Common Link Building Mistakes in 2022 – UpCity Expert

August 30, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

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Premium Websites, LLC Featured in UpCity’s Article About Common Link Building Mistakes in 2022

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The article, Common Link Building Mistakes To Avoid, was recently published on UpCity. As one of UpCity’s Top Inbound Marketing Agencies in the United States, Premium Websites, LLC’s very own Owner and Web Designer, Dotty Scott, contributed her professional insight.

As more and more businesses strive to expand their online presence, building a reputable, healthy backlink profile is crucial. However, if the right practices aren’t used, acquiring harmful links can do substantial harm to one’s website traffic, visibility, and Google rankings.

UpCity, an online marketplace that connects businesses with trustworthy B2B service providers, corresponded directly with digital marketing experts on their advice for small businesses to create a strong backlink profile. Dotty provided her expert advice for avoiding paid, low-quality links from SEO-based companies.

“Number one mistake – purchasing links from SEO companies. These are usually low-quality links that will actually harm your SEO instead of improving it. The risk to low-quality links is that your website can get devalued in the eyes of a search engine when unrelated or low-quality websites link to your website.”

See her other UpCity Expert article

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Premium Websites, LLC Featured in UpCity’s Article About Small Business Hiring and Expansion

August 15, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

Ready to Hire?

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The article, Top Signs That It’s Time To Hire For Your Small Business, was recently published on UpCity. As one of UpCity’s Top Web Design Companies in the United States, Premium Websites, LLC’s very own Owner and Web Designer, Dotty Scott, contributed her professional insight.

As layoffs and unemployment continue to rise, many applicants are eager and excited to work for small businesses. However, how exactly can a small business determine whether or not it’s time to expand its in-house team?

UpCity, an online marketplace that connects businesses with trustworthy B2B service providers, corresponded directly with small business leaders on their advice for companies determining whether or not it’s time to hire new talent. Dotty provided her expert advice for assessing in-house tasks to determine whether or not hiring a new employee is necessary.

“Listen to your team members! Look at your method of tracking and be sure all the tasks are getting completed. If tasks are falling through the cracks, it is time to either train your team better or hire another team member. This is crucial because the reputation of your business is on the line.”

~ Dotty Scott, Owner/Web Designer at Premium Websites, LLC

For more information, read the entire UpCity article here.

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What Every Website Needs

August 3, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

List of Items Every Website Must Include

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Although this is not a comprehensive list, everything on this list should be included on all websites. These items are the bare minimum.

Contact Information

I cannot tell you how many people think that their website does not need contact information. I can tell you that I will not buy from any website (or person) that does not provide me a way to call them. If I have a problem with a product or service, I want to call someone to get the problem resolved. When websites do not include a phone number, I move on. Websites should also include email addresses and a form.

Branding

Many small business owners do not want to pay for a logo. They might think they do not really need one. Every business needs a logo, brand colors, and brand fonts. You can get these professionally created by a graphic designer, or go to a marketplace like Fiverr. There are also online websites that will create a free logo for you.

Once your logo is created, make note of the color numbers used in the logo. These colors need to be used on your website as well. Also note the fonts chosen. For the web, it is best to choose fonts from Google Fonts. Most website building platforms will integrate with Google Fonts so that your website fonts can go with your logo fonts – completing your brand look.

Call To Action (CTA)

Your Call to Action is the next step you want someone to take. This could be a number of things like:

Download something useful. This allows you to collect their name and email address so you can start a relationship with them and follow up. Be sure what you are offering will move them forward. For example, I offer a website design checklist. This will get them ready for the website design conversation.
Schedule a free discovery call or consultation. Sometimes people will schedule a call with you, especially if they were referred to you by a trusted friend. If they are cold from the internet, this is likely not a good first step.
Get a free quote. This is used in the construction industry. Provide a form where they can give you details on their specific project, and then you can call them for any missing details and provide a quote.

