Area Web Solutions

SEO in Muskegon: working locally

(My Original Blog Post: SEO in Muskegon: working locally)
There is something mysterious that lingers in the minds of local business owners when it comes to doing business with local web design and SEO agencies. For the old school, there is no doubt that they wish to find a local gang buster group that can push their business online. But for the new school, the mentality can be different.

The long lasting businesses here in Muskegon, Michigan for example, have a strong belief in our community. They buy local, because that’s what makes the community go-round. When they pay their employees, and the employees drop their money in local businesses as well, it makes a stronger community. However, when business is outsourced, then everyone suffers; even the business that outsources.

When a business outsources to save a few bucks, the benefit for the company is only temporary. I will agree though, that in some cases it is necessary. Like when talent and skill can’t be found local. But eventually, less dollars in the community will weaken the system, and in turn come full circle to even affect the business that outsourced. Essentially, the business accepts money from the community, then disperses it away through outsourcing, and unfortunately, it’s the younger generation of savvy business owners that do this.

If an area of people truly believe in their community, then it’s important to do business locally whenever possible. Area Web Solutions is a web design and SEO firm that believes this. We are actually very good at what we do, and have a strong belief in other local businesses.

The fact of the matter is, that print advertising has had its days, and the only real alternative left, is for a business to get on the web and promote their business. Did you notice that I did not claim that getting on the web is promoting a business alone? Simply getting a website, is not going to attract millions of new potential clients. In fact, an unpromoted website is only going to bring an average of 20-50 new visits per month. This is where SEO comes in.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is basically a method that educated and mostly experienced individuals use to promote a website through many different variables. Some of the ways that an SEO company with these expert individuals promote a website is through ensuring that the html code of the website is clean and without errors. Another way that SEO works is by getting quality inbound links to your website. In addition, SEO companies should utilize blogs and understand how to do so properly. Not all blogs are created equal. And then there’s the other goodies as well like social networks such as twitter.com, facebook.com and myspace.com.

So is that all there is to SEO? As I chuckle and answer that question, I’m going to have to say no, not even close. We here at Area Web Solutions will actually go over 140 checkpoints for all of our SEO programs. These are things that we have learned over the last 10 years and what’s important today. By the way, meta keywords no longer work with Google, Yahoo, and Bing (formerly Live.com; formerly msn.com search), and have not for a few years now.

If you’re a business in the Muskegon area, then we would love to help your business. That’s what we are here for so call us today at (231) 457-4894 or see our Search Engine Optimization Muskegon plans.

[New Blog Post At AreaWebSolutions.com] SEO in Muskegon: working locally: There is something mysterious that lingers in the minds of loca…

[Blog] SEO in Muskegon: working locally: There is something mysterious that lingers in the minds of local business owners whe… -*http://blog.areawebsolutions.com/seo-in-muskegon-working-locally.html

Web Design Muskegon MI

(My Original Blog Post: Web Design Muskegon MI)
Web Design Muskegon MI

Looking for a web design agency in Muskegon Michigan? The good news is that Area Web Solutions is located in Muskegon, MI right here in West Michigan. We have been in business since 2005 and have done work for various business types including Fruitport Township.

Just because we are located in West Michigan, this does not limit who we can work for. We have clients all over the US right now. Whether you are located in California, Boston or anywhere in between, we will work with you closely every step of the way as though you are local business, in order to get the results that you expect from a premium web design agency like ours.

We have prepackaged and custom design plans to fit your needs. Our rates are affordable and the work is unmatched. Many of our clients have come to us to have their website done right after bad experiences with other designers. Yes, there are people out there that will build a website for nickles, but the term, “you get what you pay for”, really rings true with web design. If you want it done right the first time, call us. If you want to pay twice, call the other guy, then we’ll be hearing from you soon anyways.

Contact us or call 231-747-9531 today!

