Driving visitors to your website takes more than just having good content. People need to know that your website exists.

Through Working Naked Day, the holiday I sponsor, thousands of people learned about Working Naked… the blog and the lifestyle. But now that the holiday is over, I spend time each day working on my search engine rankings through social media and other methods. I want to keep my site traffic strong.

I could hire someone to handle my search engine optimization (SEO) but that can be expensive. Instead, I downloaded the e-book “50 SEO Secrets for Mom Entrepreneurs” by Holly Klaassen (affiliate link). This e-book offers practical, quick, and effective tips that work not only for moms, but for anyone who wants to increase his or her site traffic.

Holly breaks down the mystery of SEO into 50 easy-to-use tips including:

• Get traffic from Yahoo. Go to Yahoo Answers and run a search for topics related to your business or niche. Provide helpful and well thought out answers to questions and include a link back to helpful information or articles on your site.

• Keep urls short. While your urls should be descriptive, they should also be fairly short. The shorter they are, the easier it is for people to remember them, cut and paste them into their blog or an email, or write on a business card.

• Go after “long tail” keywords. Rather than trying to be found with popular (and competitive) phrases such as “chocolates,” try longer, more descriptive phrases such as “milk chocolate truffles.”

• Get traffic from Ezine articles. Try using Ezine articles for difficult keywords. Write an article using your keywords, and submit it for publication. Even if you can’t rank for your keyword on your own site, including a link back to your site at the bottom of your article will send referral traffic to your site.

The bottom line about Holly’s e-book? Her tips work. I’ve implemented only a few of her tips and have already increased the traffic to my site and improved my rankings.

My Web site is a work in progress. I make a few changes to it and then a month later I think of a few more things I need to update. Within the next few weeks I’ll be making a few more changes. It never ends.

In “11 Reasons Customers Don’t Trust Your Web Site,” writer Lisa Barone shares common sense tips and easy-to-stop-doing strategies for making your site better.It’s more of a list of Web site mistakes you may be making including:

• It’s littered with typos. Do your best to find typos and squash them dead. It’s hard to believe what someone has written when every other word is spelled wrong. Also, it looks bad if your phone number is wrong. My number changed recently but I didn’t change it on my site until last week. (Oprah, if you tried to call before, try again!)

• You don’t say why you’re different. Guilty as charged. This is one of the points I hadn’t considered but will be changing shortly. No matter what type of expertise you have, there has to be something that sets you apart from your competitors. Highlight that difference on your site.

• It’s hard to navigate. If I’m struggling to find your Product pages, than your site must be for people way smarter than me. I’ll go elsewhere. When you’re closely tied to your company, product and site, you may not realize how easy your site is to navigate. Do an informal survey with business associates whose opinions you trust and make any changes to make it easier for visitors to find the information they need.

• There’s no About page. Help people trust your Web site by telling them about yourself, why you do what you do, how long you’ve been doing it, and by introducing to the people who run your store. Include a photo so people can attach a name to a face.

The beauty of a Web site is that you can make changes whenever you want. Finding the time to make those changes though, can be the challenge.

Guest post by San Sharma

If you work alone or from home, there’s no denying that Twitter is an invaluable tool, both professionally and personally. As part of a marketing strategy, Twitter can help spread the word about your business. And when you’re feeling disconnected, Twitter can make you feel a part of the world around you.

But in some circles, Twitter, Facebook and social media, in general, is considered a bad thing. “We’re all getting self-obsessed,” some complain. To them I say, Twitter can actually make you a better person.

Here’s some ‘Twitterquette’ to demonstrate how:

