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Domain Name  First things first.  What are we going to call your site?  The domain name, or the www.YOURNAMEHERE.com part of the website.  You need to register a domain name.  There are literally hundreds of companies out there that can do this for you.  A little warning, they will also try to sell you their hosting services like GoDaddy.  The Sales Garage highly recommends going elsewhere like SiteGround. Or, you can simply choose the NEW DOMAIN option with SiteGround when signing up for their hosting services.

Server Space | Hosting So, where are you going to put your website?  Hosting is the second step in the process.  Again, there are literally hundreds of companies out there that can do this for you.  The Sales Garage prefers to use the easy ones.  SiteGround is a great start, really easy to use, great uptime and pretty darn responsive customer service.  Additionally, on the tech side of life, they offer a lot of tech (like PHP memory, total memory, and speed…  lots of speed!  This is a good thing with Google!) for a very decent price.

WordPress Installation The Sales Garage absolutely prefers WordPress over ANY other website program.  Why?  It’s simple.  No, really…  that is the answer.  It’s simple.  With some basic training, one can get a pretty decent website online pretty quickly.  And, WordPress is FREE!  So, we just need to install it. There are website hosts that will install this for you.  But, The Sales Garage prefers to do it manually to ensure all of the features of the latest WordPress version is installed and working flawlessly.  Tech talk speak coming up…  This will require an SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol).  HUH?  This is simply a way to upload files directly to the server.  For more information on exactly how to do this, please visit The Sales Garage Blog!

WordPress Plugins Did you know that there are 53,001 plugins listed on WordPress?  And, that’s just the free ones!  There are many, many more plugins that are paid ones.  That’s a lot to go through.  So, let’s simplify a few things.  What are the basics that are REALLY needed?

• Security – Yep!  People just LOVE to try to break into your site…  Or, try to.  So, The Sales Garage STRONGLY recommends that you place a security plugin on your site, first!  Wordfence, All-In-One, etc.
• Optimize – You are going to see this word a lot!  This simply means how well can we make your website run.  This includes speed, size, complexity, and all of the techy stuff like databases, etc.  Don’t want anything to do with any of this…  Click the Full-Service Tune-Up to the right!
  • Pictures – Think of your website like a racecar.  Hang in there…  We’re getting to the point.  Notice how racecars place so much attention on weight.  The lighter, the faster.  Same for your website.  The smaller the faster.  And, there are fantastic plugins out there to make your pictures load faster.  SmushIt, EWWW, etc.  Get one that works best for you!
  • Speed – Cache…  What’s that?  This is a fancy term for a plugin that loads common items that you find multiple times throughout your website, like your logo, all at one time instead of multiple times.  Thus, making it faster to load all of the content.
  • Database – Optimizing the database.  To put this simply, organizing the file cabinet for your website.  Getting rid of the old stuff that is bloating the system and keeping the file cabinet clean.  Think of it as the old “defrag” your hard drive.
• Social – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram…  heard of a few of these?  Why not make sure that you are connecting all of those to your website.  Yes, there is a plugin for that…  multiple.
• Mailing List – Depending on the type of business you have, adding a newsletter or a mailing list is essential.  Keep in touch with your customers, show them your brand, add another touch point, etc.  Jetpack, MailChimp, MailPoet, etc. are some great examples.

WordPress Theme Ask yourself…  How do I want to present my company to my customers?  Keep that in mind throughout the rest of this paragraph.  There are so many themes out there.  Free and paid.  WordPress itself has themes that you can utilize.  So, how do you choose?  The Sales Garage has a few warnings about themes.  First, make sure that it has ALL of the features that you are looking for.  Can you change the colors, fonts, sizes, customize it in any way.  If not, MOVE ON!  Second, there a lot of “web designers” that want to sell you their own theme.  Great, but can YOU update it without the “web designer”, is it compatible with all the plugins that are out there for WordPress, can you update the colors, placement, or really anything once it is built, and finally… how many other businesses are using the same exact licence for this same theme (you wouldn’t believe how many times this happens and how large the client is… and they do not know better)?  If you question ANY of these…  RUN, RUN FAST!  Last, but not least, how does the theme want you to build your website?  There are a few builders out now and even WordPress themselves is working on a new very powerful one.  But, the most popular one is WPBakery.  This is a fantastic version of Visual Composer.  But, there is also Cornerstone…  Okay…  wait…  HUH?  Don’t worry…  All of these things are where the strength of WordPress shines.  These programs are almost a complete drag and drop program to build your site.  Feel lost?  Just click the button and let The Sales Garage do it for you!

Design | Plan, Plan, Plan What is it that your company does?  What is your company known for?  Plan it out.  The Sales Garage has seen everything from PostIt notes, scraps of paper, and yes…  even the bar napkin being used.  Whatever the way you choose the one thing to remember is to plan.  Make a plan to show your potential customers exactly what your business does.  Some say be clear and concise.  The Sales Garage likes to say be real, be authentic, and be you!

