Take a look at the following article that discusses the role that responsive web design plays not only in how people view your website, but also the SEO implications:

The Importance of Responsive Web Design for SEO

Why Looks Matter

The presentation of your written content is a direct representation of you and your business. It’s probably the first thing a potential customer sees. It’s unlikely you would arrive on a first date with that hottie you’ve been chasing for weeks wearing holey sweatpants, a stained t-shirt, with an unshaven face, or with your unwashed hair in a scrunchie. In the same way, if your web content is poorly formatted, contains typos, uses incorrect grammar and punctuation, or is cluttered and difficult to navigate, you aren’t giving your best first impression.

The Proof(reading) is in the Pudding

Take this example from an unedited web document for a jewelry website:

Wonderfull jewelries.  They were so gorgeous and classy to.  I love those jewelries which is so unique with its design.  Chose best jewelry boxes to secure such amazing jewelries.

It has misspellings, subject-verb disagreement, and homonym misuse. Contrast the original with this corrected version:

We sell wonderful jewelry which is gorgeous and classy, too! We love jewelry that is uniquely designed. Secure your amazing jewelry in our many choices of jewelry boxes to suit any budget.

As you can see, not only is the corrected version grammatically correct, it’s easier to read and engages the customer with a conversational tone.

Proofreading Tips

When you are proofreading your own web content, try these tips:

• Print out pages in hard copy. Proofreading on a computer screen is very difficult for most people. If you have a paper copy in front of you, you frequently see things you wouldn’t catch on the screen.
• Start from the end and work backward. Start with the last sentence and read each sentence individually. You won’t be able to read for continuity this way, but it makes it easier to see typos, punctuation mistakes, missed words, etc.
• Read your work out loud. If you read each word out loud, you can often catch subject-verb disagreement (the sentence just won’t “sound” right), discover words that might have been left out, or find duplicate words (two instances of “the” next to each other, for example). It’s also easier to create a conversational tone in your work.
• Allow time between writing the work and proofing it. Try to allow several hours to pass between writing the content and proofing it. Overnight is even better. The words won’t be as fresh in your mind and you’re more apt to see the document in an objective way.
• Call in a professional. Not everyone is a grammar gremlin! If spelling or punctuation is not your strong suit (and it simply isn’t for many people), recognize that, embrace it, and have a pair of professional eyes review your content.

Ditch those holey sweatpants and dress your website up in a suit and tie! I guarantee your customers will take a second look.

Lori Murray-Linek, the Proofreader on the Prowl, is a freelance proofreader and editor. She is a former English as a Foreign Language teacher and a Virgo with slight OCD. She specializes in editing documents written by non-native speakers of English, proofreading website content and blogs, CVs/Resumés, and books for self-published authors. She is also the exclusive web editor for Novel Ideas, an author promotion blog. She currently lives in Northern California with her dog, Shadow, but is anxiously looking forward to relocating to the UK later this year to join her fiancé. She’d love it if you’d connect with her on her Facebook page.

On occasion I write guest posts on a number of other website and blogs. In most cases, the posts are directly related to the content and topics that I write about here. So, I thought that it would be a good idea to share some of the posts here:

1.      How to Naturally Integrate Keywords into Your Online Content

2.      How to Generate Ideas for Your Content Development Strategy

3.      Content Development for Small Business Websites

4.      How To Know If Your Web Designer Is A Good Fit For Your Company

5.      Content Is King Online

6.      Why Tout Can Be Good For Company Branding

The truth is that most articles may get a few likes and social shares and a few comments. What can you do to engage your readers more effectively?

You need to show your readers some love. Here’s how:

1. Thank them for engaging
2. Actually take part in the conversation going on in the comments section
3. Give them a shout out on social media
4. If you like a comment, ask them to write a guest post for your blog
5. Give them incentive to engage – Everyone loves free stuff
6. Ask for their input
7. Answer their questions
8. Re tweet and Like their activity on your website
9. Run a fun contest
10. Recognize top commenters

There is no shortage of ways to show your readers some love. These are also effective ways to boost the engagement levels on your blog and website.

Give your readers some love year round and you will be well on your way to getting some love back from your readers this Valentine’s Day.

Here are 5 important factors that will help you improve your business blog:

Understand your audience

Before you write anything, you need to understand the audience you are writing for. What kind of information do your readers want? Do they want information about your products and services? Do they want the latest news about your industry? Do they want tips for how to perform certain tasks? Do they want to read reviews? Do they want general or specific information? Are their certain topics they prefer to read about?

Answer the questions your clients are asking you

One very effective way to engage your readers is to answer common questions that you receive from your customers. There is a reason they are asking these questions. So, why not give them the information they want.

Add value in each post

As a business you always need to be adding value. Forget about trying to advertise your products and services for a minute and focus on offering value in your blog posts. Educate your customers about a specific process or provide them with some free advice. Often real life stories and examples add significant value and help to engage readers.

Be Social

Once your post goes live on your blog you’re not done. Don’t forget to be social and share it with all of your online networks. Post it on your Twitter account, add it to your Facebook and Google Plus page and share it with your connections on LinkedIn. This will help to create more visibility for your post. It also increases the chances of other people sharing the post in their social circles as well.

Reply to Comments

One of the biggest things that small businesses are guilty of is completely ignoring the comments section on their blog. I bet there are some of you that have never even read any of the comments.