1. Be more open
   Contrary to popular belief, Twitter’s not all about what you had for lunch. But its 140-character limit and the ways in which you can tweet – from your desk or from your mobile phone – make Twitter an ideal platform to share a little more about yourself. Being transparent with your followers reminds you of who you want to be and what you want to stand for. That openness is good for your business and for your relationships with your friends and your family.
2. Share and share alike
   Twitter makes it easy to share links, music and video clips with your followers. Like newspaper cuttings in the post (“I saw this and thought of you”), you can send your findings to individuals directly, or share your knowledge, tips and advice with the world. How can you be more sharing outside of Twitter?
3. Take an interest in others
   Twitter expert Mark Shaw says that before you start your day on Twitter, reply to three tweets and retweet another. It helps feed the Twittersphere. Imagine if everyone talked about themselves and took no interest in others? Following this etiquette reminds us to take an interest in others, online and off.
4. Help spread the word
   By retweeting an update, you share someone else’s ideas, concerns and good news with your followers. If someone needs help and you don’t know the answer, maybe someone in your network does? How can you ‘retweet’ and help friends and contacts in real life?
5. Ask questions
   If you’ve a following on Twitter, one of the best ways to keep your followers engaged is to ask questions. Ever been to a dinner party and sat next to someone who just talked about themselves? Ask a few questions and you’ll get more out of Twitter – and more out of life!

What do you think? Does following Twitter etiquette make you a better person? Or is Twitter, Facebook and social media making us more self-obsessed and less in touch with the real world? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

San Sharma is community manager at Enterprise Nation, as well as the voice of @e_nation on Twitter.

Last week, at a party, I mentioned that Twitter has been invaluable to my business.  A few of my friends said (as they rolled their eyes) that it doesn’t matter if someone’s on their way to the gym or late to get a haircut.

They don’t get it. Others don’t either, unless they use Twitter often.

Twitter isn’t just about letting others know what you’re doing through your tweets. The truth is that unless you’re a major celebrity, not everyone cares where you’re going or where you’ve been.

There are a few ways that you can use Twitter to help you grow your business including:

Drawing traffic to your blog. When you update your blog (which you should do several times a week), tweet your latest blog headline and a (shortened) link. The better the headline, the faster your followers will flock to your site.

Sharing articles that may interest your followers. Tweet about articles, blog posts or even photos that will help your followers. I scan about 150 articles a day to find the right ones to share with my followers. If my followers like my tweets, they’ll retweet them, which introduces me to their followers.

Establishing you as the go-to expert. When a writer, reporter or producer is looking for an expert, they may use TweetDeck, HootSuite,  Seesmic, or Twitter Search to find the right person to interview. The same goes for prospective clients looking for a product or service. Twitter is a viable search engine for up-to-the-minute events. While the tweets you find may not be from major news outlets, the links they provide may come from sources you recognize.  This Open Forum article, “Search Marketing, Twitter-Style” gives a good description of how well Twitter works as a search engine.

Growing your online presence. If you’re serious about growing your business, you have to have a Web presence.  Do an Internet search of your name and your company name and if you don’t find yourself, you need to ramp up your online efforts.  Twitter is a good way to do that.

Making new business contacts. I’ve been fortunate to meet some incredible business owners through Twitter including @daveyank, @RightGirl (she’s hilarious) and @TachelleDaniels. We’ve worked on projects together, provided guest posts or interviews for one another’s sites, and found ways to help each other out.

Twitter can help you grow your business if you take advantage of all it has to offer. As for letting others know that you’re on your way to buy frozen yogurt, you may want to open a personal account for that.

Guest post by Katrina Sawa

You’ve heard this phrase, but do you really pay attention to this when it comes to investing in yourself or your business? Many entrepreneurs do not. I know this because I talk with hundreds of women entrepreneurs every month. They are continuously trying to find ways to cut costs, get stuff for free, find someone to trade for services or find a reason why they “can’t afford it” or shouldn’t invest.

Yes, it’s fine and very important to cut costs when you can in your life, business, and in any economic market. However, when it comes to necessary things in the running and marketing of your business or making sales, why would you risk it? Here are some areas where you do not want to skimp or be cheap:

1. The design, maintenance, functionality and updates of your website and entire web presence (blog, social sites, membership profiles, etc.)
2. Hiring assistants and support staff
3. Making a good first impression with whatever that is — your attire, having proper materials and set up at your live events, etc.
4. Your follow-up marketing set-up and processes
5. Technology and software to make things look more professional, run smoother and make it easier for people to buy and connect
6. Coaching, mentors and ongoing learning

Doing so in these areas of your business could result in the following consequences:

• Decreased credibility or worse, developing a bad reputation
• Lack of learning and outdated knowledge
• Lack of the right systems to automate your business and save you time
• Delay in getting stuff done
• Delay in generating more sales
• Missed sales in lack of preparedness, marketing and functionality
• And so much more!

