Move over, Don Draper. There’s a new player in town, and it’s making digital marketing easier, more efficient, and a lot funnier. We’re talking about artificial intelligence (AI), of course! With its ability to analyze vast amounts of data and make decisions in milliseconds, AI is rapidly transforming the way businesses reach their target audience and promote their brand. So sit back, grab a latte, and get ready to laugh as we explore the many ways AI is shaking up the marketing world.

1. The Rise of Chatbots: Marketing’s Hilarious New Best Friend

Who knew marketing could be this fun?

• Chatbots provide quick and convenient access to information
• AI-powered chatbots can learn from each interaction
• Chatbots add a touch of humor to the customer experience

2. Automated Ad Campaigns: No More Manual Labor, No More Mistakes

Remember the days of manual labor and endless mistakes while creating ad campaigns? Say goodbye to that tedious process, because AI has taken the marketing world by storm with automated ad campaigns! AI algorithms are now in charge of analyzing vast amounts of data and creating highly targeted, personalized ad campaigns for you. This means no more manual labor, and no more mistakes – just sit back and watch the ad magic unfold!

But, don’t worry about AI stealing your job, because let’s face it – even with AI, creating a successful ad campaign still requires a human touch. The algorithms can do the heavy lifting, but you’re still the mastermind behind it all! So, grab a cup of coffee (or a margarita), kick back, and enjoy the ride as AI takes your ad campaigns to the next level.

• AI streamlines the ad campaign setup process
• AI provides real-time optimization for maximum ROI
• AI eliminates the need for manual labor and reduces the risk of human error

3. Personalization: Knowing Your Customers Better Than They Know Themselves

• AI provides insights into consumer behavior for personalized marketing
• AI-powered personalization leads to higher engagement and conversions
• AI eliminates the need for generic, impersonal marketing messages

AI is making digital marketing a laughing matter. From personalization to automated ad campaigns, AI is changing the game in the funniest way possible. So go ahead, embrace the AI takeover and see just how hilarious digital marketing can be.

The post How AI is Revolutionizing Digital Marketing (And Making Us Laugh Along the Way) appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

As the economy faces the likelihood of a recession, it’s understandable to feel apprehensive about your business’s future. You might be wondering which expenses you can cut, where you can save money, and how you can brace yourself for the worst. However, it’s crucial not to let fear dictate your actions, particularly when it comes to your marketing efforts and website improvements.

 During times of economic uncertainty, many businesses are tempted to abandon their marketing campaigns and reduce their investments in digital platforms. After all, when every dollar counts, it’s natural to focus on the bare necessities and cut back on non-essential expenses. However, this is not the time to neglect your marketing efforts.

 Marketing plays a crucial role in building and maintaining brand awareness, even during a recession. If your business disappears from the public eye, your potential customers will quickly forget about you, and your competitors will swoop in to fill the gap. Therefore, it’s essential to keep your marketing campaigns going, even if you need to adjust your strategy or allocate your budget differently.

 One of the most effective ways to continue your marketing efforts during a recession is to focus on digital platforms. With more people staying at home and spending time online, digital marketing channels such as social media, email, and search engines have become even more critical in reaching your target audience. By investing in your website and online presence, you can attract new customers, build loyalty with existing ones, and stay top-of-mind in your industry.

 Moreover, when times are tough, your website can serve as a valuable tool to help you weather the storm. By making improvements to your website’s user experience, search engine optimization, and conversion rate optimization, you can create a more engaging and seamless experience for your customers. This can help you retain more customers, generate more leads, and drive more revenue, all while strengthening your brand’s reputation and positioning for the future.

 Another benefit of investing in your marketing efforts during a recession is that it can give you a competitive advantage. While other businesses might be cutting back on their marketing spending, by continuing to invest in your campaigns, you can stand out in your industry and attract more customers. Furthermore, when the economy recovers, your business will be better positioned to capitalize on the rebound and outperform your competitors.

 Of course, it’s essential to be strategic about your marketing investments during a recession. You may need to adjust your strategy, focus on cost-effective channels, or experiment with new tactics. However, cutting back on marketing altogether is not the answer.

While it’s understandable to feel hesitant about investing in marketing and website improvements during a recession, cutting back on these areas can be a significant risk to your business. By continuing to invest in your marketing campaigns and digital platforms, you can stay visible to your target audience, generate more leads and revenue, and set yourself up for success in the long run. Additionally, by using this time to strengthen your online presence and build a loyal customer base, you can position your business to outperform your competitors when the economy recovers.

Currently, Individuals Are Dedicating More Time To Social Media Platforms.

Picture this – with the current situation, the world has become more socially connected than ever before. A recent study showcased a significant upsurge in social media activity, and it’s not hard to understand why. With remote work becoming the new norm, individuals are turning to social media to keep in touch with their loved ones and stay updated on the latest news and trends.

But what does this mean for your brand’s social media marketing efforts? Well, this is an excellent opportunity for you to ramp up your efforts and make a lasting impact. With so many people glued to their screens, the attention span is in abundance. So, why not capitalize on this unique opportunity and grab the attention of your target audience?

 Social media giants like Facebook and Instagram have become high-value platforms for sharing your brand messaging. With people actively discussing current events and debating politics on Facebook, and sharing their daily lives and inspirations on Instagram, it’s the perfect chance to capture their interest and create an impact.

 So, if you’re already running social media campaigns, now is the time to double down on your efforts. With competition potentially slowing down, you have a greater chance to stand out and get noticed. And if you’re not already utilizing social media, it’s never too late to start. Join the conversation and make your presence felt. The world is watching, and this is your opportunity to make a difference.

Creating A List Could Be A More Effortless Task Than Ever Before

In these uncertain times, people are seeking inspiration and solutions to help them navigate through the challenges they face. We all long for the day when we can socialize and live our lives as we used to. This is a perfect opportunity for businesses to create content that inspires their audience and helps them to look forward to brighter days ahead.

 Whether you’re in the B2B or B2C industry or both, the principles of inbound marketing remain the same: provide value. Even in the age of social distancing, businesses can still offer a range of value to their customers and potential leads. Think of all the people who are currently working from home and could get to know your brand better.

This is the perfect time to launch that new and exciting offer, course, podcast, download, video series, webinar, or pillar page that helps your audience overcome the challenges they face. By launching valuable content, you can build your email list, social media custom audiences, podcast subscribers, video followers, and any other channel that builds a community around your brand.

