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Tingalls Blog - Marketing Tips & Tricks

On-going SEO through Blogging

When websites first became popular, it was a milestone for your marketing to just have a website that worked. But, like all technology, the web has continued to evolve – quickly and in many directions. A website for 2015 needs to be not only mobile-friendly, visually stunning and have new content often. A big measure of how Google rates a website is fresh and continuously growing content. This is a major switch from the website thinking of the early 2000s. Now, to stay well ranked on Google search results pages, you need to be timely and relevant. More and more successful online brands are making sure they have on-going and […]

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Posted in Copywriting & Blogging, Search Engine Optimization

The Best Way to Set Up Your Blog: Subpage vs. Subdomain

In our previous series, Blogging 101, we talked extensively about many of the best practices associated with writing a blog. But what about the hierarchy of how your blog is set up? In other words, is it set up as a subpage or a subdomain of your website? If you’re not a web designer or copywriter, you’re probably scratching your head wondering what the difference is between the two. Have no fear! Tingalls Graphic Design is going to define each of them, as well as let you know which one is the better choice when you have a blog associated with a website. Your Blog as a Subdomain In a […]

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Posted in Copywriting & Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Tips

6 Website Best Practices to Attract Viewers

Most website are designed to attract viewers and yet there are sites that aren’t putting website best practices into use and are instead turning off customers or not drawing them in in the first place. Tingalls Graphic Design has pulled together six website best practices to help you attract and keep visitors to your website. 1)      Compelling content. The content on your website is meant to attract people and keep them there. If you’re writing for search engines or trying to be too clever with your content you may be turning away visitors in droves.  Tell people what they want to know in a straight forward, succinct manner and only […]

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Posted in Advertising, Copywriting & Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design

The Sure-Fire Approach to Social Media Marketing

I really recommend using digital marketing and social media for your local business to help promote and amplify your brand online, to help drive online engagement with your website and, as a bonus, bring some more sales to you. Where small businesses often get digital marketing wrong is:  digital marketing is not a silver bullet for your company’s marketing.  It’s definitely not the only thing to do, and if you think it’s your sure-fire, quick-fix way to market yourself to a booming business then you’re going to be very disappointed. In my opinion, the biggest benefit of digital marketing is the ability to initiate and foster online relationships by directing […]

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Posted in Advertising, Branding, Networking, Social Media Marketing, Tips

The Right Words Win

Words are so important in everything we do — they’re a vehicle for communication to drive shared understanding with someone else to build a platform to grow a relationship (learn more about this in GrowLoop’s free ebook). I recently read Rework (Amazon affiliate) by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37signals.  I really enjoyed this book because of the authors’ philosophies and approach to business, but also because of its straightforward concise communication  — no extraneous words, everything in there is purposefully written. One idea that stood out was that companies should hire great writers vs. those overly talented in their specific area of skill — unless […]

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Posted in Advertising, Copywriting & Blogging, Tips

Simple Way to Get Buyers to Take Action

If you’re wondering why your website visitors aren’t taking action and clicking on your links, then you may want to consider making a small simple change to how you’re leading them through your sales funnel. A common mistake in designing web pages is to use an underlined word or phrase as the hyperlink to lead the visitor to the page you want them to go. A much more effective method is to simply change the hyperlink into a button.  Buttons are much more intuitively click-friendly. Oh, and color makes a difference. The Mequoda group reports a split test where the only variable on the landing page was the order button […]

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Posted in Advertising, Color, Website Design

Convenience Does Not Need to be Expensive

Eight dollars a gallon seems like a lot to pay for anything.  It seems like a crazy amount for something as simple as sugar water, or more specifically a cold soda.  But on a hot day when you’ve been sweating hard and you just finished filling up with gas, that big number seems reasonable.  At least when they put it into nice, cold and refreshing liter size bottles.  If you were not at a place that relied on your convenience to mark up prices you may think twice about paying eight dollars for multiple gallons of soda. This paying extra for convenience is completely understandable, but what if you didn’t […]

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Posted in Print & Package Design, Tips

Mac Security Alert

Many Macs are vulnerable due to publicized but unpatched security issues with Safari. Square Circle Consulting, LLC recommends the following for users running versions of OS X prior to Lion: Switch to a browser that’s being kept up-to-date, such as Firefox, and stop using Safari. Select Apple menu->Software Update… and install all security-related updates such as Security Update 2012-004 and Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 10. Run up-to-date commercial anti-virus software. Prepare to upgrade to OS X 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion. Background Historically, Apple has only released comprehensive security updates for the current and previous versions of Mac OS X. The day after the release of […]

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Posted in Tips

#1 Rule to Writing a Great Home Page

When it comes to writing the copy for your home page, you’re naturally eager to want to put your best foot forward, right?  But so often (I’m speaking from 1st hand and client experience), you end up putting too many feet forward, and the result is you overwhelm and confuse your website visitor… so they leave. The best way to write a great home page is just by following the classic K.I.S.S. rule – Keep It Simple Stupid (or Silly for those easily offended). When visitors arrive at your site, they are in a hurry to find out if you have what they want.  So your copy needs to communicate […]

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Posted in Copywriting & Blogging, Website Design

How is Printer Ownership Like Pool Ownership?

Every once in a while we get thrown for a little printer loop.  This time we were prepared because we had our trusty new printer selection algorithm to help us.  The loop in question was that often the needs of a customer do not equate with the dollar amount that a customer is willing or able to spend. Naturally not everyone considers a new office machine to be an investment.  I would counter that if you are looking to replace a machine that has lasted 10 years with little issue than it may be possible to look toward investing in another machine with a similar lifespan.  That machine will likely […]

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Posted in Advertising, Print & Package Design

Sticky Prints by Dan Dettman

Wells Print and Design Services offers a number of ways to print leave-behind materials with friends, customers, and colleagues.  As fall sporting seasons move on, a printed schedule is still the preferred way to look up the home team’s opponent and game time.  Wells is able to print magnet schedules or static cling schedules on the new wide format press.  Printing a company logo along the hometown’s team creates a subtle customer loyalty piece.  An office or home refrigerator may be the place to keep your logo in front of customers from the beginning of fall into winter. Along with refrigerator magnets, car magnets are a non-permanent approach to promote […]

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Posted in Advertising, Print & Package Design

To Blog or Not to Blog

What is the first thing that you think of when you hear the word blog? In the beginning blogs were basically online diaries and many people began to chronicle their daily lives and broadcast it on the internet. Blogs have since evolved and today have become wonderful marketing tools for businesses, but they can also have a downside. It’s clear that blogging has become an important aspect of social media and it’s a way that many people today find information and entertainment online. On the positive side blogs can also be a tool that businesses can use to boost their reputation, establish a harmonious company voice, assert expertise, and climb […]

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Posted in Copywriting & Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Website Design