All the Details
This week has been very informative. I discovered that my website is getting an F ranking. I am okay with this for now because I needed to learn that I can do better. I had no idea that my site was loading slowly, which is not good for business. Having slow-loading sites is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, I will happily take that score and make some changes. I will see what I can do to make my host server run faster for my users.
I also learned this week that Google Analytics can tell you almost anything about your website and its users, even down to the second they are engaged on your page. The hypothetical company we studied to learn how to use the advanced version of Google Analytics was doing very well for themselves. I hope that one day my business can be as profitable. But I know I need to change a few more things and really focus on adding keywords and descriptions to my landing pages.
Social Media for SEO & Social Networking
This week, I am studying how to improve the ad for our final project, working on my social media presence, and figuring out how I can use social media to my advantage as a business owner. I love that as I learn new things, I start to notice them more and more in my life. I never realized how many ads I received on social media until I started to create and run my own. I love that there are so many ways to increase your visibility on social media and various methods to help the algorithms that run the pages work to your advantage.
I was particularly drawn to the idea of linking your social accounts and having links from other pages, sites, and blogs lead to your site. As this is done, it creates a positive connection and traceable line for the algorithm "spiders," as I learned they are commonly called. My goal is to use Pinterest to link the images found on my portfolio and post the images I am trying to sell as prints. There is a huge community of art sellers on Pinterest that I never considered being a part of until this week.
Landing Page Optimization & Basic SEO
Deciding how to improve your page and increase traffic takes a lot more work than most realize.
One piece of advice I really loved during my learning was how to make the page look more appealing. This involves not only having good images and adding alt text, which helps with search engine optimization (SEO), but also ensuring that your page is easy to navigate. One thing I learned about landing page optimization is how important it is to have the first thing your customer sees be linked to what your headlines are about.
Regarding SEO, I had no idea what it really was or how I could use it. When I first heard about it, I thought it was mainly about coding. However, I learned that there are many things you can do to influence where your ad appears in search results on Google. One of the techniques I want to try implementing is backlinking. Having backlinks to your page helps show the algorithm that your content is valuable and worth displaying more often. Another way to improve your site's ranking is by using the right keywords on your page. I plan to create more ads that link to my different pages.
ROI & Optimizing Ad Performance
This week, I found it easy to follow all the different ways of optimizing based on even the small results I had.
Google Ads are amazing and provide so much information and data to build the most effective and useful ads. For my business, I found that making sure I was informed about all the different tools by watching the instructional videos was essential. As I learned more about the tools available to me, I felt I was able to really narrow down what my ad needed to be more successful. Looking at all the different factors and insights, like how much each click costs and how many people saw the ad, made me feel empowered and in control. I appreciate that you can pause or remove keywords that are no longer working well.
Overall, I feel like I have been learning so much more about marketing as I run actual ads to actual people. The hands-on experience is amazing.
Relevance & Quality Score
Google Analytics and the Google Quality Score are powerful tools for any business owner. This week in my studies, I discovered much more about how these tools can significantly impact a business's success.
The Google Quality Score is a method used by Google to rank the relevance and importance of your ad to users. This ranking is based on several factors, including the speed and ease of navigation of your website, the clarity of your business offerings to users, and the relevance of your keywords. Ensuring you optimize all these aspects will definitely improve your overall score.
Learning about Google Analytics this week has been particularly exciting. Setting it up and discovering all the ways to measure the effectiveness of your ads is incredible. Linking your website, Google Ad account, and Google Analytics page provides numerous insights into how you can improve your ads and business by tracking customer behavior and determining how many visitors are coming from your ads.
Learning Ads
This week, I was not feeling prepared to create any ads. With all the school projects and graduating soon, I have a lot on my plate. I am really glad that we have been encouraged to make some ads. I am so grateful that Google makes the creation process so simple and straightforward. The video that we watched this week was really helpful and insightful, as some of the most useful tools are not explained when you first start making an ad.
The tool that I implemented is the "pinning a headline" tool. Doing little things like that can make a big difference because of the sheer number of ads out there. Additionally, when you have so many different headlines, you still want your ad to make sense, and having the pins gives you the ability to keep the ad more cohesive.
Overall, I know that ads are helpful, and I like that Google is moving towards responsive ads. Being able to link my website and see how people are responding to my ad is what I am most looking forward to.
Google Ads & Keywords
This week, working on and looking more into Google Ads was quite a large task. I felt a little lost and nervous. I was very grateful that I did not have to create any additional content for the ads. Filling out the forms and connecting the website was all very simple, and I was happy about that.