These are a few examples. What you do not want to do is nothing. People will not move forward if they do not have a clear path laid out for them. Not including a Call To Action is leaving a lot of money on the table.

Introduction Video

This is super important for service providers. People want to know who they are doing business with. They need to be comfortable and feel like they know you before they will reach out and call. Your video needs to include:

Your name and what you do. How you server people.
Describe your ideal client. If the person watching the video and say, “They are talking about me” then they will relate to you and feel comfortable contacting you.
Talk about your beliefs as they relate to your business. This will help you to attract the right clients.
Be relaxed and approachable. Smile and look directly into the camera. Make the viewer feel welcome.

Your video should be 1-2 minutes long. Not longer than 3 minutes. Wear what you wear every day. Show up like they will see you if they hire you.

Easy to Navigate Menu

This seems obvious, but I still see websites with complicated navigation. If you have enough pages to warrant a dropdown menu, make it one level. When a dropdown menu has an additional flyout menu, many people cannot navigate to the interior pages. If this is truly necessary, then the first page becomes a simple page with links to the other pages that would have been in the flyout menu.

Keep it simple and easy to find information. Confused people do not buy. Do not give too much information (they need a reason to talk to you). However, do not fall into the trap of not enough information. If people cannot find what they are looking for, they will simply move on.

Reviews

Every website needs reviews. In the beginning you do not need a whole lot of reviews, but people do need to see that other people have used your services or products and were happy with the results. Reviews help to build confidence in your business. Do you buy from websites that have no reviews? Most people do not.

About Page

I often get clients who think they do not need an About page. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. It is HARD to create trust online. Your about page is your opportunity to tell people why they need to use you over all their other choices. This is where you highlight your credentials, experience, morals, awards, etc. A strong About page can make the sell for you.

Products or Services

Be very clear with what you offer people. There should be no doubt about what you are selling. Create packages when possible so that your website does a lot of the selling for you. When I started with web design, I did not have set packages. Selling was hard. Once I created 3 separate packages, the people who called me already looked at them. Most of them have already placed themselves into one of the packages and they know what to expect to pay before ever contacting me. This makes the sales process much easier. It also allows the person to ask more relevant questions so that they can make a decision faster.

In Conclusion

This list in not all inclusive, it is just the bare minimum. Start with these items. Have them ready when you start your website design project and the whole process will go smoother.

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Advantages to Hiring the Best Website Designer

August 2, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

How Do You Choose the Best Website Designer?

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If you think about it, millions of people look through different websites every day. The competition in the digital world is quite challenging for businesses and brands. It can be slightly tricky to generate interest among the target audience and bring them to your website. This is where hiring an experienced website designer could give you an advantage over the competitors.

This can be difficult for startups and small businesses as it can be more expensive than other options. When you think about creating your website, it is also essential to think about long-term results. To help you make the right decision, let’s discuss some advantages you can get by hiring the best website designer.

Modern Web Design

Your website is at the center of any branding and marketing strategy. With a user-friendly and modern web page, you can instantly connect with your target audience and encourage them to return. By hiring a professional, businesses might find it easier to create a business website that makes a good impression on visitors and builds a loyal customer base over time. Most website designers are also up to date with the latest trends, features, and user preferences.

This simplifies the process of creating a modern and responsive website that also appeals to consumers. When you collaborate with the best web designer, you will not have to worry about removing clutter from the pages or including interactive elements. They can ensure that the platform represents the brand closely and draw attention to the logo, relevant imagery, and typography.

Credibility

Brands need to establish credibility with their website and gain consumers’ trust from the beginning. When you work with a professional, this becomes a lot easier. Communicate your brand values and guidelines clearly so you can get a website that helps you achieve all your business goals in time.

A professional website designer will highlight the visual elements of your brand identity in the best way possible. This way, you could easily create a positive perception of the company in the audience’s minds and earn their trust. To maintain and establish credibility with web design, it’s essential to have a versatile logo that can appear prominently on the website.