 Both B2B and B2C industries are seeking hope and guidance in these uncertain times. Your business can offer unique solutions that provide the help they are seeking. By being part of the solution, you will have the opportunity to build strong relationships with your clients. When things return to normal, your business will have the social and business currency to turn that loyalty into revenue.

 Creating and sharing content, and building a contact list is just the beginning. Your business can use this time to build meaningful and long-lasting client relationships. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with your audience, and provide them with the hope and guidance they need in these unprecedented times.

The Process Of Marketing Cannot Be Paused As It Operates Like An Engine

In times of turbulence, it’s natural to want to hit pause on marketing and wait for things to calm down. But the truth is, marketing is like an engine that never stops running, constantly building momentum with every turn. The more effort and fuel you put in, the faster and more powerful it becomes.

The key is to keep your marketing engine running even during tough times. If you suddenly stop, you risk losing the momentum you’ve built up and having to start all over again. Not to mention, your competitors may be taking advantage of the situation and gaining ground on you.

Instead, consider investing in your marketing efforts right now, so you can come out of the storm even stronger than before. Maintaining or even increasing your marketing efforts can help you stay top-of-mind with your audience and re-earn their loyalty if you’ve been out of touch.

Your marketing efforts are your brand’s best investment, especially during uncertain times. Don’t hit pause on your engine; keep it running and watch your brand thrive even amid the storm.

 Is Your CMS Prepared?

When you’re ramping up your social media presence and marketing initiatives, it’s important to assess whether your content management system (CMS) is ready to handle new clients. It might be a good idea to create a new landing page and streamline your process.

 It’s pointless to increase your marketing efforts if you’re not prepared for a surge of new leads. It’s like overfilling a bathtub with water–it’s going to overflow and cause a big mess.

Do you have the tools and resources to market to potential customers who come across your brand? A CMS platform such as HubSpot can assist you in keeping track of new visitors and starting your next email marketing campaign.

Businesses Are Undergoing A Reinvention Due To Unavoidable Circumstances.

While the current situation has negatively impacted some businesses, others are using this time to re-imagine themselves. B2C companies, such as restaurants, breweries, and retail stores, are finding innovative ways to adapt to the coronavirus. On the other hand, B2B companies, particularly those in the technology sector like Zoom, are thriving, with unprecedented demand for their services as more people work remotely.

 In this environment, it’s essential to identify how your business can add value and serve the community. How can you pivot your message to remain relevant during social distancing? Now is the time to revisit your unique value proposition and consider how you can offer something that sets your brand apart from others. How can you make your offerings safe and accessible during these challenging times? Be sure to market your new services, products, or ways of doing business so that consumers know what you’re offering.

While there is certainly negative news out there, there are also opportunities if you’re willing to look for them.

During A Recession, It Can Be A Strategic Move To Focus On Increasing Market Share.

Although it may not be pleasant to discuss, the likelihood of a recession during and after this pandemic is widely accepted. The duration of this downturn is unknown, but it is expected. During this period, your competitors may reduce their efforts, presenting an opportunity to gain an advantage. It is crucial to maintain the momentum of your marketing efforts and keep the flywheel spinning.

 Increasing marketing and advertising expenses during a recession can yield dividends. According to Forbes, there are several studies dating back almost a century that illustrate the benefits of maintaining or raising ad budgets during an economic downturn. Advertisers who did so, increased their sales and market share during and after the recession.

 There are numerous reasons to advertise during a recession. The volume of competition in a brand’s product category may decrease when competitors reduce their ad spending. Advertisers can also use this time to re-position their brand or introduce new products. It enables companies to project the impression of corporate stability during challenging times.

 Additionally, advertising expenses usually decrease during a recession, resulting in a buyer’s market for brands. Direct mail advertising, which provides greater short-term sales growth, has been shown to rise during a recession. When marketers reduce their ad spending, the brand’s “share of mind” with consumers diminishes, potentially resulting in lost current and future sales. An increase in “share of voice” typically leads to an increase in “share of the market,” which ultimately leads to increased profits.

 Kellog and Amazon are two well-known companies that became dominant in their respective industries by increasing their marketing during a recession. They are now essentially unstoppable.

 The Decision Is Up To You.

Determining what your brand should do during these unusual times is a decision that only you can make. There are numerous practical concerns to address, such as cash flow and financial constraints that may affect where you can allocate funds.

 Nevertheless, if it’s viable and practical to maintain or even augment your marketing efforts at this time, the benefits may be significant in the future, spanning months or even years to come.

The post Why Discontinuing Your Marketing Efforts During a Recession is a Poor Strategy appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

1. Save Time

One of the biggest benefits of marketing automation is the time savings it provides. By automating repetitive tasks, businesses can focus on higher value activities and improve their overall productivity. Marketing automation can automate tasks such as email campaigns, social media posting, lead nurturing, and customer segmentation, freeing up valuable time for businesses to focus on other areas of their operations.

2. Increased Efficiency

Marketing automation allows businesses to streamline their marketing processes and workflows, leading to increased efficiency and better organization. With marketing automation, businesses can set up campaigns, track results, and measure performance in real-time, making it easier to identify areas of success and areas that need improvement. This improved efficiency also helps to reduce the risk of human error, ensuring that marketing campaigns are executed accurately and consistently.

3. Improved Personalization

Personalization is key to effective marketing, and marketing automation provides businesses with the tools they need to personalize their marketing efforts and connect with their target audience on a deeper level. With marketing automation, businesses can gather data on customer behavior, preferences, and interactions, and use that information to deliver personalized content and experiences to each customer. This leads to improved customer engagement and increased customer loyalty.

4. Better Lead Management

Marketing automation also helps businesses to manage their leads more effectively. By automating lead nurturing and scoring, businesses can identify the most promising leads and prioritize their outreach efforts. This helps to improve the efficiency of the sales process, as well as increase the chances of converting leads into customers.

5. Improved ROI

Finally, marketing automation helps businesses to achieve better return on investment (ROI) from their marketing efforts. By automating repetitive tasks, businesses can reduce their marketing costs, while at the same time increasing their marketing efficiency and effectiveness. This leads to higher returns on investment, making marketing automation a smart investment for any business looking to improve its marketing results.

Marketing automation is a critical tool for businesses looking to improve their marketing strategies and drive results. With its ability to save time, increase efficiency, improve personalization, better manage leads, and achieve improved ROI, it’s no wonder that marketing automation has become an indispensable part of modern marketing. If your business hasn’t yet embraced marketing automation, now is the time to start.