As for researching keywords, I initially had a hard time knowing which keywords would be good. The suggestions from Google were alright, but as we kept working on them this week, I learned a lot. I learned through some comments from my classmates that even considering the season can be an important factor when planning ads. Depending on the products you are working on, many have seasons of popularity.
One of my classmates also reminded me that with Google Ads, the location is a very important factor that can be influenced and controlled. Having keywords that are specific to the area can also be helpful in making your Google Ads more effective.
Legal Structure
I have been taking pictures for a long time and studying photography in school for just as long. Despite all that, I’ve never really been taught what the business side of running a freelance photography business looks like. Most of my teachers are out of practice or can only really tell you what they’ve seen work. It all comes down to trial and error.
This week, I feel like I learned so much more and was pressured just enough to get started. Having the right licensing and permits in photography is critical. I found that when you’re looking from state to state, the licensing requirements are about the same. So, just having a registered business is a great place to start.
I’m working on getting an LLC and learning so much more about taxes. In my research this week, I discovered that taxes aren’t as stressful as they used to seem to me. Especially with an LLC, you can file them in a more straightforward manner.
Forming an LLC not only simplifies the tax process but also provides legal protection and can make your business look more professional to potential clients. The steps I'm taking include registering my business name, filing the necessary paperwork with my state, and getting an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS.
Overall, diving into the business side of photography has been both enlightening and empowering. It’s given me a clearer path to turning my passion into a sustainable career.
Site Design
This week, I have done a lot of thinking about what design has to do with the success of a business. Looking at some of my favorite websites and their designs, it is interesting to see what they have in common. Many of the most successful websites I found showcase their products in the very first interaction. For instance, Apple’s website prominently features their latest products on the homepage, immediately communicating what the business is about.
Another important aspect of successful design is the inclusion of people. Websites that feature customer testimonials, team photos, or user-generated content create a stronger connection with visitors. This human connection makes the business feel much more professional and relatable. While nature elements can be visually appealing, they don't compare to the impact of human connection.
Clear touchpoints for customers visiting your site are crucial. I am planning to make my website simpler than I originally intended. On a photography website, having more pictures is better than having a lot of text and information. For example, a portfolio section with high-quality images can convey more about your work than lengthy descriptions. Additionally, the colors used should match the overall aesthetic and be easily readable to enhance user experience.
When integrating a payment method, simplicity and professionalism are key. A straightforward, secure payment process adds a sense of security and comfort to the customer experience. For example, using trusted payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe can reassure customers of their financial safety.
Site Building & Hosting
The process of creating an online business is difficult. I know that no one said it was going to be easy, but there are so many things to consider.
The first thing after brainstorming product or service ideas and deciding how you are going to get that product to your client is to have a way to be found, to advertise, and to sell that product. Creating a site when you may not have any experience sounds very overwhelming, but there are services that can make it easier. In my research over the last week, I discovered that it is important to not only consider the cost of these site builders, because there are so many options, but it is critical to look at the tools and specifications they offer. Then there is the choice of what hosting platform you will use to present your website to the world. I found that, like the site builder, there are many options, but there are also many services that can do both, which is what I would prefer because having everything conveniently in one place is worth the price. Squarespace is the platform that I found to be the most compatible with what I was looking for in a site builder and hosting platform.
I did notice that a few of the students in this class agreed with me, and that is something I found interesting this week. I felt much more comforted and reassured when I knew I was not the only one disagreeing with the little hypothetical student examples. It is the same when looking for a site builder or host; looking at the reviews can be very enlightening, and I would recommend doing so.
Sourcing and Solutions
When starting a business, there are so many aspects to consider. While the product is one of the most important, I would also argue that finding the right customer and determining what you can offer them is even more crucial. This week, as we were discussing the different options that the case study team could pursue, I found myself drawn to the idea of drop shipping over affiliate marketing because of the customer experience aspects involved.
Choosing a supplier can be very time-consuming, but I felt that looking at the reviews from past users can provide valuable insight. Comparing shipping times, costs, product quality, and many other factors plays a crucial role in deciding where to source your products.
I had no idea that affiliate marketing was so hands-off as passive income; now I can see what it is about compared to drop shipping. Drop shipping is more about customer relations and user experience due to the team's involvement. With affiliate marketing, you are promoting another company with links to their products. In drop shipping, the product is decided by the team, and a supplier is chosen to fill and ship the order. The hands-on experience also provides a much more reliable revenue stream, whereas affiliate marketing is based on a percentage of the sale. Therefore, you can build up earnings to the same level through many sales or multiple products, but it takes longer to generate significant revenue streams.
A team's overall marketing strategy plays a huge role in all sales with either of the two options.
Choosing A Business
It all begins with an idea.