If you are yet to create one, you can consider any tool such as a free logo creator to generate an attractive and relevant brand symbol.

Mobile Friendly Websites

Many consumers search for websites, products, or services on mobile devices. So, it would help if you focused on creating one that adapts easily to different screen sizes and resolutions. Hiring the best website designer ensures that the web page loads quickly on smartphones or tablets and does not confuse visitors.

For a responsive web design, the visuals need to be compressed and optimized so they can maintain their quality. A professional will be able to add features or elements that are mobile-friendly and optimized as well. This could help you save time and money in the long run. You will not have to make any significant changes or upgrades to the website later.

Higher Revenue

This is a great advantage that you can get by hiring the best website designer. You will be able to get a website that is easy to navigate and has a simple checkout process and attractive visuals. This way, you could easily stand out from the competitors and convince people to make a purchase online or visit the store or office. In the end, this could lead to a higher conversion rate and a boost in revenue.

With a well-designed web page, you can provide a smooth user experience to first-time visitors. It could convince them to return to the website and make a purchase. Most website designers extensively research their target audience, interests, and competitors. This means that your website will be designed to stand out in the market and offer valuable information to potential customers.

Final Thoughts

These are some of the advantages of hiring the best website designer. If you are starting in your industry, it is a good idea to consider collaborating with a professional. You can compare the prices and choose to work with one that can accommodate your budget. By hiring a professional, you could get a website that appeals to visitors from the first look and tells them about your brand too.

Guest post by David Bridges

David loves to write about brands, digital marketing, and business because that’s what he’s learned to do during his graduate studies. Now he works as a freelance content writer for his clients by day and studies by night. When not writing, he likes to play arcade games with his friends.

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11 Pitfalls to Small Business Success

June 2, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

What are the 11 Pitfalls to Small Business Success?

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Starting a business right is challenging, and keeping a new business afloat is even more complicated. Twenty percent of companies fail within the first two years, while 45 percent don’t see their fifth year. So, why are all these businesses failing? What are the owners doing wrong, and how could they improve their strategies and operations to make their next ventures successful?

There are no shortcuts to running a company, and there is no single correct approach. After all, each industry and market is different, meaning you must develop your strategy accordingly. However, there are some tried-and-true methods that many small business owners have used to position themselves for long-term success. Today, Premium Websites provides 11 tips for setting your new company up to flourish!

Tips for Small Business Success

Stopping short on your website

Today, it’s imperative to have a business website. No matter what industry you are in or what type of company you run, having a professional website will help you grow your online presence and help build a loyal client base.

Many tools on the market can help you build a site even if you have limited experience. But you must consider that it is a serious project that can consume a lot of your time and energy. For that reason, many entrepreneurs benefit from hiring a professional web designer or developer to handle the task.

Your site should be eye-catching and easy to use. Make sure that your customers can pay for your service or product through your website. And if you have an app, you will want to receive payments through that. Otherwise, you could be missing out on a steady stream of revenue.

Being too timid

Too many entrepreneurs launch a venture even though they are scared of failing. This can be a problem for two reasons:

It can keep you from capitalizing on opportunities.
Failure is an excellent teacher.

Every entrepreneur fails at some point on their journey, and if you analyze your mistakes, you can learn from your failure to improve your processes.

Missing your target audience

Every company caters to a target market. But you must ensure you clearly define what that market is, or you will not know who you are selling to.

You could have the best product or service in the industry, but if you are not pursuing the right market, you will be missing out on sales and growth opportunities. Take time to create customer profiles and regularly assess your position in the market so that you can make any necessary changes.

Taking everything on yourself

If you try to do everything yourself, you will eventually burn out. Plus, there is no way to complete all your tasks and projects efficiently when you run a business alone. Make a list of the functions and responsibilities you are most skilled at (and that you enjoy). Then, list all the other tasks, and start looking for freelancers, mentors, and other professionals to help in those areas.

