“In today’s environment, it is more important than ever that young Canadians have the skills and information they need to participate and succeed in the job market. Our government is proud to support organizations that promote activities that benefit both employers and youth.”

The Saskatoon Industry-Education Council (SIEC) will be receiving $62,119 in Youth Awareness funding from the Government of Canada to organize a variety of events and activities that will connect Saskatchewan youth with more than Saskatchewan employers.

This initiative will help young people discover amazing opportunities in the tech sector and we applaud the Canadian Government for making this kind investment in our future!

To learn more about Canada’s Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Blogging for business is much easier than you think! Most business websites were built at least 5 years ago and are ready for a refresh. Now is a great opportunity for a redesign and to incorporate a corporate blog that you can update regularly and prove to google that your products and services are relevant to your market.

Where your website is more like a yellow pages ad, your blog is like a journal, updating you customers and potential customers about what’s going on with your company and what you have to offer to your market. A blog invites people to read it because it reveals the mechanics of your company. At a minimum, you should update your business blog once a week with articles specific to your business.  But blogging twice a week is better. The more you blog, the more potential customers and google not only associate your products and services with your market, but also help them identify you and your business as experts in your market.

There are literally thousands of business listing directories on the internet, each with its own group of business categories.  If you take away anything from this article, it should be the fact that choosing the right category to submit your website’s listing in is paramount as google (in particular) not only looks for “backlinks” to your website but also tries to understand how relevant that link location is to the products and services your website is advertising.

Some directories may charge a fee to have your website URL listed with them, but many many others are free.  The downside of ‘free’ directories is two-fold; firstly, it can take quite a long time to get listed (sometimes more than a year).  Secondly, if the business listings directory has a low editorial checking quality, or automates the process, the directory can quickly fill up with irrelevant spam content and your website’s business listing can get lost in a sea of website garbage.

We recommend going with both the free and paid directory submissions…

Below is a list of questions you should ask yourself when considering whether or not to pay to have your website listed in a paid-for business listings directory:

1. How relevant is the directory to my business (extremely important)
2. Does the directory rank well for the search terms that are relevant to your website’s products and services (some quick googling should tell you the answer to that question)
3. How many website’s are listed in the business listings directory?
4. Does the business listings directory look professional?
5. What is the business listings directory’s Google “pagerank” (use the page rank tool here to check)
6. Does the directory allow you to link to your website? (If not, it’s not worth your time)
7. Does the directory insist on you providing a link back to them (this is common, they’re looking for the same “backlink” relationship )

And last, but not least, “how much does it cost?”.  Understand your budget and use the above list to prioritize which directory your business’ website should be found in (paid / free or both).

Now, you’ve listed in a couple of directories, how do you measure their performance?  Google has a tool called “Google Analytics” that can track not only traffic to your website, but also can determine that traffic’s origin.  If you’re not sure how to install and use google analytics, contact your website designer to ensure that it’s incorporated into your website’s design.

How do you find directories to list in… well, considering the RawkMedia Web Design Group offer such a service, we like to keep our directory list tight to the chest… we can offer the following Search Engine Search suggestions though

“business listing directories”

“website marketing” + “add listing”

“<insert competitor>” + “add listing”

“free business listing”

Good luck with your website marketing campaign and please feel free to contact a Saskatoon Website Design Consultant for information regarding your best approach to getting your website’s design infront of potential customers!

Here are some examples of website elements (in order of importance) that best fit each market:

• Architecture / Landscaping / Interior Design / General Contracting
  • Definitely Show samples of your work via a photo-gallery
  • Offer a few customer testimonials
  • Always offer customers a way to contact you and get more information
  • Breakdown your services into pages (1 service per web page)
  • Offer preliminary pricing
  • Maintain a blog to interact with your customers and the search engines for your segment!
• Restaurants / Cafes / Bakeries/ Coffee Shops
  • Display your menu items and prices.. and keep it up to date!
  • Display your address, directions, and a Map to your establishment
  • Display photos of your dishes, possibly also a photo gallery of your establishment
  • Display coupons and specials
  • Maintain a blog to interact with your customers and the search engines for your segment!
• Real Estate / Rentals
  • Display home listing each with photos and a structured information set
  • Maintain a blog to interact with your customers, the search engines, and your market!
  • Display general photos of your previous offerings in a photo gallery
  • Display links to community information (i.e. Schools, Hospitals, Shopping areas …)
• Schools/ Colleges / Universities
  • Allow registration online
  • Offer information on amenities and the community
  • Display Class schedules
  • Display Events and Holiday calendars
  • Provide access to parents to School forums
  • Maintain a blog to interact with your students and the search engines!
• Professionals
  • Breakdown your products and/or services into pages (1  per web page)
  • Display office hours
  • Display Direction and Map to your organization
  • Allow request of information online
  • Maintain a blog to interact with your customers (potential or existing) and the search engines for your segment!

Ofcourse there are many other market segments requiring their own unique set of website elements incorporated into their website design but the aforementioned offer a good start to get you thinking about how you might want your website to communicate with potential and existing customers!

Contact a Saskatoon Web Designer today to understand what we can do to ensure that your web design serves to enhance your business!