So, hopefully you’re being smart in your decisions and not just watching your pocketbook. This is an awesome time to be in business and do good things. But you have to take your business seriously, not treat it like a part time job or hobby; then you’ll see bigger results!

Katrina Sawa is known as The JumpStart Your Biz Coach who uses online and offline strategies to leverage your resources, contacts and your expertise. Katrina is an author, speaker and coach, has been featured on the Oprah and Friends XMRadioNetwork, and is a regular Business Expert on News 10 in Sacramento. Get her Free Entrepreneur’s Success Kit.

My son just earned his driving permit.  When he slips into the driver’s side and carefully adjusts the mirrors and seat, I realize that everything is new to him.  Yet at some point, he’ll run on autopilot and driving will seem second nature to him.

When I look back at my career and think about every job I’ve ever had, I realize I’ve experienced the same thing. At first I’d learn everything I could and then eventually I’d go into autopilot.  There was nothing new to learn, my boss refused to do anything differently and I quit using my business skills.

Working from home has changed everything.  As my own boss, I can’t afford to sit back and coast through each business day.  Instead, I make a conscious effort to develop more skills. This keeps me in the loop and keeps my business from being left behind.  There are a few ways to do the same.

• Sign up for webinars in your field. You could spend a solid year (virtually) attending every webinar offered on the Web and still you couldn’t attend all of them. The good news is that because there are many free, quality webinars out there, your only investment is time.

• Read whatever and whenever you can. The Internet is filled with articles on almost any topic you can think of. So why not take advantage of free advice from experts around the world? Advice from business books will cost you more, but if you switch to ebooks you’ll spend less than you would on a traditional book and you’ll be able to take hundreds of books with you at all times that weigh next to nothing.

• Get involved in online forums. Forums are a great way to network with others and build business relationships that will help you grow your business. The bottom line is that you don’t have to meet face-to-face with someone to share ideas and information.

• Enroll in classes you can take online or in person. Either way, classes involve time and money. Decide whether the investment is worth it.

As my son continues to develop his driving skills, I continue to learn new ways to grow my business. I’m also getting better at not pressing an imaginary brake while he’s driving.

Guest post by Becky Powell

Social media is just another tool in your box of tactics, but leaving your digital footprint requires a thought-out strategy.

Think Smarter Not Harder. Now, most journalists have their own blogs, Twitter and Facebook, so you may reach exponentially larger audiences, all from sending to one contact. And remember many communication tools are multi-purpose – embed links, photos and videos that direct readers to your web site, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Find Your Audience. Start with your key online news contacts and find influencers through blogs they prefer or followers interested in the same subject. The goal is to not reach out to everyone, but to find your niche hubs.

Strategy. Make it easy to engage your audience by integrating all communication efforts and maintaining a consistent message across communication channels. Keep it real and conversational.

Execution. Flickr, YouTube and other multimedia sites, are some of the easiest ways to reach large audiences and increase traction. Utilize “tag words” to optimize for search engines and encourage reposting by bloggers. Online events and webinars are cost-effective ways to showcase leadership, expertise and personality.

Engagement. No one wants to be a part of a one-sided conversation. Make it a point to respond to comments and messages.

Measurement. At the end of the day, it’s all about results. Agree upon achievable objectives before you begin the campaign. Key performance indicators to consider include: sales leads, sales conversions, market share, sentiment and comments. There are several online tools to help you monitor your success. Here are some of our favorites: Viral Heat, Klout, & Twitalyzer.

Becky Powell is president of The Powell Group, a public relations firm that has built a reputation for creative thinking and sound strategy that delivers valuable results to their clients.

The blog Copyblogger is as addictive as chocolate, and if their blog posts had calories, I’d go over my daily limit! If you haven’t taken the time to check out this blog bursting with useful and practical writing and SEO tips, drop everything and read one, two or as many blog posts as you can.