Failing to stay organized

You likely have dozens of responsibilities on your shoulders as an entrepreneur. If you don’t stay organized, you will become overwhelmed, even if you have people helping.

A straightforward way to get organized is to create a daily task list and a long-term project list. Then, you can arrange your tasks and projects by urgency and importance. Fortunately, there are plenty of productivity tools to help.

Also, don’t forget to save yourself a lot of headaches down the road by investing in a bookkeeping system that’s safe, secure, and easy to use.

Not making a business plan

Having a thorough business plan is key to building a successful company. Without one, you are pretty much planning to fail. Your business plan does not have to be elaborate, but it should include all relevant details regarding your company’s goals and objectives. For instance, your business plan should outline your values, what you plan to sell, how you will promote your brand and the capital you will need to succeed.

Wasting startup capital

As a new business with limited access to capital, it’s essential to handle your money correctly and responsibly. You must maintain cash flow and optimize your capital to start strong.

For example, don’t hire too many people in the early days. A better approach is to hire fewer people who believe in your product or service and are qualified to fill the specific roles your company needs to be covered.

It’s also important not to spend frivolously on elaborate office décor, vehicles, too many work lunches, etc. Focus on growth and maintaining a healthy cash flow, and those nice things will come later!

Moving too quickly

While you don’t want to be timid when starting a business, you don’t want to launch before you are ready either. It would help if you had your bases covered before starting your company, including establishing your systems and processes, recruiting freelancers and employees, bringing a mentor on board, and creating a detailed growth plan.

Moreover, fight the temptation to grow your business too quickly. Some entrepreneurs try to expand the moment they taste success. But if your company is not ready for the influx of clients, it can spell catastrophe.

Hiring the wrong people

New businesses typically benefit most from hiring generalists instead of specialists. This is because hard-working generalists who believe in your company can satisfy more roles and responsibilities than someone who does one thing. Specialists are great when you get to a certain point, but make sure you hire versatile workers at the start.

Underestimating your brand

Your product or service may be the backbone of your company, but your brand is how consumers will relate to you. Spend time and energy developing a professional logo and selecting colors, fonts, and other design elements that will appear on all your promotional materials. And your branding should remain consistent across all channels.

Neglecting to make contracts

Finally, don’t be afraid to make contracts with other professionals and customers. Many entrepreneurs fail to implement agreements and are met with harsh surprises when another business or client stops doing business with them. It doesn’t matter how good you think the relationship might be; it will eventually come under threat if there are no agreements and systems established.

Conclusion

Much of your entrepreneurial journey will depend on the specific industry and market you operate in. But there are proven strategies that can position you for long-term success. Consider the tips above for laying a firm foundation for your new business. And never stop learning other habits and skills to help you flourish for many years!

Premium Websites is here when you are ready to create a professional website. We love helping other small business owners. Reach out today if you have any questions!

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Guest Post by:

Patrick Young is an educator and activist. He believes people with disabilities must live within a unique set of circumstances–the outside world often either underestimates them or ignores their needs altogether. He created Able USA to offer helpful resources to people with disabilities and provide advice on navigating various aspects of life as a person with disabilities.

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Which is the Best Site to Create a Website?

May 17, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

What Is The Best Website Creation Platform

The Website or Platform of Choice is WordPress

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WordPress is known as a free content management system or website builder. There are 2 “flavors” of WordPress – WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Although they use the same content management system, they are very different.

WordPress.com Websites

These are websites created at WordPress.com. They are limited to using the themes and plugins allowed at WordPress.com. No themes or plugins can be added to WordPress that the company does not make available. There are options to pay for certain things, like a shopping cart plugin. If you are not tech-savvy and want to set it up yourself, this is the way to go. Just be sure they offer everything you will need before you start. Another good thing about WordPress.com websites is that they are future-proof. If you want something not shown in the future, you can migrate these to WordPress.org and add anything you want.

