Santa Clara Design:: Website, Blog, Graphic Design and Development based in College Station and Bryan Texas » admin

15 Tips: How to Manage Your Business Blog

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:35:00 +0000

Developing and updating your blog will require an investment of both time and thought, so before you get started, consider whether you can stick to a regular update schedule.
Keeping your content fresh will help show your readers that you’re serious about your business. Your posts don’t have to be long, but you’ll want to keep them interesting with up-to-date news, facts and figures, commentary, and other useful information.
Make a schedule for yourself, and dedicate time each week for brainstorming, researching article ideas, and writing your posts.
Become THE expert! When you write on a topic and the reader learns something, you have just become an expert. Then, the next time your reader has a thought or question about your industry, he’ll come to you as the business that can give him the solution or information he’s looking for.
A blog is NOT a brochure. Brochures can be boring and are rarely read from beginning to end. Your blog is a place to share useful content. Instead of “We’re the best at XYZ”, show your readers how your skills actually helped someone, how your product solved a problem or how your expertise saved a client time or money.
Be sure that your small business blog focuses on the relevant keywords in which you are writing. If you own an office supply store, you’ll want to focus your text on the various products you sell and the solutions they offer.
Don’t just talk about how you’ve won “Best Auto Repair Shop in Franklinville, MN” for 10 years running. I recommend a 90/10 ratio of interesting content to self-promotion.
Be sure that your business blog focuses on consistent, fresh, and relevant content. Be up on the latest trends in your industry. That shows that you are current, involved in the latest industry trends and serious about what you do.
How often should you blog? I’d recommend writing at least once a week, on a regular basis. If you have the staff or time, it would be best to blog 2-4 times a week. But the most important word is CONSISTENCY. If you blog 10 times in two weeks and then wait 4 months before you blog again, your SEO will not benefit and your readers may think you’re ‘fly-by-night’.
Make it easy for your readers to contact the blog author. Be sure that your pages have an email link included.
Who should write for your blog? You need someone who is invested in the business and has good, all around knowledge of what you do and why it’s beneficial. For a very small business blog, the owner or lead sales associate might be a good fit. For a larger business, the Marketing Team would most likely oversee the blog. Also, good business blogs allow the perspectives of various employees shine on that blog. Let them share their personal stories and experiences with your readers. And, don’t forget to choose people who have good writing skills!
Be sure to use social media to promote your blog. Post your blog links on Facebook and Twitter. Share photos on flickr or videos on youtube. Throw a flier in your shopping bags or on your counter to let people know your blog exists.
Work smart! Maximize your time and effort. If you’re in a particularly prolific mood, don’t write just one post, but several. Then, if you use WordPress or even other blogging software, you can set your post to publish at a later date. So, you can write numerous posts, or start posts to finish later and not worry about having incomplete content showing up online.
If you need help, you can pay someone (like Santa Clara Design) to help you strategize, plan and even write posts for your business blog. Sometimes it’s worth paying for help to make sure that you’re on the right track!

Keep an eye out for future posts on “How to Promote Your Business Blog” and “How to Manage Social Media for a Small Business”

Babyshrink.com

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:30:41 +0000

Child Psychologist and Parenting Coach needed a site re-design and pep-up. Have integrated her services and blog into a smooth, user-friendly experience. www.babyshrink.com

Jim.N.I

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:18:35 +0000

Jim.N.I is a delightful boutique located in historic Downtown Bryan, Texas. A local favorite, we were thrilled when Earlene gave us a call and asked us to design her a site that reflected her shop’s personality and helped to promote her unique products. We also photographed her shop so we could have some great images to use on her site and social media outlets.

FilingSystems.com

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:22:44 +0000

FilingSystems.com wanted to switch their site over the WordPress to take advantage of the great SEO opportunties as well as the ease of updating content. Their new site looks fresh and updated. It is so easy for them to add new products and pages.

Lochow Ranch Lake Management

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 19:51:58 +0000

Lochow Lake Ranch Management depends primarily on their great reputation and their website to generate business. So, when they hired us to redesign their site and add new features, we were up to the challenge. This project is ongoing. We will be assisting them with their social media mareketing, SEO, video and ongoing updates to content.

MobileShelving.com

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:28:03 +0000

MobileShelving.com wanted a WordPress site to highlight their specialty products. The site’s main goal is to generate leads and have potential customers contact them for more information. So, we created an eye-catching site that shows many of their various products and gives visitors multiple ways to contact the company.

Texas Bed Company

admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:04:48 +0000

This Beaumont-based company requested an easy to navigate site that would represent their various products and encourage visitors to come by their store locations.

www.texasbedco.com

Currier Communications

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:02:38 +0000

This Craft Industry Marketing Professional needed a clean and sleek site set up to reflect the various craft industries that she serves.

www.curriercommunications.com

Santa Clara Design::College Station Web Blog & Graphic Design

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:18:45 +0000

College Station Design Studio, Santa Clara Design provides excellent web design and print design. We want your experience to be pleasant, to have a end result that you are proud of, all for a price that won’t break the bank! We get excited about our clients projects and enjoy the process of working with a diverse varity of businesses and organizations.

We’re happy when you are happy and successful – that’s our goal!

Services:

* Custom Web Design
* Joomla
* WordPress
* CMS integration
* Web programming
* Flash
* Hosting
* Domain Regsitration
* Search Optimization

Design Services:

* Logo Design
* Print Design
* Brochure Design
* Letterhead and business stationary Design
* Advertising Design

We offer skilled web design and graphic design, quality service, a full range of web design and maintenance services including domain hosting and search engine promotion, to domain registration, and web site programming. We are a College Station Web Design and Graphic Design firm offering fresh designs, intuitive web sites, the latest multimedia technologies, and innovative graphics.

Santa Clara Design also offers elegant print design for identity design, logos, stationary sets, brochures, newsletters, and advertising/marketing pieces. Our quality shows in every detail… Our clients are located all around the Bryan/College Station area including College Station, Bryan, Navasota, Caldwell, Austin, San Antonio, Houston… and now reaching into other states!

Santa Clara Design offers a variety of packages to make your life easier. Check out our Web Design Packages and our Corporate Identity Packages where you can get all your advertising and promotion requirements met in one place.

Just in the past few years, consumers have come to rely on the Internet in ways no one could have expected. To remain competitive in today’s market, you need a strong Internet presence to provide those consumers with information about you and your products. Target those consumers and turn them into customers with a website developed by professional web designers.

Whether you need a simple brochure-style website with just the basics, or a full e-commerce web solution, we will work with you to develop a site and marketing strategy for your business.

We specialize in website design and graphic design. Services include print design, identity design, logo design, marketing pieces, hosting, graphic design, e-commerce, domain registration, and several multimedia technologies including Macromedia Flash®. Call now to discuss the needs of your business.

And remember, we like to help people who help others. So, if you’re a ministry or non-profit in the Bryan or College Station, Texas area or beyond, let us know and we’ll see what we can do to give you a non-profit or ministry discount!

Welcome to our new site!

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:49:54 +0000

We are excited about our new site design, but even more excited to have it converted over the WordPress. You know what they say about the cobbler and his shoes… We’ve been making sure that our clients have the best of the best when it comes to WordPress sites, while our own site has been left in the dark ages… until now!