While you will undoubtedly receive your fair share of spam, there are people that actually want to engage in the conversation about your post. Try to reply to comments so you can keep the conversation going with your readers. You never know, this could be action that turns a prospect into a customer.

What do you think? What advice would you recommend to people looking to improve their business blog?

To help alleviate some of the confusion about using social media for business, the following will outline was social media is not:

• It is not easy: Setting up social media accounts are only part of the equation. This is where many companies stop in terms of the use of social software. The benefit of social media derives from how the tool is used. Effective use takes time, effort, planning, and understanding.
• It is not a short term project: Social media requires a long term commitment. It is not about setting up an account and leaving it dormant. Be prepared to experiment and frequently change how social media tools are used.
• It will not produce quick results: Just like any PR or marketing campaign, results develop over time, as effectiveness is measured and use of the tools is refined.
• It is not a replacement for marketing, PR or SEO: Social media supports a company’s marketing, PR, and SEO functions. It is not a standalone strategy. Use social media in conjunction with these other business initiates.
• It is not free: Social media requires considerable time to use effectively. It must be updated, content must be created, companies have to stay on top of new trends and requests and comments must be responded to. Companies have to people to do all of this work.
• It is not enough on its own: Companies should always base their web presence on their website. Use social media to create web traffic and attract users to the company website. Depending too much on social media can be risky, especially if a company is slow to react to the continuously evolving social media trends and usage patterns.

What do you think? What are some of the misconceptions about social media that you hear about?

Dogs are man’s best friend, right? But, did you know they are also the perfect employee for a home based business.

Think about it for a minute….

• They are Instant security and will let you know when anyone is even remotely close to your home.
• They will greet you at the door when you get home and provide you with an update about what has occurred while you were out.
• They will gladly tell you when the mail has arrived (And, they are also great at ripping bills to shreds!)
• You will always have someone to eat lunch with every day
• They will happily listen to you rant and rave about everything and anything without judging you
• They are the perfect stress reliever during a busy day. Just one look from your pup and you will instantly forget what you were stressed about in the first place.
• They help you break up the day by telling you when it’s time to go outside and get some fresh air
• There will be fewer neighborhood cats hanging around your yard

As you can see, there is really nothing negative about adding a dog to your staff. They are loyal employees and might be just what you need to get rid of cabin fever during those long days spent working at home.

Here is a simple and easy to use formula that you can use to write website articles and blog posts:

TITLE (“How to..” “Top 10…” “Ways to prevent…” “Reasons why…”)

Introduce the MAIN SUBJECT by using an interesting fact, a story or by connecting with the reader on a parallel level. Specifically we’ll discuss MAIN POINT 1, MAIN POINT 2 and MAIN POINT 3. After reading this article, you should be able to INSERT MAJOR BENEFIT HERE.

MAIN POINT 1 is introduced in the first sentence of the article. Then, use this second sentence to describe something more specific about MAIN POINT 1. Show how SUBPOINT 1 relates to the main point. Support it with SUBPOINT 2. If you have something left you want to include, do so with SUBPOINT 3. Then SUM up the points and/or transition to MAIN POINT 2.

Follow the above for the next two main points.

Now for the CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH, make a general statement about the information above for your first sentence. Then, mention again the three main points you discussed above. Now tell your reader what they can do with the information you’ve provided.

INSERT A CALL TO ACTION. This can be a question or statement and asks the reader to do something (i.e. visit a webpage or leave a comment below, etc.)

Main Point 1:

Sub point 1:

Sub point 2:

Sub point 3:

Main Point 2:

Sub point 1:

Sub point 2:

Sub point 3:

Main Point 3:

Sub point 1:

Sub point 2:

Sub point 3:

What do you think about this template? What tips or tricks do you use when writing online content?

If one of your resolutions was to improve your blog content this year and finally give it the time it deserves, then you are in luck. This is what this post is about.

Here are a number of ways that you can quickly improve your blog, engage more users, and start to build a larger following:

1. Add internal links: Internal links are a great way to not only boost your SEO efforts; it is also a great way to send readers to other relevant content that is related to your blog post. You can direct them to a specific page on your website, send them to your Facebook page or link to an article that you read online that you think will provide some extra context for the topic you are writing about.
2. Add sub headings: Breaking up your content into smaller chunks of text is always a good idea. Sub headers are not only a great way to do this, they also make your content more scan-able and will guide your readers to the information they are looking for more quickly.
3. Get to the point: Tired of reading a few paragraphs before an article gets to the point, so are the people that read your blog. Get to the point and edit out the fluff.
4. Create a list: Creating a list (just like this one) is what most readers want. Lists are easy to read, they make their point, and they are more likely to be shared via social media (Don’t forget to share this list!)
5. Add some visual appeal: Everyone loves pictures and graphics. So, add a few images that are related to your topic to break up text.
6. Try a new format: Since it’s a new year, why not try a new format. I recently recorded a podcast for my last blog post. It was actually a lot of fun and not as difficult as I thought. And, if you are adventurous, try recording a video podcast with your web cam or even your smartphone.
7. Don’t forget about the call to action: Many people get so caught up with writing their blog post that they forget to add a call to action at the end of the post. It doesn’t have to be complex. All you have to do is ask your readers to perform a desired action (i.e. visit your website, connect on social media, or provide a comment below, etc.)

What are your goals for your blog in 2013? And, what actions are you going to perform to take your blog to the next level?