WordPress.org Websites

WordPress.org is quite different. This is the WordPress software installed on your hosting account. When the software is installed on your hosting, you can add ANY theme and ANY plugins that you need for your website. Many themes and plugins are free, and some are paid. Some of the free ones have paid upgrades as well. If you need something super-specialized, there are WordPress plugin developers that you can hire to create precisely what you need.

Why WordPress over all the other options?

When I started Premium Websites over 17 years ago, I hand-coded every website. As website builders became more available, I tried many of them. Some were impossible for the average person to use. WordPress uses the same editor as Word, which most people already know how to use.

Business owners would come to me with the complaint that their websites were not getting found in the search engines. I often moved what they had into WordPress (without making changes), and the same content would rank higher once in WordPress. I could then optimize the existing content and get it to rank even better.

This told me a few things:

Search engines like the behind-the-scenes coding that WordPress offers
Search engines like the built-in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that WordPress or a WordPress plugin offers
Search engines did not like many of the other web-building platforms

Once I realized these things, WordPress was the only platform I used to create client websites. I want my clients to succeed, so I set them up for success.

Is WordPress still the best option?

What I mentioned above was many years ago. Some of the other platforms were Flash-based, and these have been completely redone not to use Flash anymore. Many of them have evolved over the years to be better than they were for usability and search engine optimization.

Here is why I still use and recommend WordPress for small business owners:

There are developers all over the world that work to improve WordPress.
There are WordPress plugins that will do almost anything you need for your website. Many of the other platforms have a limited offering for bells and whistles.
There are very professional themes that have been created for WordPress. Thousands to choose from. Many are well supported and keep up with technology as it evolves.
If your website designer “disappears, ” there are many other designers can help you. You are not stuck.
Search engines still love WordPress over other platforms – I am not sure why, but it is true.
There are now What You See Is What You Get editors, making it easy for small business owners to make changes on their WordPress websites.

If you have questions about WordPress or websites in general, feel free to give Dotty a call at 360-607-4767.

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Social Media Scheduling Tool

May 13, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

Later is my Social Media Scheduling Tool of Choice!

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There are many different social media scheduling tools available. Most platforms have their scheduling tools.

Why did I choose Later?

There are many reasons why I chose Later.com as my social media schedular. I have been with Later for several years now. When I made my choice, they were the only platform I could find that would schedule videos. But that is just one reason. Here are many:

Later has a free plan that is adequate. Depending on your needs, the free account may be all you need. At a minimum, you can try the platform and see if you like it.
Later connects to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and TikTok. When I started with Later, it was one of the only schedulers that would connect to Instagram. I personally hate using my phone to create posts. This gives me a way to use my desktop and keyboard to make a post for Instagram. If I had to use my phone, I would not participate.
Later allows for more than one user on your account. If you have someone helping with your social posting, they can be added to your account and post as if they were you.
The calendar is a drag and drops visual calendar. Once you upload your graphic, drag it from the media library to the place on your calendar when you want it posted. A pop-up window will appear that contains all the information for your post.
You can have all your conversations through Later as well. No need to log in to each account to reply to comments.
Later has a limited analytics area to measure your progress with posting and engagements.
Later is also integrated with Linkin.bio, which is a place to have a full bio with many links to add as your primary link on Instagram. This counteracts the one link limit that Instagram has on its platform. This bio can be used anywhere on the Internet.

How to use Later

Later works like many of the scheduling calendars available. It has a visual media library and a calendar. In the image below, you can see my Instagram view showing, but there are also calendars for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. The media library is on the left of the calendar. You can filter it for unused only so that you do not get confused with images already posted. There is also tracking for how many posts you have left in the given month for each platform.

Later Screenshot

The Instagram Post pop-up has the most information that you can enter. I will show it below. I do have a paid account and some of these features are not available on the free account.

Once you drag your image onto you calendar, this box will pop up. It has a space for your text which is called the Post Caption. If this was a Twitter post, it would count your characters and let you know when you hit your limit. For Instagram, there is a hashtag suggestion area which is pictured below. You can type in your main hashtag and the program will suggest others that have been used on the platform. When you want to use one, they will appear for you in the Post Caption area. Once done with my hashtags, I cut and paste them into the First Comment box.