The post 5 Benefits of Marketing Automation for Your Business appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

The Impact of AI on Digital Marketing

Automated Ad Campaigns

One of the most significant impacts of AI on digital marketing is the ability to automate ad campaigns. AI algorithms can analyze data on consumer behavior and adjust ad campaigns in real-time to maximize their impact. This saves businesses time and resources, as they no longer need to manually monitor and adjust their ad campaigns.

Ad campaigns are a crucial aspect of digital marketing, and AI has made a significant impact in this area. With the rise of AI, ad campaigns can now be automated, allowing businesses to reach their target audience more effectively and efficiently.

One of the main benefits of automated ad campaigns is the ability to analyze consumer behavior and adjust ad campaigns in real-time. AI algorithms can analyze data such as the success of individual ads, the behavior of the target audience, and more. Based on this data, the AI algorithms can adjust the ad campaign in real-time to maximize its impact. This ensures that businesses are able to reach their target audience with the right message, at the right time, and in the most effective way possible.

Another benefit of automated ad campaigns is the time and resources saved by businesses. With manual ad campaigns, businesses need to spend time and resources monitoring and adjusting their campaigns, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Automated ad campaigns, on the other hand, allow businesses to save time and resources as the AI algorithms handle most of the work. This frees up businesses to focus on other aspects of their marketing strategy, such as developing new products or improving their customer service.

Personalization

Another impact of AI on digital marketing is personalization. AI algorithms can analyze consumer data to create personalized experiences for each individual user, from personalized recommendations to tailored ads. This leads to a more engaging user experience and increased customer satisfaction.

Personalization is the ability to create a more engaging user experience. AI algorithms can analyze consumer data to understand their preferences and behaviors, and use this information to create personalized experiences for each individual user. This can include personalized product recommendations, tailored ads, and more. Personalization leads to a more enjoyable user experience, as the user is more likely to find what they are looking for and receive content that is relevant to their interests.

Another benefit of personalization is the ability to increase customer satisfaction. By providing a personalized experience, businesses are able to build stronger relationships with their customers. This can lead to increased loyalty, as customers are more likely to return to a business that offers them a personalized experience.

Personalization also allows businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors, as they are able to offer a unique and customized experience that their competitors cannot.

The Impact of AI on Design

Automated Design

AI is also changing the way design work is done, with the rise of automated design tools. These tools can generate designs based on input from the user, freeing up time and resources for designers to focus on more strategic work.

Design is a crucial aspect of digital marketing, and AI is having a significant impact in this area through the development of automated design. Automated design is the use of AI algorithms to create designs and visual content, making design faster, more efficient, and more accessible for businesses.

One of the main benefits of automated design is the ability to create designs more quickly. With manual design, businesses need to spend time and resources creating designs from scratch, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Automated design, on the other hand, allows businesses to create designs more quickly and efficiently. AI algorithms can analyze data such as the target audience, brand guidelines, and more to create designs that are optimized for their intended purpose.

Another benefit of automated design is the ability to create designs that are more consistent with brand guidelines. Automated design ensures that all designs and visual content are consistent with the brand’s guidelines, ensuring a cohesive brand image. This is particularly important for businesses that need to create a large amount of visual content, such as product descriptions, advertisements, and more.

Improved User Experience

AI algorithms can also analyze user behavior and data to improve the overall user experience. This includes things like website layout, content recommendations, and product recommendations, leading to a more seamless and enjoyable user experience.

Design plays a crucial role in the user experience, and AI is having a significant impact in this area by improving the user experience. With the help of AI algorithms, businesses can now create designs that are optimized for their target audience, leading to increased customer satisfaction and engagement.

One of the main benefits of improved user experience through AI-powered design is the ability to create designs that are more aesthetically pleasing. AI algorithms can analyze consumer data to understand their preferences and behaviors, and use this information to create designs that are optimized for their intended purpose. This can lead to a more visually appealing user experience, as users are more likely to engage with designs that are aesthetically pleasing.

Another benefit of improved user experience through AI-powered design is the ability to create designs that are more user-friendly. AI algorithms can analyze consumer data to understand their behaviors and preferences, and use this information to create designs that are more intuitive and easy to use. This can lead to a more enjoyable user experience, as users are more likely to find what they are looking for and be able to interact with the designs more easily.

AI has had a significant impact on digital marketing and design. It has made it easier and more efficient for businesses to reach their target audience and communicate their brand message effectively. It has also changed the way design work is done, freeing up time and resources for designers to focus on more strategic work. As AI continues to advance, it’s exciting to think about what other changes and advancements it will bring to the world of digital marketing and design.

The post Digital Marketing & Design in the Age of AI appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

When you encounter a screw-up in your layout, many people come running to the WordPress Forums. While the willing volunteers can do what they can to help you, there are some steps you can take to get to the solution, or at least a better idea of where the problem may lie, before you get to the Forums. A solid reference is CSS Coding Standards, part of the Core Contributor Handbook set.

Know Before You Go

We have a list of things you need to know before you go to the forums with layout design problems, and tips on solving the problems yourself.

Examine Your HTML and CSS

Take a close comparative look at your HTML and CSS and make sure that all the references match.

Isolate Your CSS Challenges

Below we’ll show you a couple of techniques to help identify the areas that are causing your problems in an effort to narrow down the problem to a specific area and code.

Common CSS Errors

You are not the first to have this problem. We have a list of some of the most common CSS errors to help you fix the little details that can mess up your layout.

Pest Control – Watching Out For Browser Bugs

While we will help you identify some of your CSS challenges, a lot of them come from bugs and conflicts between browsers, so we’ll give you some tips on how to work around the various browser bugs.

It is the goal of this article to help you solve your layout design problems within the CSS file, not within the HTML or PHP files. For help on modifying those, check out Using Themes for more information.

BACKUP

Before beginning any of these problem-solving tips and techniques, be sure and backup your data just in case. Also, backup the files you are working on as you try different things so you have some places to go back along the way.

You can do “live” CSS testing without editing your WordPress files

If you have the means, it is much quicker and safer to do your CSS testing and troubleshooting “on the fly” using (e.g.) Jesse Ruderman’s Edit Styles bookmarklet or the Edit CSS extension for Firefox. When you’re done making changes, copy your new (edited) code into the appropriate WordPress theme files (after you back them up).