[Blog] Web Design Muskegon MI: Web Design Muskegon MI

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Answering Advertisements on Craigslist

(My Original Blog Post: Answering Advertisements on Craigslist)
Craigslist is an online community which has a great deal to offer to both individuals and business owners. Some of the features on Craigslist include sections for community events, activities and news, personals advertisements, discussion forums, housing opportunities, for sale items, services offered, small business advertisements, jobs and resumes. While some of these sections such as the discussion forum and parts of the community section exist exclusively for the purpose of exchanging information or ideas, other sections such as the personals, housing, sale, services, job and resume sections provide the opportunity for users to respond to advertisements for more information or to make a purchase. In these cases uses should exercise caution. This article will focus on specific precautions which should be taken when answering advertisements in the personals, housing and jobs sections of Craigslist.

Answering Personals Advertisements

The personals section of Craigslist can be a great place for individuals to meet platonic friends or potential romantic partners. However, it can also be a location for predators to prey on unsuspecting victims who do not realize the threat of danger which may exist with meeting online partners in person.

One of the simplest ways to avoid potentially harmful situations is to never agreeing to meet someone in a desolate location. Initial meetings should take place in busy, public locations to minimize the potential for danger. Predators are much less likely to attempt to harm you in a public location. Additionally, it is wise to not travel to a secluded location with someone you don’t know until you are positive they do not intend to do you any harm.

Precautions should also be taken to avoid giving out personal information such as your address to those you meet online. The Internet affords a certain degree of anonymousness and some unscrupulous individuals can take advantage of this to mask their true identity.

Answering Housing Advertisements

The housing advertisements on Craigslist offer opportunities for those who are seeking housing situations such as rental of a housing location, roommate opportunities, sublets or house swaps. Care should be taken in all of these opportunities to ensure the person you are working with does not have any ill intentions towards you. This can be done by carefully screening all potential roommates or others who might be using your house or apartment.

When selecting a potential roommate it is important to verify the individual is trustworthy and able to pay the rent. It is also important to seek out an individual with living habits similar to your own to avoid the potential for conflict.

Answering Job Advertisements

Craigslist is an excellent location for finding exciting new career opportunities. There are many different job advertisements in a variety of different categories. These job opportunities include full time, part time, telecommute and contract positions. The downside to answering job advertisements on Craigslist is the advertisements are often placed anonymously. Those who place the advertisements are given the opportunity to either use their own email address for candidates to respond or to have candidates respond through an email address generated by Craigslist. Therefore, candidates do not always know who has placed the advertisements. For this reason care should be taken when responding to these advertisements to avoid supplying specific contact information. Candidates are instead urged to supply only an email address when responding to advertisements.

[New Blog Post At AreaWebSolutions.com] Answering Advertisements on Craigslist: Craigslist is an online community which has a great deal …

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Affordable Advertising on Craigslist

(My Original Blog Post: Affordable Advertising on Craigslist)
The advertising on Craigslist is certainly affordable. In fact there is no fee for the majority of posts made on Craigslist. Craigslist began as a non-profit organization but in 1999 it was converted to a for profit organization. However, operating costs are supported by charging nominal fees for help wanted advertisements placed on the San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City Craigslist websites. Additionally, there is a fee for brokerage apartment listings in New York City.

The vast majority of those posting advertisements on any of the Craigslist over 300 websites are not paying a fee to do so. This definitely makes posting advertisements on Craigslist to be worthwhile from a financial standpoint. While the advertisements are free care should be taken to post these advertisements judiciously because although there is financial loss, poor posting can result in a loss of time and resources if it leads to poor profit potential.