Content | Make It Sell This is where the rubber hits the road.  Would your potential customer know what your business does in less than 15 seconds of looking at your website?  Sadly, that’s all you’ve got more than half the time…  55% of the time to be exact.  What are items that affect this number?   Website structure, page load times, broken links, etc.  How do you track this?  We’ll get there.  But, here are a few items to keep in mind.

• Content | Just like in sales…  Remember KISS!  Yep, that’s “Keep It Simple Stupid!”  Okay, so that spinning logo thingie looks really cool…  to you.  Not to a potential customer.  Ask yourself when putting something on your website.  Is this really important?  If not, well…  There is that delete key?!
• Phone a friend! Not someone that works for you!  Phone someone that will actually act like a visitor to your website.  What do they want to see?  What message connects with them?  What do they think is important?  Can you find those things easily on your website?  Can they read the information on your site?  is the text too technical, too simple, or just right?  Is the text large enough?  Is the text the right color…  even for someone that is color-blind?
• M-O-B-I-L-E  Can your website be seen on a mobile device…  or responsive? We sure hope so!  Why?  One word…  Google.  Google will pretty much only look at your site and list it if it is mobile friendly.  So, when looking for a theme…  responsive is a KEY word!
• Content | Brand it!  Will a customer know who you are?  It all matters…  colors, fonts, logos, the voice you use in the content text.  How do you want your customers to perceive your brand?  As one of The Sales Garage’s favorite customers stated…  “It is a virtual front door!”  Make it count!  And, don’t be afraid to make the text your voice.  Make it unique, authentic, make it you!
• Having Trouble?  Take a deep breath!  The Sales Garage is here to help!  Simply click the product that best fits what you are looking for, or simply contact The Sales Garage!

GYBO – Get Your Business Online By Google  Google is amazing for one thing.  Helping people find your business!  Believe it or not, we’ve actually heard businesses say, “do I really need to worry about Google?”  Um…  yes…  Yes, you do!  Google has 40,000 searches per SECOND, over 3.5 billion searches per day and over 1.2 trillion searches per year.  So, yes, Google is important for your business.   And, if you play as nice as you can with Google, they will play very nicely with you. Google has created a very easy way for you to make sure that your business listing is accurate.  www.gybo.com  Claim your address and input the correct information!

Google Analytics  Most likely you are tracking your business’ finances.  So, why not track where a lot of those finances are coming from?  Google Analytics is THE spot to do all of that.  You can even break your audience down to demographics.  Pretty cool!  So, if you haven’t already…  Get yourself a Google Analytics account for your website! Some things you can do with a Google Analytics account:

• New Versus Old How many new visitors are you getting versus returning visitors?
• How Much Time Are They Spending On Your Site  This is EXTREMELY important to know.  Are you actually getting people to interact with your brand?
• Bounce Rate  This is how often a person comes to your page and then clicks somewhere else next to immediately.  The higher the percentage the more troubling the stats!
• Location  Where geographically are your visitors coming from?  Are you focusing on the right location for your business?
• Mobile V Desktop  Remember when The Sales Garage mentioned how important it is for your site to be responsive (able to go from desktop to mobile)?  Well, this will tell you how many times people come to your site from a mobile device or a desktop.  Why is this important?  Plan the site accordingly!

Google Search Console  Think of this as the “How Does Google See My Site?” part.  This is when you really play nice with Google.  Be sure to sign up for an account.  Google will make you VERIFY that you own the account with a variety of methods.  The easiest one is to simply download a bit of code from Google and upload that (Where the SFTP account really comes into play) code to the server.  Once verified, you can tell Google what is on your site.  How?  This little thing called a sitemap.  Lost ya?  No problem, click on the computer and The Sales Garge will do it for you!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization  There has been so much written about SEO and tips, tricks, and even companies started that JUST do SEO.  The Sales Garage is going to give away one HUGE secret to you.  You’re welcome!  Ready…  It takes time!  Yep, that was it.  So, the next time you get an email that says this XYZ company can put you at the TOP of Google, run…  run fast…  and don’t turn around…  unless you want to have a nice chat with the Nigerian Prince that wants to share his money with you. Trust The Sales Garage, once you register a domain, the emails come out of the woodwork on this!  (Registering privately sometimes helps…  but not always!)  UGH! Anyway, SEO IS extremely important!  This is truly where the rubber meets the road!  So, be patient, DO YOUR RESEARCH on what keywords are important to you and BUILD your content around that.  HUH?  Google has become VERY, VERY smart.  The old…  really old days of just listing a bunch of words on your website and hoping that Google will pick them up are GONE!  You need to become the source of the keyword.  The expert that knows all about that keyword and the website shows that you are.  How?  That’s the multi-million dollar question.  And, with Google’s ever-changing algorithm, once you think you have it figured out…  They’ll change it! Frustrated by this?  Click to the right and let The Sales Garage do it for you!