The Web Developer extension for Firefox can help too.

Know Before You Go

If you are new to CSS and web page design, start with a visit to WordPress’ CSS Tips, Techniques and Resources to find information on the basics of CSS and possibly answer some of your questions. At the least, you will get a basic overview of what CSS is, the impact it has on the HTML or structure of your page, and learn some jargon to help you ask a more informed question on the forums.

You will also need to know some basic terminology to help you express your problem to others. This isn’t a how-to-CSS guide but more of a “what is thingamahjig called” guide.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are bits of code that influence the presentation or the look of your page’s HTML code. In WordPress, the CSS styles are generally found in a file called style.css in the specific Theme folder you are using. The HTML code and CSS references that hold the structure of your page are generally found in the index.php file in your Theme folder.

The PHP files are found within your Theme folder and contain the code and references which generate your HTML page. It is here, in the final run, that you may make changes to the specific CSS selector tags, not your HTML page. For help on modifying those, check out Using Themes for more information.

‘CSS selectors (names) are generally grouped into three specific references: The ID, CLASS, and HTML tags.

The ID

The ID is a reference to a specific unique area on your web page. It is generally seen represented on your HTML web page as an enclosed DIV (division) block:

<div id="header">Title of the Page</div>

In the style sheet (CSS) the ID selector is referenced as #header and might look like this:

#header { position: relative; margin:0; padding:0;
	height:100px; width: 100%; background: red;
	color: white;}

The CLASS

The CLASS is a reference to any element on a page that needs to look a specific way when this reference is used. For example, if you frequently want to highlight a word or two within your text (we’ll use red as a highlight color in this instance), you might have aCLASS selector in your style sheet like this:

.hilite { color: red}

and the reference in your HTML might look like this:

...this is some text about something
I want <span class="hilite">in red</span>. And 
some more rambling here...

As you can see, the difference between ID and CLASS selectors in the style sheet is that an ID uses a pound sign (#name) and aCLASS uses a period (.name). ID references must be unique on a page and used once. CLASS references can be used repeatedly in the same page.

HTML Tags

If you want to “design” a specific HTML tag reference, such as a blockquote, the code within the web page may look like this:

<blockquote>This is a pithy and brilliant quote 
that I knew you would enjoy.</blockquote>

In the style sheet, the reference to the blockquote would not have a # or period but would just simply list the HTML and then the design elements. This example indents the quote on both sides and puts a blue line on the left side of the quote and makes the text italic.

blockquote { position: relative; margin: 10px 50px 10px 50px;
	padding:5px;  font-style:italic; 
	border-left:solid blue 4px; }

You can apply any design elements to any specific HTML tag such as body, p, H1, H2, H3, ul, li, and more.

For information on modifying ID, CLASS, and HTML, check out the resources at WordPress’ CSS Tips, Techniques and Resources.

Important note! Certain themes have their css styles in more than once place, the Kubrick theme being one of them. If, after changing css attributes in a css file, you don’t see the results you wish, it’s possible your theme choice has some embedded css in one of the php files (usually a header file) and the embedded css styles are overriding the linked or imported css stylesheet.

Examine Your HTML and CSS

In order to determine what is going right or wrong with your web page layout, you have to go to the source. This means looking under the hood.

Under the pretty hood of your web page, the nice layout you see on your Internet browser, is a whole bunch of code with strange and foreign sounding references. At first glance, it’s like looking under the hood of a racing car. You know that all of that junk makes the car go, but what the heck is all that mess under the hood?

Viewing HTML

To lift the hood on your page, make sure the page is being viewed from your web browser and from within your web browser’s top menu, click VIEW > SOURCE or PAGE SOURCE. Another page will pop-up either inside another browser window or inside of a program that comes with your operating system called Notepad, or some variation thereof. This is your HTML page which structures your page.

Viewing CSS

To view your CSS, either know the actual address (or have it already on your hard drive), or scroll down through the HTML page to the following reference:

<link rel="style sheet" type="text/css" href="wordpress/wp-content/themes/default/style.css">

This is the link that loads in your attached CSS style sheet. To view your CSS, either double click on the file name or type in the specific link to the file in your web browser such as:

https://www.yoursite.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/default/style.css

In WordPress, PHP is used to actually generate the HTML page. This is often complex and confusing code. To view the HTML, view a generated page, such as a sample post. To make changes in the HTML structure and CSS references, you will need to modify the appropriate PHP file. The Codex page on using themes has more information on how to view your Theme Templates and find out which Template is associated with which section on your page.

The problem-solving techniques herein describe how to change the CSS to influence the layout of the page. To make actual changes to the Themes, check out Theme Development.

Looking Under the Hood for CSS

Once you have lifted the hood to see the HTML and CSS, it is time to start playing Sherlock Holmes. To start, you have to know what you are looking at and where to find the basic elements to help you find the culprit.

The HTML page features all the structural code that sets up the “grid” into which your page sits. Think of it as a map with notes written all over it. The notes are actually pointers to the directions which are found within the CSS file.

Scroll down past a lot of <link rel='archives'... information until you see <body>. Below this will be the layout “body” of your web page. From here on, every bit of information is critical to the structure and design of your page.

As you scroll through it, look for identifying ID and CLASS statements. For example, you may see the following:

<div id="page">
	<div id="header">
	<h1>My WordPress Site</h1>
		<div id="headerimg">
		</div>
			<div class="description">by Me and Only Me</div>
		</div>
	<div id="content" class="widecolumn">
  		<div class="post">

This may look confusing, but it is basically setting up sections with your content in it.

It begins with the division called “page” which sets up the look of the entire page. If you look in the CSS file for #page selector, you will see the presentation styles associated with it. It is followed by the header division which includes a heading (H1) with the title of your site. This particular layout is based upon the default Theme for WordPress v1.5 called Kubrick which includes an image in the header, set by the “headerimg” division. After that comes a division with a CLASS reference called “description” which is the place you have a subtitle or description of your site. Again, look in your CSS to find .description to find out how that area is styled.

The next two tags close the header (</div>) and then begins the division ID of “content” which also features a CLASS called“widecolumn”, followed by another CLASS called “post”. The “content” and “widecolumn” layout the overall look of the containers holding your “post”.

This is an example of the parent/child relationship. And, as you will see in the next section, this is one of the major places where CSS layout problems begin!