Why Craigslist is Free

Although the founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark, was approached in 1997 about the possibility of running banner advertisements on Craigslist to generate a profit, he made the decision to keep Craigslist as a noncommercial website. Even after Craigslist was converted to a for profit organization commercialization did not infiltrate the website. The points listed in the Craigslist mission statement demonstrate why Craigslist has remained noncommercial:

* Giving each other a break, getting the word out about everyday, real-world stuff
* Restoring the human voice to the Internet, in a humane, non-commercial environment
* Keeping things simple, common-sense, down-to-earth, honest, very real
* Providing an alternative to impersonal, big-media sites
* Being inclusive, giving a voice to the disenfranchised, democratizing…
* Being a collection of communities with similar spirit, not a single monolithic entity

Advertising on Craigslist vs. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another type of marketing which many business owners find to be both worthwhile and affordable. For many the appeal of affiliate marketing is the affiliates are not compensated for their efforts unless the business owner sees some type of gain from the advertising. This gain may be in the form of website traffic in the case of pay per click marketing, in the form of sales in pay per sale marketing or in the form of potential leads when a website visitor performs a specific action such as registering with a website or signing up for an offer.

While affiliate marketing is very appealing there are others who prefer advertising on Craigslist. The advantages Craigslist offers to advertisers is, of course, that the advertisers never pay for their business advertisements and the community receives a great deal of website traffic already so driving traffic to the website is not a concern.

Why Free Is Not Always Better

However, there are some specific instances where free advertising is not the best type of advertising available. Consider a product or service for which Craigslist does not have an appropriate category. In this case advertising on Craigslist may not be worthwhile because although the advertisement is free, it is also not likely to receive a great deal of attention from members of the target audience. In this case, advertising on Craigslist may be a waste of resources.

Another example of an instance when Craigslist may not be a great advertising option is when the market is already saturated with competitors’ advertisements. In this case it can be difficult to sway customer loyalty so it might be more worthwhile to pay for advertising in a less crowded market.

Disadvantages Of Using Craigslist.org To Make Money

(My Original Blog Post: Disadvantages Of Using Craigslist.org To Make Money)
There are disadvantages to using craigslist.org to make money. Although it can be done, and the chance of actually losing money is limited, craigslist.org only reaches a small percentage of customers. This is fine if what you are doing is limited to your location, however if you are selling products, this is a very limited area to do so.

The first disadvantage of using craigslist.org to make money is reach. Although millions of people visit this website, all of those visitors are distributed among 450 locations. This is where craigslist.org is lacking. You are not supposed to post your ad in more than one location at a time. If you are selling widgets, and you want to sell a lot of widgets to everyone, everywhere, then craigslist.org will be very limiting to you.

Another disadvantage of using craigslist.org to make money is that there is no protection for the seller. Many auction sites have procedures in place to make sure that both the buyer and seller are protected from unscrupulous individuals. Craigslist.org has no such protections. You make contact with a potential buyer or seller and hope that they will not rip you off. You do not know if they are legitimate or not and you have no idea if they are a dangerous criminal or not. Online auction sites remove the person interaction by means of shipping the item to a location. On craigslist.org you usually have to either have a buyer come to your home, go to a seller’s location or meet in a public place somewhere. Meeting someone is fine if the item is small. However if you are selling a projection TV, it may be more difficult to get it to the local diner.

Craigslist.org does post a notice explaining how to keep safe from fraud. Their intentions are well meant and in this case you get what you pay for. Craigslist.org is free. Most auction sites have fees. In this case it seems that you are paying for an additional level of safety and security. On an auction website there is recourse if someone passes you a bad check or if someone offers to pay you via PayPal and then reverses the payment. With cragislist.org there is recourse only through law enforcement for a bad check or through PayPal. Your chances of recovering payment is not good. You will be out the money and the product.

Another problem with craigslist.org is if you are trying to promote your business. There are many businesses that will keep reporting your ad as being in violation of craigslists.org’s rules and regulations or that it is spam or even that it infringes on some else’s copyright. In certain categories it can be nearly impossible for a new business to post an ad. For example, posting an ad for carpet cleaning services in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area can be next to impossible. I know of one particular company that finally had to contact Craig Newmark directly in order to get a problem resolved.

Now that you know all about the disadvantages of using craigslist.org to make money you can decide for yourself if it is worth it. Although the ad is free it takes a lot of time to write, post and constantly delete and repost your ad so that it stays on the front page. Is it worth it? Only you can decide for yourself.