So, why does The Sales Garage like WordPress so much?  The SEO power that you have with it.  Even the basics of installing a fantastic plug-in called SEO by Yoast and listing the basics in there will get you off and going to letting Google know what your website is up to as far as the basic keywords for your business.  But, don’t stop there.

Google AdWords The Sales Garage put this here simply because now is a great time to start thinking about keywords to utilize on your site.  Also, this is a great time to research what keywords your competition is using to attract YOUR potential customers.  Also, if you are struggling to get your SEO going quickly…  Google Adwords, or simply put, paid keywords is a great way to reach out to your potential customer quickly.  Thus, making it the right time for your business and the right time to the customer that is looking for that keyword (product) that you would be happy to sell them!  Just a warning, Google AdWords can become pretty addicting…  and a little frustrating if you have never done it before.  So, why not just let The Sales Garage do it for you!

Social Media  Never before has your business had the ability to directly target your exact customer.  To exactly track the return on investment of your marketing dollar.  But, there are so many different directions for social media marketing.  Your right!  But, has anything really changed since the newspaper days?  No, not really.  It is still and always will be about targeting the perfect audience with a perfect marketing message.  If anything, social media has made it easier to target directly to them.  Okay, so how do I start?

The founder of The Sales Garage is a former Media Planner for National clients.  And, one thing has never changed even though everything has changed in the way businesses advertise…  Who is your target audience?  And, if you tell him that “everyone is a potential client”, two things are going to happen.  One, he’s going to reach through this computer and smack the ever loving…  Oh, sorry…  We digress.  And, sadly… The Sales Garage hears this a lot!  And, we’re here to tell you that there is not ONE SINGLE business that has “everyone” as a target audience.  Seriously, not one!  Not even Amazon!  Second, you might as well stop reading the rest of this, since the rest will be completely lost on you.  Please go back and research exactly who is your target audience.  We’re talking down to what they like, down to the music they listen to, other interests, favorite restaurants… What makes them want to ultimately do business with you?

Now that we have WHO is your target audience, let’s take a look at what platform works best for your business.  Here’s a quick breakdown of social media channels from the top to the bottom.

Confused?  Don’t have the time for all of this?  Don’t worry about it.  Click on the Social Media Tune-Up to Get Started with The Sales Garage, or contact The Sales Garage for something custom that fits your needs!

Newsletter Marketing Newsletters are a great way to keep your customer base involved in your business’ brand.  There are many…  many programs and plugins out there that can help such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and MailPoet.  Each one offering different options depending on what you are looking for.  But, there is one thing that HAS to happen with these.  Consistency!  With that being said, there are two things to remember.  One, when is too much… too much?  But second, when is it time for a little more?  Those questions depend on your business and what you’re trying to accomplish with reaching out to your audience.  If you have a recurring business these are essential to staying connected with your customer base.  But, sending too many can be very annoying and turn the person off from your brand.  The point is to make them feel that you actually appreciate them and their business… like you do!  And, say that to them along with some other items that they may find interesting about your business.

Stumped?  Let The Sales Garage manage your newsletters marketing.  Contact The Sales Garage!

Email Marketing Marketing is all about telling an impactful story about your business that connects with your customer.  What better than directly to the mailboxes of customers that want more information from your company.  Let me say that again…  from customers that want information from your company.  Notice what that didn’t say?  Please don’t SPAM people with information that they never had any intention of getting about your company. There is a right way and a wrong way to do email marketing.  That would be the wrong way.

Doing it the right way is a fantastic way to motivate your customer base on the information that you give them.  Perfect for the cross-promotional messages that tell your company’s story about a new product line, or one that the customer isn’t familiar with.  Sales, new products, or just saying hello are great ways to email market.  So, the question that The Sales Garage gets all the time is “HOW MUCH”?  It really does depend on your business.  But, remember the last time that you placed someone in your SPAM folder?  How many times did you see that email? The same one…  1, 2, 3, times that day?  Just stick with what you would REALLY like to see from your company.

Or, If you are TOTALLY confused about how to do this…  Contact The Sales Garage TODAY!

Customer Service  Believe it or not, Customer Service over social media is AWESOME!  …if done correctly!  I’m sure that you have seen what happens when Customer Service breaks down over social media.  Just read the reviews of United Airlines or Bank of America.  So, back to if done correctly.  This is a way to really make your company shine.  Would you believe that there is a Guinness World Record for customer service on social media?  Yep, and Microsoft’s XBOX takes the award.  They are the most responsive to anyone needing help.  And, this is what else is great.  They post the questions and the answer and make them searchable.  So, maybe someone else is having that issue and can find the answer quickly and accurately!  And, in most cases, they are taking a customer complaint and turning that into a positive.  But, just a warning…  this does take time and talent!  And remember GOOD customer service requires personalization, RESPONSIVENESS, competency, and convenience.