The CSS Parent and Child Relationship

One of the biggest problems in designing web pages is understanding where a problem occurs and whose influence might be affecting the problem. This is called the “parent/child relationship” of CSS. As you know, while parents usually have their children’s best intentions at heart, children often feel intimidated and screwed up by their parents, so understanding this relationship may help you solve your problems.

A WordPress user posted a question on the forum complaining that she wanted her page to feature her header spreading fully across the page’s width with the content centered on the page with a lot of space on the left and right sides. She’s been poking around with the margins in her header to no avail and turned to us for help.

<div id="page">
	<div id="header">Header Title</div>
 <div id="content">
  		<div class="post">Post babble here...</div>

The CSS attributes for the margins in this example are:

#page { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 100px;
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:100px; }
#header { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 5px; 
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:5px;}
#content { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 20px;
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:20px; }
.post { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 5px; 
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:5px; }

Playing detective with her codes, we found that changing the margins on the header weren’t working because they were being influenced by the page margins to begin with. This is where the parent/child relationship shows up. The parent page was telling the child header what to do and it wanted to do something else.

If we changed the right and left margins of page, it eliminated the margin problems for the header. But we’ve created another problem. The parent page continues its influence and now all of the content is spread across the whole page width. A change needed to also happen with the left and right margins of the content so the wide margins are back in place. To make the whole family happy, the new margins looked like this:

#page { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 5px; 
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:5px; }
#header { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 5px; 
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:5px;}
#content { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 100px; 
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:100px; }
.post { margin-top:5px; margin-right: 5px; 
	margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left:5px; }

Isolate Your CSS Challenges

Identifying the parent/child relation influences over your web page layout helps to solve a lot of problems, but sometimes the relationships are so complex, it’s hard to figure out which section is which and who has influence over which parts.

To isolate and identify your various CSS sections, divisions, and classes, here are some simple tricks. Before you begin, be sure andmake a backup of all of your main files including your CSS to make sure you have something to recover from if this gets out of control.

Once you have identified the culprit and fixed it, make sure you remove these testing features so your web page will look “normal” again.

Box Your Sections

Once you have identified the various sections or divisions within your HTML page, go into your CSS file and add the following attribute to the various divisions:

border:solid 1px color

Where the word color is, put a different color name in place for each section.

For example:

#page { margin:5px; padding:0; border: solid 1px red; }
#header { margin: 10px; padding: 5px; border: solid 1px blue; }
#content { margin:5px 100px 5px100px; padding:10px;
	border: solid 1px green; }
.post { margin:5px; padding:10px; border: solid 1px yellow; }

Save the CSS file and view your page (click REFRESH or F5) in the web browser. You should now see a different colored box around each of the different sections:

If you don’t see a colored box around your content, check again that the selector you changed is actually the correct spelling and identified in the HTML.

If the problem you are having is in the blue box, then you know where to start solving your problems. Be sure and remove the test attributes when you’re done.

There are browser extensions and add-ons that offer this technique, too.

Highlight Sections

Besides putting boxes around the different sections to isolate the problem CSS or HTML, you can dramatically change the colors of the content to make the problem “jump” right out at you. By changing the text color or background color of a section, you will spot it immediately when you view the screen. Note: Be sure and make note of the original colors if you change them during testing so you can go back to them. And make frequent backups!

In the CSS file, you can change a section’s font color by adding color:red or any other color to the selector’s attributes such as:

H1 { font-style:bold; font-size: 125%; color: red; }

The H1 heading should jump out at you in bright red and would look like this:

To change the background color of a section, you can add background:pink to make the entire background pink.

#header { margin:5px; padding: 10px; background:pink; }

The result might look like this:

The entire header division will now feature a pink background. When you’ve identified the culprit, and made the fixes, be sure and remove any testing attributes to restore the look of your web page.

Validate Your Source Code

Sometimes the smallest detail can send your page out of whack. A mispelled tag (rhef instead of href), a forgotten closing tag, a missing attribute, or even the wrong attribute can send your page into a design tail spin.

Free online validators which check your HTML, XML, and CSS code may help isolate the little detail you are missing. As you scan through the code, it’s easy to skip over a little stumble. Most online validators let you either type in the URI (link) to your site to initate the validation process, or may even allow you to paste in code or upload a file to have it inspected. WordPress, by default, validates its default coding, but if you are making modifications, the slightest slip can screw things up.

Different validators check for different problems, so if you can’t find your solution with one validator, try another. Many validators will even recommend making some changes, but find your problem before you start creating new ones.

To help you understand more about validation and to find online validators, we’ve provided a list of validation resources in a Codex article called Validating a Website.

Slash and Burn – The Last Resort

Not for the timid

NOTE: There are two Slash and Burn techniques. If you are weak of heart, check out the second one.

If you can’t seem to narrow down the problem, there is a technique, sometimes called “Slash and Burn”, that will help you narrow down the culprit. It requires no interuptions, concentration and thorough backups to ensure you don’t destroy even the screwed up remains of your web page design. We also recommend you have familiarity with HTML and CSS.

1. Make backups of all of your files.

2. Open a post in the web browser and VIEW > SOURCE.

3. Save this source file as a text document called “junk.html” to an empty test folder on your hard drive. DO NOT CLOSE THIS FILE. It will remain open during this entire process.

4. Copy your CSS file to the same test folder.

5. If you are having problems with the graphics, copy the graphics folder or the graphics to the test folder.

6. In the junk.html source file, change the style sheet reference from something like

<link rel="style sheet" type="text/css" href="wordpress/wp-content/themes/default/style.css">

to this:

<link rel="style sheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">

Save the junk.html text file (DO NOT CLOSE IT).

7. In the test folder, double click on junk.html to view the file in your browser. You should see the general layout of the page with the graphics, if appropriate. If not, double check the link reference to the style sheet.

8. In your junk.html text file, move to the point where the trouble begins. Move to the section above (a section which includes opening and closing tags such as:

<p>babble...</p>

or

<div class="post">babble...</div>

and highlight the entire section from the opening tag to the closing tag and CUT the section (Cntrl+X).

9. Save the file.

10. REFRESH the web page in the web browser (F5 or click REFRESH – if you have problems and don’t see a change, hold the SHIFT key then press F5 or (in FireFox) simultaneously hold down Cntrl+Shift+R).

11. You should see the removed section missing. Check below to see if this fixed the problem or if it went away. If yes, this section is your problem. If not, go to the next step.