I try to read one post and then click off, but I can’t help clicking on the links to other posts. An hour later I have to stop reading and get back to work. A few of my favorite Copyblogger posts are:

The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. The first tip is to be prolific:“The more you write, the better your writing gets.” Another tip is to be concise. Short paragraphs, bulleted points and numbered lists keep your readers interested.

How to be Interesting. (I read this one twice, thank you!) It’s important to be wrong as well as right and to surprise people by doing the opposite of what you normally do. Also, make people laugh.

20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks. The truth hurts and Copyblogger isn’t afraid to be direct about your blogging skills. This list of 20 questions will make you take a close look at your blog to figure out what’s working and what’s not. This list is invaluable to anyone wanting to improve his or her blog.

Guest post by Wendy Lowe

For small businesses, e-mail marketing is one of the best tools available to increase revenue and awareness of what you’re offering.  However, a lot of people don’t know where to start.

Here is a great list to get you on the road to effective e-mail marketing.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Take a step back and think through what you’re trying to accomplish.  The best way to do this is to see things through your customer’s eyes – what would they want?

• What type of information would attract attention and get people to open, read and act on your e-mail campaigns?
• Would they want coupons, special offers or promotions?
• Would they rather have valuable information and practical tips they can use?

Build an e-mail marketing plan for the year. Look at the calendar, again from your customer’s perspective.

• Map out promotions, topics and campaigns that will help you reach out to your customers at the right time with the right information. Think about holidays or events occurring throughout the year that you can plan around.
• You know your customers better than anyone else, so roughing out a flexible plan for the year shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.
• Investing time planning up front will dramatically improve the performance of your e-mail marketing campaigns.  Your customers will also appreciate getting relevant e-mails when they want them.

Start building your opt-in e-mail list. Opt-in means that your customers understand clearly that by signing up they are giving you permission to send them e-mail communications. In addition to name and email address, think about other information that you can collect that will help you target your e-mail campaigns, such as gender or geography.

• Include a check-off box option for your customers to learn more about certain products and services as well as topics, issues and challenges that interest them.
• Use all of the tools at your disposal to gather e-mail and customer information including a quick sign up on your homepage.
• Actively seek people you want to reach by attending relevant trade shows and conferences.  Gather business cards, ask for permission and add them to your list!

Launch your first email campaign! Kick things off by introducing yourself and setting expectations.  Let your audience know the type of information they’ll be receiving and how frequently to expect it.

• In your first campaign, don’t just sell, but also offer valuable information or tips your audience can use.
• Encourage feedback to begin an ongoing dialogue with customers, allowing you to continually gather more detailed profile information to improve the targeting of future campaigns.

Your e-mail campaign is a work in progress. The important thing is to take the first step and send your first e-mail.  From there, it will grow with you as you learn the tricks of the trade. By following this checklist you should have a good idea how to kick things off.

Wendy Lowe is Regional Development Director for Campaigner, an e-mail marketing solution that enables organizations to have personalized one-to-one e-mail dialogues with their customers, measure how they respond, and analyze those responses.

When I think of social media, Chris Brogan and Brian Solis come to mind, not Martha Stewart. So what does this culinary queen and media mogul know about social media? Apparently a lot. In a recent blog post, Jesse Stanchak of SmartBlog On Social Media highlights a few of the social media tips Stewart shared during a recent speech. With almost 2 million Twitter followers and 72,000 Facebook fans, Stewart’s tips are worth following.

1. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. At its core, Stewart said, social marketing is about finding your own voice and communicating your brand’s personality. It’s easy to do what everyone else is doing and hope for a good response.  Mix it up, break the rules and be willing to let others see the real you.
2. Find yourself a good co-pilot. Throughout her keynote, Martha Stewart tossed questions and remind-me-later asides at Eliad Laskin, her all-purpose technical guru. At some point you’ll realize that you can’t do everything and actually, you shouldn’t.  Find someone who has strengths in areas you don’t.
3. Go where your customers are — and remember that everyone’s a customer. Instead of picking one platform, Stewart advises finding ways to adjust your pitch to reach the different communities that form online. My Twitter and LinkedIn accounts are all business while my Facebook account combines aspects of both my business and personal life.