For example, a blog titled "Why Facebook is the Only Social Media Channel You Need to Use" may grab som...

Many businesses, small and large, are starting to realize the importance of social media and how it can help you grow your business. Just doing Facebook however, isn't enough. A combination of social media channels working together with your website is key. Here are 7 tips to take your social media campaign to the next level: 1. Spice Up Your Headlines I could have titled this blog "Ways to Improve Your Social Media," but I didn't. Instead I chose something a little catchier, something that would draw the customer in and make them want to read it. What are these tricks that she is talking about? Headlines are the first thing that someone sees and if you don't grab their attention right away, chances are they won't even make it to the end of your blog. Headlines aren't just for blogs though, you can use them in your posts too! For example using Testimonial Tuesday or Travel Tip #1 in all caps at the beginning of your post is a great way to make your ...

Transitioning to Long-Tail Keywords When the internet first came about, determining the best keywords to use was based on three different qualities: relevance, search volume and competitiveness. However, the internet has changed a lot over the years and continues to change daily in size and also how people are searching. Your potential customers are now using what is known as "natural language search." While those original three qualities are still extremely important, finding the right keywords has become a little more complex. With over 900 million websites in existence and more people focusing on SEO, the internet marketing landscape has become incredibly more competitive. Natural Language Search  Mainly due to the increase of mobile search, with the ability of speaking your search into your phone, people have changed the way they phrase their searches. For example, in the past people would search for "website designer Lake of the Ozarks" and now the...

A great image can turn a simple post into something that makes your brand stand out! While you can easily find an image just by searching for it in Google, legally you cannot use those images found in random places on the internet. This is where many companies could get into a lot of trouble. Let's explore some of the copyright related terms you should know and understand to protect your business. Copyright Laws  Article I, Section 8, clause 8, of the United States Constitution states the purpose of copyright laws is “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” When you think of copyright, the first thing that may pop into your mind is probably copy, or written text; however, copyright also applies to images. As soon as an original work is created, copyright applies. It is an automatic right that does not require paperwork from the creator, such a...

Keith Lucas, former owner of 55 Creative has joined our team at  MSW Interactive Designs as a website designer and internet marketing expert. Keith brings a vast amount of experience, technical skills, and website design knowledge that will complement and expand the internet marketing services that MSW offers.  Keith’s former partner, Chris Oth, will continue to operate 55 Creative with a renewed focus on graphic design services and the two companies will have a strong strategic partnership going forward. “We are very excited to have Keith join our team.” said Sandy Waggett, owner of MSW Interactive Designs. “He brings the exact skill set we are looking for to expand our website design services, and we have admired his business ethics and skill in running 55 Creative over the past 3 years.  He is also a military veteran and has an established presence at the Lake…we look forward to rapidly growing our business with Keith on board.” About Keith Keith Lucas’ back...

Writing a blog and tying it to your website is one of the BEST ways to improve your website search engine rankings. There are some strategies that can make your efforts even more effective, so we thought we would share some questions to ask yourself before you write your next post. 1. Are you stuffing too many keywords in your blog?  You should never stuff your blog posts with keywords, but you should include them when they make sense. Possible places for keywords are your title, headings, and the first 100 words of text (Google places more emphasis on the top of the page). Use keywords in context of the content and do research on the most popular keyword phrases for your industry. 2. Are you using internal links?  You can improve the rankings of older blog posts by linking to them in your new post. You should anchor text your keywords in your blog, but don't overdo it...try to link text that makes sense in the natural flow of your writing. 3. Are you adding links...

YouTube has become one of the most widely used search platforms, with more than 3 billion searches each month. Currently more than 1 billion users watch hundreds of millions of hours each day. YouTube is where its at! So how can you use YouTube for your business? Here are a few business video ideas from MSW Interactive Designs : 1. Feature Behind the Scenes Footage. Show people where you work and what you do on a normal working day. For businesses such as factories or restaurants, people will love to see behind the scenes footage of how your business runs. Showing people that your office or workplace is full of normal, hard-working people can make your business more personable. 2. Showcase Client Testimonials. Testimonials are a great way to positive information about your business out there. Many people rely on testimonials from other consumers to decide whether or not they are going to buy your service or product. Videos are a great way to showcase some of these 5-star te...