You can also add your linkin.bio link (or any other link you want to add), tag people, and enter your location. If your business has a Google Business Profile, the location can be your business name.

The Edit Image area gives you a place to crop your image the right size for the platform you are using.

Once you click Save, the post is ready to be posted for you at the designated date and time. You are DONE!

Instagram Post Creator

Social Media Efficiency Tip

I schedule my social media posts for the entire month. If you have a marketing calendar, you know what is coming up. I create all my graphics and schedule all my posts at one time. Then I do not worry about it until the next month is near. You can still post those spontaneous moments that are critical for your business.

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Premium Websites, LLC Announced as a 2022 Local Excellence Award Winner by UpCity!

April 21, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

What is the Local Excellence Award?

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For more than a decade, UpCity’s mission has been—and continues to be—to help businesses find B2B service providers they can trust. The UpCity Recommendability Rating was developed to determine a service provider’s credibility and recommendability, giving UpCity the confidence to recommend them to the more than 2 million businesses that visit their site.

Each year, UpCity analyzes and scores more than 70,000 service providers based on their UpCity Recommendability Rating and acknowledges the top national and local providers with an UpCity Excellence Award. The results are in, and we won!

We are proud to announce that the Premium Websites, LLC team has been recognized as one of the top B2B service providers of 2022 in the Vancouver area by UpCity!

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Dan Olson, CEO of UpCity, had this to say about Premium Websites, LLC:

“With so many agencies on the market today, it’s clear when you run into a company that does things a bit differently. Premium Websites consistently shows a dedication to their customers’ success that is unmatched. We are proud to name them a 2022 Local Excellence Award winner.”

—Dan Olson, CEO, UpCity

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This recognition has been driven in large part by our 5-star review rating on UpCity. Here are a few of our favorite pieces of feedback we’ve received from our incredible customers:

“Dotty is the consummate professional when it comes to website development. She is wonderful to work with, provides important and insightful feedback, and delivers results in record time.”

~ Diane M., February 2022

“Dotty is really great to work with. She listens to what you do, what you want to accomplish and then helps create the perfect web site to help you get that results. She not only listens, but makes sure she is hearing correctly what you want to get across to the people you want to attract and makes sure you understand what is going on and why she makes the suggestions that she makes. Easy to work with and very personable.”

~Rhea – Terra-Sol Landscaping Office Manager, February 2022

We believe that building a website shouldn’t be a miserable experience. Thank you to all of the customers who have shared this vision with us over the years and chosen us as their web partner. This award is made possible by your support!

Learn more about the UpCity Excellence Awards.

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How To Write Great Ad Copy

April 1, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

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Research

We want to sell more, and to do that we need to know what to say. That’s more than just telling people the “thing” that we want to sell them. It’s giving them a reason to believe you are a better choice than your competition.

It means giving people a reason why they should trust you with their cash.

Thankfully, a little research can do a lot.

In fact, with enough research, you can read your audience’s minds and tell them precisely what they want to hear (I only ask that you be honest with this superpower you’re about to learn).

We’ll be doing two things:

Digging up dirt on our competition
Organizing all the positive reviews we have for ourselves.

Review Mining

We’ll use Dotty’s business as an example.

If you have testimonials on your site, you can look through those. In this example, we’ll begin with looking at her Google Reviews.

We are not looking for “Dotty is great. Dotty did a good job.”

We are looking for why people enjoyed their time working with Dotty and why they are grateful they did.

Here’s an example:

Cheri Martin Review

This person gives us specifics about what made the experience great.

They highlight how much they appreciate that Dotty is:

Patient
Responsive
Provided great suggestions
Listened to the customer
Built a website that
- reflected how the client serves
- the client is proud to promote/send traffic

This is a great start. We’re going to make a list of those specific value items and how the client described their experience working with Dotty.

