How often do you buy business software without trying it or even seeing it first?

Never?

Well, there seems to be one type of software that all too often remains untested until after it’s been purchased: content management systems.

Just to be clear, a content management system (or CMS) is the generic term used for the admin software that a business owner or their staff members can use to update the content of their website.  Using a CMS, a non technical person can log into the software, change and add web text or images, upload files, write blog posts and generally keep the website up to date.

However, what I find interesting is that almost without exception, the people I speak to tell me they didn’t trail their CMS before they bought it as part of their new website.

If you have had a new website developed with a CMS included, is that true for you too? Read more

Of all the marketing and communication tools that have grown in popularity in recent years, social media stands out above all others.  Businesses are now heavily using Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn to name a few.

So does that mean social media is the right choice for your business?

Well, not necessarily. Read more

Most businesses have either tried paid search or they have heard about how effective (or not) it has been for others.  There can be a list of reasons why a paid search campaign works or fails, but here are three questions you should ask yourself to make sure you’re going in the right direction. Read more

Google made it clear some time ago that it wanted to take into account the ‘usability’ of a website when determining where it ranks its pages.

To do this, Google decided to take into account the speed at which web pages load.  In other words, a slow site is less usable and a quick site is more usable. Obviously, this doesn’t take into account the extent to which a site’s layout and functionality aid usability, but for Google, the site’s speed is a good place to start.

It’s worth saying upfront that a website’s load speed will not be a critical factor that decides whether your site appears on page 1 or, say, page 10. There are other factors that are much more influential (including your domain’s age, your site’s content/coding, and the number and quality of other sites that link to your site). But, if you are already on top of those aspects of SEO, you should consider its speed as well.

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The popularity of Twitter and its apparent zero-cost makes is an obvious tool for many businesses to connect and interact with their customers. However, as many will have found, Twitter, along with most other social media activities, does carry a cost:  your time.

Assuming that Twitter is the right medium for your business (it’s certainly not right for all businesses), the amount you get from your Twitter relationships does relate to how much you put in.

For the most part, businesses that fully embrace Twitter – typically using it every day for meaningful online conversations – are those that gain the most from it.  But, for many business owners and managers, using Twitter every day is not a realistic option – they just don’t have the time to maintain it.

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