WordPress Updates If you have made it to this point, that means you have a site that is up and running!  AWESOME!  But, let’s make sure that the site stays up and running!  How?  Stay up-to-date with your updates!  And there are a lot of them!  Let’s break it down.

• WordPress Yes, WordPress is a fantastic thing!  But, it also is updated all the time.  And, that may break your site if you’re not keeping things Up-To-Date!  Not sure how to do this?  Let The Sales Garage do it for you!
• Themes  This is why The Sales Garage is such a stickler for picking the proper theme right from the start.  WordPress updates all the time.  Why does this matter?  Think about how many times you have updated your computer software.  Imagine if you didn’t.   That is what will happen if you can’t properly update your theme…  makes no difference if it is custom built for you or not!  Stay-Up-To-Date!
• Plugins  There are two steps to this one.
  • One, CAN the plugin be updated?  There are a lot of WordPress plugins… like over 29,000 of them!  And, some are updated and some are not.  Are you using a plugin that is not being updated?  Why does this matter? It may conflict with other plugins and cause the white screen of death for your site.  So, choose plugins that are updated consistently!
  • Two, keep your plugins Up-To-Date!  Period!  Seriously, they’re really important to keep Up-To-Date.  Not sure how to do this?  Let The Sales Garage do it for you!

Optimize Your SIte  There are many plugins for WordPress to optimize your site.  So, what does optimize your site mean?  Several things really.  We’ll go through each one of them.  Why?  Simply put, the cleaner your site runs the faster it is, and the more Google will like your site.  Google even has a tool to show you how fast your site is and what to fix…  Google Page Insights.    But, if you have no idea what this means, just let The Sales Garage do this for you!

• Optimize Your Database  Think about it as keeping your files clean for your business.  Making them easily accessible right at your fingertips.  There are a few really good tool plugins for doing this.  WP-Optimize and All-In-One Optimize.  Both essentially do the same thing.  They clear out all of the old revisions (Yes, every time you revise the site a copy is made of the old one.  Sometimes this is a good thing for the WHOOPS occasion, but once you have it perfect the old ones need to go!) that you have made to WordPress and keep the database as clean as possible.
• Optimize Your Pictures  Keeping tabs on your Media folder is a good thing!  Keeping the file size as small as you can and keeping the pictures orderly with the size that you are actually using the picture for is imperative.  Quick dies note…  Make sure that you are getting all the SEO out of your pictures that you can with the correct file name and the ALT tags!
• Cache Your Site  We have spoken about this before in the setup phase, but keep this in mind to optimize the speed of the site in the final stages and beyond.  Updating the settings to match your site is also imperative.

Update Content  More like up-to-date content.  The Sales Garage has seen the following scenario too many times to count.  We hope that this isn’t you!  The business pays a web developer $$$ to bring them a new site.  The web developer uses the content that the site already had, or approved content from the business.  COOL!  Fast forward 3-5 years…  same content on the site, nothing updated, and nothing added.  WARNING IOWA REFERENCE COMING…  It is almost like the Feild of Dreams…  “If you build it, they will come!”  True!  But, how about “if you UPDATE IT, they will come again!”  Seriously, update your content, or if the content is evergreen, update or add to it!  Position your business as the expert in the field!  And, show your visitors that you are!  Having trouble doing this?  Contact The Sales Garage and we will do it for you!

Keyword Research | Analytics Wait?!  Isn’t this a repeat?  Okay, first things first…  This is something that you should have been doing the entire way through all the steps.  And, especially now that the site is up and running.  Keyword research is all about finding out what your customers are searching for and how to connect them to your business.  There are some FANTASTIC tools our there for doing this.  Even Google has recently updated their search console to make things easier.  But, there is also LonggtailPro, MOZ, among others.  It just depends on how much help you need.  But, the key (Yeah…  Sorry for the pun!) here is to always update and research your competitors on what keywords are hitting and what are missing.  And, if you are totally confused on how to do this, just have The Sales Garage do it for you!  

SEO | Competitive Analysis  Yes, this is also a repeat and something that you should have been doing throughout the entire process of getting your website up and online.  So, now that things are done SEO is going to be more about what is working and what just simply isn’t working.  Also, this is the time that you really start pulling in data on what the competition is doing to get visitors (not that you weren’t before).  The focus here is adding in the keywords that are getting the viewership and tweaking the content to match what people are looking for.  Also, this is the perfect time to really, really study your Google analytics and see where people are going, where are they bouncing off the site, and what is sticking with them.  What are you converting?  Do you have GOALS setup?  Any of this sound familiar?  If not, no problem…  Just have The Sales Garage do it for you!