Now, we read more reviews. We’re looking for patterns here. The most common adjectives are the things that people value in their time working with Dotty.

Reading a handful of these reviews, the pattern that we find is that one of the most common things clients appreciate about working with Dotty is that she listens to who she works with and makes their concerns and ideas feel heard and validated.

This is a great sales proposition to start with.
But compared to her competitors, is it something we can make look unique?

This is where competitor research starts.

Competitor Research

Here’s where we look at how our competitors market themselves.

For this example, we’ll be looking at three different website building agencies:

Thrive Design
All Seattle Web Design
Visual Webz

And for each of these, we’re going to look in four places each to dig up some dirt.

The first is Google Reviews. But instead of searching for positive adjectives, we’re browsing to find the reasons unhappy customers were dissatisfied. (we’ve already shown this using Dotty as the example, so we’ll skip that part here)

FB Page Transparency

Next, we’re going to head over to their Facebook page. On the left side of their business page, you’ll find a section called “Page transparency.”

FB Ad Library You want to click on the “see all” link to the right of that label.

Next, you want to click on “Go to Ad Library,” as shown below.

The resulting page will show you what ads they have ever run on Facebook.

In this case, we can see that this competitor has never run ads on Facebook.

However, if they had, we would be writing down a list of what qualities about working with them they are trying to pull people in with.

For example, if they ran an ad that said, “we have friendly, easy to work with reps, who get you the website you’re dreaming of.”

We would make a list noting:

Friendly/easy to work with
Quality website build

We will do this for each competitor in our area.

Next, we go to the competitor’s website.

Remember when we established some potential sales propositions for Dotty based on her reviews? Here, we’re looking for value propositions that the competitor is already using.

If they are doing this, we should be able to identify them on the home page.

Here’s what we’re looking at:

Thrive Website Design

Do you see any value propositions here..? I don’t. And that makes it easy for us.
This is the equivalent of trying to sell a vacuum cleaner to somebody by saying, “I sell vacuums.”

If someone is shopping around looking for who the better option is… they’ll lose this fight when confronted with our value proposition of “When you work with Dotty, you know your input, concerns, and ideas will be valued and considered, providing a website that not only gets the job done but that you can be proud of knowing it represents your business and personality.”

That’s a lot more convincing than “we sell websites.”

But we still have one more big player to check to make sure we’re positioning ourselves well.

Google Ads is harder to look at because, by its nature, the ads only show up when you type into google and look for what they are advertising. And that only works IF they’re advertising!

That’s why we will use the free browser version of a tool called SpyFu.

When you load up the home page for SpyFu, you’ll want to type in the website address of the competitor you are researching in the circled area shown below:

Spyfu

This will take you to an analytics report starting with Organic Keywords (SEO). We’re not interested in that section for this.

We’re going to scroll down about 3/4ths through the page to where we find “Google Ads History.” It will look like this:

Google Ads history

And in this case, we’re in luck. We can see that there is no data here for the competitor, and because of this, we know that they also have never run Google Search ads.

So far, this is looking excellent for Dotty.

In the case of Thrive Design, at no point in their marketing are they using a value proposition.
We repeat these steps for the other competitors and continue building our list of what people are upset with from them and what value propositions they use to market themselves.

Writing the Ad

We’ve done our research, and now it’s time to “write” the ad. The trick is there’s very little writing involved because our audience already gave us everything we need to assemble the ad copy (text) just like Lego blocks, reassembling what we already found.

We know from our competitor research that there are no competing messages. If someone else was claiming on their website home page or ads that “they made their customer’s input feel valued,” we might have an obstacle because we’d be making the same claim, and it would mainly come down to who had the bigger budget to outspend the other.

In that situation, we would need to use a different positive that our reviews told us people appreciate working with her.

But in this case, we know that none of Dotty’s competitors are trying to compete in selling that value.

So that’s precisely what our ad will say.

