By Ed Nichols, EDAN Designs

1. Improve your information hierarchy

   Information hierarchy refers to the way information is displayed on the page and its clarity of importance. On the web there are html tags that help to more clearly define the importance of information. These tags are called heading tags and range for H1 to H6, H1 being the most important information on the page. Clarity in your information hierarchy is not only good for your visitors, but also important to search engines like Google.

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Tags: Articles, Blog, idea, ideas, Inspiration, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Website

There are endless businesses out there that specialize in marketing your business. You being the clever person that you are would like to start finding ways to improve on an already good thing. You would like to figure out how you can spend your free time helping your business succeed. The following are ideas that can help to make your website more successful.

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Tags: Advertising, Blog, Business, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, seo, web design

I am an artist at heart. It is difficult and taxing work. For a while now I went through a period of creative drought. I was working on new projects and trying new things. Trying to find inspiration once again to take me by the hand and guide me in the next direction. Much of what I do is dependent on my clients, and that adds a dynamic to every project that takes certain aspects beyond my hands and adds difficulties. I am writing this in a time of upturn for me. Things are starting to move in new directions. The business is flowing and soon enough I will find myself in the weeds once again.

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Tags: Blog, Business, Designer, frustration, process, thoughts

Do you offer a great product or service and would like to share it with the world? You might ask yourself, “Where do I start?” I recommend first establishing a presence for your business on the Internet with a website.  Your website will become the center of your marketing universe by tying together all of your other forms of marketing. Its purpose is to inform, engage, and entice your visitors.

Once you establish your website you have some options:

-       Search Engine Optimization

-       Search Engine Marketing

-       Banner Ad Placement

-       Blogs

-       Social Media

-       Print Media

These are your primary tools. They range in cost from free to expensive. Just remember, advertising is worth the expense if it yields profitable returns. If you spend $50 to land a $900 job, then it is money well spent.

For those of you just starting out, I recommend starting with Social Media and Search Engine Optimization. These two marketing methods require only an  investment of your time and creativity. Create a business fan page on Facebook and put your profile up on all of the major social media giant websites. As people see your brand more, it will gain value in their minds.

Search engine optimization is the act of doing tasks that can positively impact your ranking on search engines. Some of these tasks include: a good hierarchy of information, using keyword rich text on your pages, using proper markup and creating a network of websites that link to yours.

I want you to imagine a spider’s web with a point in the very center that represents your website. From that point, there are lines connected to other points that represent all of the other websites connected to yours. This process carries out infinitely from these other points. The greater the number of connections, the more value search engines put on your website.

These ideas are the foundation of marketing your business.  Your business card, ad, postcard, Facebook page, etc., may be the only point of contact someone may ever see of your business. Your goal is to engage them, make them want to learn more and take the next step.

Tags: Ad, Advertising, Blog, Multi-Media, Print, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Website