12. If the problem is still there, move back to the junk.html file and put the cursor in the place where you deleted the section, if the cursor has moved. PASTE the cut section back in (Cntrl+V). Move to another section above or below this point and repeat steps 8 through 12.

At some point in this process, you will see the problem either fix itself or disappear. Begin with large sections and when you find the large section problem area, break it up into smaller pieces. Eventually, you will isolate the area that is causing you grief. Note the CSS references to identify the troublesome section and start making changes to the CSS file to fix it.

Gentle Slash and Burn

To use the gentle version of slash and burn, instead of deleting the sections as shown above, cut and paste them into Notepad or another text editor so they are protected in case you get distracted from the cut and paste process. ALWAYS back everything up as you go along, just in case (which happens a lot more than you might think!).

Common Errors

We all make mistakes. The word “typo” wasn’t invented without reason. Here are some of the most common problems that creep up with CSS.

Missed Spellings

Just so you know, leftt is not the same as left and this could be the reason something is on the right instead of the left side of your page. Putting a 30ps for a margin won’t get much of a result, but 30px will. Missed spelling errors are common and easy to overlook. Luckily, CSS validators can often catch these tiny mistakes for us.

Forgotten Details

As creative as you can be with CSS, there are some ground rules you have to follow. Every selector must be identified as an ID or CLASS unless it is a HTML TAG. It must be laid out as selector { property: value; property: value; } and the braces, colon and semi-colon must be there. Miss one of these little details and nothing will happen, or strange things might. CSS validators will usually catch these little forgotten details for you.

Wrong Selector

Putting all your wonderful designs in #content when they were supposed to be in #context-text doesn’t help your layout. Luckily, you can usually see these immediately upon viewing the page, so just cut and paste them in the right tag…and then remember what you deleted from #content. Of course, you can refer to your frequently backed-up file to get the lost code. Hint-Hint!

Wrong Template Module

As useful as WordPress’ new modular templates are, many a time a user has made a modification in comments.php instead ofcomments-popup.php or other similarly named files by mistake. Double check which modular section you are supposed to be working on all the time. And if you mess one up by accident, there is always that faithful backup file to make things new again.

Multiple Choice

CSS can’t read your mind. If there are two references to the same selector with conflicting information, it has to decide which one it will use. This is very common if you are bringing your original style sheet in on top of a new one. If you are fighting with a selector for, say, the h1 heading, and nothing is changing, search through the style sheet to see if there is another reference to that selector.

Pest Control – Watching Out For Browser Bugs

No matter how hard we try to make our web pages beautiful, it can take the viewing of the web page in a different browser to totally screw up our lovely design.

Different browsers view web pages differently. Older browsers won’t recognize new CSS standards, while newer ones often “see” things differently from their brethren. The results are often not pretty, causing blinking, jumping, or missing design elements, shifting layouts, and distorted positions.

How do you know it’s the browser and not your design causing the problem? You often don’t. If you play with CSS a lot, you will learn to recognize the symptoms. In general, here are the clues:

• Text jumps around or blinks as you scroll down the page.
• Links and text jump around as you move the mouse over a link.
• Lists with links jump around and move as you move your mouse over them.
• Layouts look different. Columns are wider or narrower between browsers.
• Graphics overlap the text or lists.
• Special effects such as filters don’t look the same or aren’t there.

To get help with your browser bugs, check out the recommendations and resources at CSS Fixing Browser Bugs.

The post CSS Troubleshooting appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

The 1st step to searching a website designer is to explore a few different ones. Just don’t hire the first one you speak with. Here are some places to begin looking:

• Referrals – Referrals are your safest bet for finding good web designers. If you are active on social networks, you should pose the question to your fans or followers.
• Search engines – use search engines to find web designers in your geographic location. Meeting with a local designer can be very helpful when creating web outlines, storyboards and helping them understand the vision you want for your website.
• Directories – Directories are sites, which list individuals or companies who provide web design services.
• Freelance job sites – You can also browse sites like Upwork or Upwork to find freelancers with the skills you need.
• Use existing partners – Ask your trusted business partners, such as your IT Services Providers or Web Hosting Company.

Tips when choosing a designer:

Once you’ve compiled a list of potential web designers, use the 4 tips below to narrow your list even further.

• Portfolio – Look through their portfolio (list of their recent web designs) to get a sense of the designer’s style and types of projects they have done.
• Industry/vertical specialty – Web designers come with all types of skills, some may be more skilled in graphic design while others are stronger in development or programming. A good web designer will have expertise in both but also extremely important is an expert in marketing (see tip below).
• Reputation – Testimonials on the designer’s website as well as referrals from current/previous customers are a must. If they are active in social media, check out their accounts and see what people are saying about them.
• Marketing – You want your designer to be an expert in search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) as well as other online marketing services. A nice looking website will offer you little to no success if people aren’t able to find you via search engines. Do a search for a few of the designers’ recent projects in Google and see where they rank.

Ask for a quote (proposal):

After narrowing your list to the few you need to start collecting proposals. Contact the designer and provide them with a short brief of your project. This will ensure that the designer has all the necessary information to provide you an accurate quote. Your brief should include:

• Background of your business.
• Your website goals and audience.
• Specific deliverables of the project (i.e. logo, custom design or templates).
• Example of website designs that you like.
• Include any necessary backend integration to a database, customer portal, etc.
• Your deadline.

Last but not least, make sure you feel comfortable communicating with the designer. The rapport between you and your designer will ensure a great working relationship and the website you want.

The post How to Find a Website Designer appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

There are many factors are involved in these costs and knowing about each of these items ahead of time will enable your business to optimize spending. In this article, we will review the various costs associated with starting a website and how to manage your budget. 

Establish Your Budget

The first part of planning is to establish a budget. Before jumping into any actual site development, your team should have an idea of the total funds you are willing to devote to building your web site.

Your organization should also decide on a road map for the development of the site and the scalability requirements. High user volume or high-performance features such as video streaming can drastically affect the total cost. 

Your organization should also determine whether the site will be based on a subscription solution. The following four factors will drastically affect the cost of the website: purchasing a domain name, hosting the site, hiring a developer, purchasing any WordPress themes or plugins and content development.

Cost of a Domain

First, let’s examine the cost of purchasing a domain. This sounds very simple, but there are several details to consider. For example, your organization may wish to explore other alternatives besides purchasing just a simple name.com. To protect the organization’s domain, you can purchase several similar country or area specific domain names. This will prevent other competing companies from posting competing websites with a similar domain name. Finally, consider a multi-year purchase on your domain for a long-term discount. 