Pulling text directly from the review we looked at when we first started and reorganizing it a bit, the ad reads:

“Website Design that puts you first. Your ideas will be valued, your personality will shine through, and you’ll be proud to show people YOUR business’s website after we’re finished working together.”

And side-by-side, that ad will win Dotty the lead over “we build websites” 100% of the time.

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Guest Post by Dustin Saksek

Dusting is the owner of Strongarm Digital Marketing, LLC in the greater Seattle area. He is a local Ad expert as well as a great copywriter for businesses who want to stand out. You can connect with Dusting at:
dustin@strongarmdigitalmarketing.com
And LinkedIn: dustinsaksek

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What Is the Best Video Caption Tool?

February 15, 2022 Premium Websites, Inc.

What Is the Best Tool For Video Captions?

Zubtitle: The Best Video Caption Tool

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What makes Zubtitle the best video caption tool?

I have searched far and wide to find a video captioning tool that is worth using. Most of them are very inaccurate and hard to adjust. I have tried many with great disappointment.

Zubtitle is different! It uses Artificial Intelligence to add the captions to your videos. It is fairly accurate and easy to adjust. On a 3 min video it usually takes me about 5 min to read through the captions and make any spelling or punctuation corrections.

I can also change the color of the text and/or the color of the background that the text sits on. I can also change the font style and size as well as the placement of the font on the video.

Want to know what is SUPER COOL about Zubtitle?

Zubtitle has several very cool features.

Add your logo to the video. This means you do not need to use a complicated video editing software to add your logo. It is super easy in Zubtitle. Simply upload your logo, place it on the video, and drag it to the desired location. Resize options are also available.
Reformat your video. I LOVE this feature. Have you ever created a horizontal video, then realized square is a better format? Or you want to use an existing video as an Instagram Story and it needs to be vertical? Zubtitle will create horizontal, square, and vertical videos from the same video footage. You will never have to reshoot a video because it is in the wrong format. Zubtitle also resizes your captions according to video shape.
When you are done editing your video captions, download the created text file. I use this text file as my YouTube video description as well as a start for any blog post that goes with the video. Why retype anything? they give you the text!
Download the .srt file. What is an srt file? This is the text with your timing for the video. It is what other program use for Closed Captions. If you do not want captions to show at all times on your video, you can upload the non-captioned video and the srt file to get Closed Captions.
Headlines can be added to your video. They can also be styled with several font options, font colors, and placement on your video.

As you can see, Zubtitle is more than just adding captions to you videos. They take videos up to 20 minutes long. This is the prefect video tool for any business owners video needs.

For more video tips, read this UpCity article.

For more Online Tools that I have used check out these blog posts.

.fusion-button.button-1{border-radius:20px 20px 20px 20px;}Try Zubtitle for FREE

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Premium Websites, LLC Featured in UpCity’s Article About Common Link Building Mistakes in 2022

Ready to Hire?

List of Items Every Website Must Include

Contact Information

Branding

Call To Action (CTA)

Introduction Video

Easy to Navigate Menu

Reviews

About Page

Products or Services

How Do You Choose the Best Website Designer?

Modern Web Design

Credibility

Mobile Friendly Websites

Higher Revenue

Guest post by David Bridges

What are the 11 Pitfalls to Small Business Success?

Tips for Small Business Success

Conclusion

Guest Post by:

The Website or Platform of Choice is WordPress

WordPress.com Websites

Why WordPress over all the other options?

Is WordPress still the best option?

Here is why I still use and recommend WordPress for small business owners:

Later is my Social Media Scheduling Tool of Choice!

Why did I choose Later?

How to use Later

Social Media Efficiency Tip

What is the Local Excellence Award?

Research

Review Mining

This is where competitor research starts. Competitor Research

Writing the Ad

Guest Post by Dustin Saksek

Zubtitle: The Best Video Caption Tool

What makes Zubtitle the best video caption tool?

Want to know what is SUPER COOL about Zubtitle?

This is where competitor research starts.

Competitor Research