Cost of Web Hosting 

The second factor to examine is the costs to host your web site. Your web hosting service can make or break your website. A hosting service provides not only aesthetic and functional features but can also affect the security, speed and performance of your site. 

The type of hosting needed will vary. In most cases, if you are starting out from scratch or are a fairly new business a shared hosting will suffice. However, if you know your website will grow quickly, you may want to investigate more robust hosting options like a VPS or cloud solution. 

Themes and Plugins 

Finally, your theme and plugins may also drive website costs. Premium themes can be purchased from shops such as ThemeForest, while other free alternatives may be found on sites such as WordPress.org. Premium themes are often more robust, offer customization, and come with support. Most site plugins are free. However, some paid plugins may also be worth the money for extra specific features. 

Also, if you are unable to customize the site to your liking using the non-technical editing options available, you will need to hire a developer or someone with the ability to make the needed changes. 

Content Development 

If you have the time and the ability to write all the content for your website, great. Unfortunately, this can be a time-consuming endeavor, especially if you use inbound marketing techniques like blogging. If you are going to write all of your content, it will be a considerable time investment. If not, you’ll likely need to hire writers and guide them through the process. You may be able to hire someone and bring them in-house or try to find a freelance writer that is knowledgeable or an expert in your field.  

Hiring a Team

If your business does not have an in-house technical team, you may wish to hire a developer, designer and or content writers. While hiring people can be costly, the right people can really help your business grow and move in the right direction. 

A Little Planning Goes a Long Way

When considering starting a website there are many factors to include in your budget. Be sure to investigate in detail your domain, hosting options, development and content costs, and themes. Each of these factors will affect the cost and performance of your site. Be sure to consider not only the cost analysis but ensure all the features that you wish your site to provide are planned for ahead of time. Don’t be afraid to make compromises to fit the website within your budget. 

With a little planning, you are sure to create the best website for your business without breaking the bank. If you need assistance ask us at Greenhouse Design Group we love to help your business grow!

The post Budgeting for Your Business Website appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

A well designed and resourceful website and website strategy are only useful if people can find it online, otherwise, there is little possibility of making any sales by way of natural organic traffic. For visitors to successfully reach your website, you have to direct them to it with specific and effective signs understood by search engines. Out of sight, out of mind has never been truer than in the case of search engine positioning. Where your site ranks on search engines defines your company and sets it apart from other competitors. Sites that rank at the top for a popular keyword or key phrase have better chances of attracting a higher click-through rate from search engine queries. This is precisely why your search engine optimization (SEO) and website strategy must go hand-in-hand otherwise you would be flying solo.

What Is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a framework of website optimization guidelines with a number of stages, rules, and controls that can be implemented to get you more traffic, which will inevitably lead to higher conversion rates.  Setting up an SEO friendly structure should be a part of your website’s foundation and the success or failure of your site in search engines depends greatly on how well you have defined your website goals.

How Can Search Engines Find Your Website

Today search engine spiders are as smart as they can get when it comes to gathering and processing all the data from your site or page to improve your search results. It is important to learn how pages are indexed and the process used by search engines to determine which websites are most relevant for targeted keywords. But search engines continue to look beyond keywords to better understand the people, places and things visitors care about so that it can throw up better matches. Search engines crawl your website looking for relevant content and links, besides checking on your website speed, the number of visitors and usability to determine how you rank in search engine results. The search engines store all this information in a really big database.

Using this information, you can take measures as part of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process to make your site search engine friendly and enhance its visibility and effectiveness.

Smart SEO Strategies

A website strategy that includes SEO techniques can help create and develop your online presence. Here are some of the most important SEO strategies to keep you at the top of the search engines.

• Develop a clear content marketing strategy for your website. Update your site regularly with blogs, whitepapers and other forms of content.
• Research and prioritize high-value keywords in order to ideate new content.
• Generate powerful backlinks to your site and pages
• Make your website mobile-friendly with responsive design, dynamic serving or by setting it up on a mobile subdomain
• Organize and structure your website for easy on-site navigation. Make your site and its content crawlable
• Fix all the broken links and codes that cause errors in your site
• Implement JS and CSS minification to speed up your site
• Use Rich Snippet Optimization to improve your online listing
• Strengthen your website’s security with SSL encryption, keeping your CMS and plugins updated.

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4 Key Takeaways On The Importance Of SEO

If you are interested in growing your business, keep reading to learn about the most compelling reasons why SEO is essential for any website.

1. Improve Site Visibility

This is a no-brainer. The better your SEO efforts, the more frequently your website name will show up first in searches for relevant keywords. The easier your site is for users to find, the more likely you are to sell your stuff!

2. SEO Increases Traffic

SEO can boost targeted traffic on your website. You are likely to get more free clicks to your site from customers who are looking for your product or service. A steady stream of incoming visitors adds up to more conversions.

3. Earn Credibility

SEO can help you gain a more credible name in your industry and establish you as a thought-leader in your field by making your online presence stand out through your site, blog, social media pages, podcasts, YouTube videos and more.

4. Beat Your Competition

By properly managing your SEO strategy and constantly working towards maintaining your rankings, you are more likely to outshine your competition in online searches. If your website is positioned well, it can guarantee conversion too.

Good SEO practices will keep your business or website moving in the right direction and help attract the right kinds of customers. But it would be wise to remember that Search Engine Optimization is not a one time or part-time effort. Rather white hat SEO needs to be done consistently to deliver sustained long-term results.

The post Importance Of SEO Your Website Strategy appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.

1. Color Trends – Bold is Beautiful

To make your website stand out among similar-looking sites, with the same WordPress themes and borrowed UI elements like buttons and menus, it is imperative to bring in variation. Use bold colors! The use of color is the most powerful and engaging design practice to easily grab the attention of the user. Breathe new life into the design of your site with vibrant, bright pastel color tones. Do not ignore the rich color palette any longer. Replace dull, understated and overused tones such as metallic chrome or muted blue with solid bold accent color shades like lilac, web green, cherry red. Do not be shy of using happy, rich colors to define your brand and help enrich the user’s journey online.

2. Make a Statement with Graphic Text

Typography has always been a vital component of great web design and branding.  The creative integration of texts and other graphic elements of images, textures, and patterns can have a massive impact on the visitor’s perception of the overall site look. The way we view text online is changing with the focus on fonts, font sizes and styles moving from safe, plain and boring to bold, large fonts. It has become easier to make a design stand out with the use of different web fonts due to its easy accessibility, thanks to Google Fonts and Typekit. It is possible for designers to make customizable changes by tweaking default designs from stroke thickness, character width, and serif typefaces, using Prototypo, and FontArk. Be adventurous and harness the power of artistic and dramatic fonts to make a strong statement.

3. Design Around the Customer Journey

Designers and site owners should preferably be guided by the customers’ journey through the website. Customer-centric web design does just that, with its emphasis on structuring and optimizing the site in order to make that journey better. Instead of focusing just on promotional offers and sales, concentrate on implementing a web design to attract your ideal buyer to further support them, speak to them and provide solutions to them as they go through your site. The goal is to allow the content on your site to speak to your audience in order to effectively convert visitors to valuable leads and sales. The customer-centric website design elements have to be in tune with the prospective customers. Most importantly, keep in mind Google’s algorithmic changes and customer behavior data. Your website has to load fast, be clearly organized & easy to navigate, have well-defined product/services, and contact information can never be more than a click away.

4. Layout Design- Centered Content or Split Content

Be goal-centric when choosing your layout design. Centered content layout is a powerful style, ideal for content-light pages, that is fast becoming an established practice on homepage designs. Centered content places the main message of the page right at the center of the screen with eye-catching visuals or smooth textures around it for a spectacular effect.  But if your pages are content-heavy, offering many products, services or categories, the preferred design layout is split-screen. Split content divides the content into wide sections, sometimes with a distinct look for each. Designers have more room for creativity, without endangering the clarity of content hierarchies. Split content gives users the choice of immediately heading where they want to, bringing them to the correct landing pages, thereby increasing the chance of converting.

Get Clever with Hidden Menus

There are many users that hate the omnipresent Hamburger Menu or favicon.  Help is at hand with the more intuitive navigation of clever menus. You can latch onto this new trend of using clever menus as it makes the user interaction simple and efficient through clean design and by removing distracting menu objects. Hidden navigations only appear when the user is ready to move on and take action by clicking on the appropriate icon. Hidden menus work really well for responsive web design too, which is the standard for small screens. It will soon be available for multi-dimensional scrolling. It can also be fully responsive.

Go From Drab to Fab!

These major web design trends along with essentials of flat design, material design, card layout, grid pattern, and symmetrical sites are all going to change our web experience. Businesses should not shy away from updating their online presence to keep up with the demands of the modern, younger and more mobile consumer. Make sure your website is still hip and relevant in 2016. Incorporate these 5 hot website design tips and your website will be sure to go from drab to fab!

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Link Building Strategy: What is it and why is it important?

Before we get into why link building is important, let’s make sure that we all know what it is.  Link building is when you acquire links from other websites into your website.  It’s single direction of directing people to your site. There is no one way to build links.  It’s a difficult and complex process and one that SEO professionals agree is the hardest part of their jobs.  You could spend hours trying to master the art of link building and if you’re successful at generating high-quality links, it can truly put you ahead of your competition.

Link building continues to be one of the many factors that Google and other search engines consider when ranking search results.  We don’t know how many you need to rank above the competition; we just know that you need them.  Google isn’t denying that links are a major factor in ranking.  They recently revealed that content, links pointing to your site and RankBrain (their artificial intelligence system) are the three most important signals contributing to the result of a search query.  These are not the only things that determine your ranking but they are what Google considers to be the top 3.  If that’s not reason enough to learn more about link building and to make sure you’re doing it right, I don’t know what is.
Link building doesn’t just make Google and the search engines happy.  It’s also good for business. This includes reaching out to other relevant websites and blogs in your industry. This communication can help you build long-term relationships with key influences in your industry, and these relationships can mean a lot of respect and trust in your brand.

Building a Link Building Campaign

There are white hat, grey hat, and black hat tactics that companies can use to help drive links back to their website.  White hat techniques are considered ethical SEO.  Black hat SEO refers to aggressive tactics that are implemented only to impress or trick search engines—not humans.  Grey hat tactics are those that fall somewhere in between.  So how can you gain/earn links to start a link building campaign?  First, let’s look at some things not to do:

• Ask for links.  You can’t just call up a website and ask them to link to your website.  You need to offer something of value to their visitors.
• Buying links.  If nothing else stay as far away from this temptation as possible.  If you’re caught using this black hat tactic you could be penalized by Google.
• Cloaking.  This is when you show search engines different content than what you serve up to your users.
• Link farms. This is when a group of websites get together and decide that they are all going to link to each other.
• Buying expired domains. While this is considered more of a grey hat tactic, we still wouldn’t recommend it.  Companies who employ this tactic have a watch list of domains that are about to expire.  When the domain does expire they immediately buy the domain and replace the pages with links to their website.

While these are just a few of the link building tactics to stay away from they are some of the more popular ones that companies fall victim to.  Moving on.  Let’s review a few of the white hat approaches to building credible, authoritative links to your website.

• Reviews and testimonials: Acquiring reviews and testimonials about your business has tremendous business impact in building good online sentiment and serves as a referral source for future business.  It likewise assists with your third party referencing system.  Testimonials and reviews offer a great opportunity for you to get a backlink and potential traffic from the review sites that your customers leave reviews on.
• Blogs: Consistent, frequent and industry specific blogs that focus on satisfying your customer’s needs will, over time, gain authority.  Once you have done this, other bloggers, websites and businesses will want to link to your blog.  Don’t just blog on your site.  Reach out to other industry influencers to see if you can establish a content partnership where you each guest blog on their others site.  Guest blogging is a great way to get backlinks and increase search ranking.
• Link baiting: When you create content that that encourages people to link to your page from another website you have participated in link baiting.
• Web directory linking: The best directories to participate in are the ones that also provide useful information for your potential customers.

Getting Started

Remember, just because you built it, doesn’t mean they will come.  As with most SEO strategies, link building takes time—and a lot of knowledge.

The benefits of a successful link building program include not just increased SEO but also greater visibility online, more traffic being driven to your website, and an increase in brand awareness.  Thanks to Google algorithms and other search engine changes, the link building world is changing rapidly.  Now is the time to get on board with this growing form of marketing.

The post Link Building Strategy 101: What You Need to Know to Get Started appeared first on Greenhouse Design Group.