InSite Insights

Does your website stand out? Does it showcase your products and/or services? If you have a DIY website, here are some quick refresh tips you might be able to do yourself. Review the copy - is it current? - Do you refer to old programs or have you added to your repertoire of skills or programs... ~ Do you have a pop up that offers a freebie ~ Would some new graphics update the look? ~ Do the colours and images fit with your branding? ~ Add some white space to make it easier to read the content ~ Have you implemented a keyword strategy? ~ Have you looked at your website on mobile? I have to say that if your website doesnt look good on mobile, then perhaps you do need a new website considering most people consume their content on their phones. The biggest shopping season of the year is just around the corner so dont wait too long to either implement these changes or to invest in a new DIY website - call me Im here to help you. It doesnt matter what type of business you have, we have a template that is completely modifiable for your unique brand look.

this or that - The best time of the year! Back to work! Have you made your back-to-work shopping list yet? Perhaps you need more yoga pants?

Todays celebration is #OnlineLearningDay ~ One of the best ways to earn multiple sources of income AND ~ Earn a more global audience for your products & services ~ Do you have an online product or service?

Even DIY websites cost money Here are items to take into account when budgeting for your website o website template - it can be an outright purchase, free or a monthly subscription o the cost of registering for a domain name(s) o If you dont write your own copy, then budget for a copywriter or at least an editor... o professional graphics o e-commerce or membership site supporting tools - ask if this is included with your DIY template o hosting (pssst - **included in all SimpliyfingTheWeb DIY subscription packages ***) o funnels - usually an upsell from basic accounts o email set up (dependent on type of email client) ~ Some of these costs may not be required immediately - but could be added on as you need them - just make sure to include the costs for future planning ~ If you want a very budget-conscious DIY website option that has all the tools you need as your business grows, we can help you with that. Link in BIO and dont hesitate to DM me if you have any questions. See more

Happy Labour Day weekend!

Wondering how you can increase your leads and grow your email list? Social media is the perfect place to grow an audience who are looking for free information that solve a problem they have. ~ Curious to know what that something you can give away is? Simply ask your followers.... ~ If youre on IG, create a Story and ask people what questions or problems they have when it comes to your product or service. We all love being asked for our opinions - some fun ways to do that are: answering polls, questions, quizzes ~ Facebook groups are also a great place to research what discussions are happening + When you do this strategically, you get so much content for freebies you can create, but also great blog and social media content. + You can also ask people how they prefer to get information - ebooks, checklists, tip sheets, etc. BTW - what is your favourite way to digest information?

Pick one: ~ This is the end of summer or ~ This is the start of fall & more comfy weather ------------------------... ~ I dont know about anyone else, but Im already saying things like "its getting darker earlier", "winter is just around the corner", "we wont have patios around much longer", etc. and putting on an unhappy face. ~ Im a pretty positive person and I love the summer - so why am I talking like its already over? hmmm ~ It might be that school starting always seemed to be the end of something rather than the start and this year Im taking another intense uni course ~ Anyway, next time I hear those thoughts in my head, Im going to replace it with what I love about this time of the year - and theres so much. Anyone else catch themselves already jumping into winter thoughts? See more

"The best marketing doesnt feel like marketing?" ~Tom Fishburne ~ Do you agree or disagree? ~ Marketing is a learned skill and you just get better and better at it the more you do it. Tell me below - do you love it or do you do it because you know you need to.

What should I write about? ~ If you write blogs for yourself or for clients, then its likely you think about incorporating SEO ~ A good place to get inspired by topics people are searching - Google Trends ~ Google Trends gives you data on whats trending - or is of no interest Plus its a free tool! ... Enter your keyword or pick one of Googles categories and let me know how it goes for you. See more

Email Marketing & TikTok - who knows how long TikTok will be available ? - this illustrates why building a presence on a social platform is only the 1st step to marketing your business *** Did you know that you dont actually own the contact information for your followers - on any of the social platforms? *** ~ The next & most important is to use your social platform to drive that traffic to your email list - which you then own.... ~ If youre not sure how to go about doing this, this is an essential service I provide in my business. DM me and well set up a time to talk. P.S. Dont forget all social platforms are constantly updating their algorithms, Instagram included. Dont get caught out. See more

SMALL CHANGES = BIG RETURNS! Yes, Watermart is a happy client! In ONE YEAR we increased our clients traffic by greater than 50% and they are very happy. ~ They are a local water treatment company so ranking in Google search results is a priority for them - more calls means more sales. ~ Its still a work in progress, but with a steady and consistent growth over the last year, things are looking up.... ~ They are now being shown in the features section (FAQ, People also ask) which they never were before. If you want to see positive results for your business, DM to ask how. See more

Are you doing what you planned to do when you left university? ha ha Ive talked to so many entrepreneurs lately and most of them are doing something so different than they ever thought theyd be doing. ~ So many were pushed into "acceptable" careers and some just never dreamed they could ever make $ doing what they really wanted to do. ~ This is my story too. ~ Believe it or not - I started out as a nurse in the Canadian Armed Forces. A serious injury and I couldnt continu...e so I did a business degree and then discovered a passion for internet stuff. ~ Then I was attracted to SEO and it was a pair of skills made in heaven and here I am! ~ Despite being an Asian woman in a mans techy world when I started my biz, Ive created a successful business that allows me to pick my own hours, vacation time and the freedom to not wear pants when I dont feel like it! ~ I guess that makes me a nonconformist! How about you - are you doing what you thought youd be doing? See more

5 Quick Tips to Protect and Secure Your Website Safeguarding your website from Hackers!!! Learn what you need to start implementing your WordPress security strategy. iTheme.com shares 5 tips to get you started.... [an iTheme blog article]

Did you know that if youre just starting out you dont really need a website or to invest in expensive business tools? Until you can afford to take your business to the next step, that is ... Here are the essentials you need to get your office up and running today - FREE : ~ mailchimp is free for email lists under 2K ... ~ mailchimp also offers free landing pages. In lieu of a website, a landing page that collects email addresses works ~ For image creation, Canva has a free subscription with a large assortment of free images ~ With regards to SEO, I have blogs that offer excellent SEO training ~ Asana is a popular team-based project software for managing work with your clients - yes - you guessed it! FREE -------------- If you are ready to get started, these resources will cut down on admin time and give you more time to focus on getting leads for your business. Did I miss any? Free free to add your free business resource below . See more

Have you got different versions of your business name floating around out there online? Website, social media, blogs (even guest blogs), etc. ~ Its very easy to do when youre starting out, doing a re-branding or even adding a new program to your business. ~~But know this could be one of the reasons your Google listing isnt showing up - the Google algorithm isnt smart enough - just yet - to determine whether its one business or several different businesses. So, you lose... out and your business doesnt get the full Google monty! ---------------- ~ If this is the case for you, make a decision about your business name, and then update all sites for consistency. ~ And ... while youre testing your business listings, do a quick confirmation that your address and phone number are up to date. ~ After all, you dont want to miss any potential leads because you have the wrong contact number. ----------------------------- Does this help? I hope so - I love supporting my community any way I can. How else can I help you? See more

Its still summer - even though were in the 3rd quarter of the year! Sounds kind of funny, doesnt it? Anyway I got a great question the other day about local keywords so I thought Id post it here. Q: Do local keywords apply to my posts & stories on Instagram? A: Absolutely! ~ Consistent use of relevant, targeted hashtags n your posts & stories is a surefire way to keep your account growing and be found ... ~ Another way to use keywords is to add meta data to your images ~ Another way keywords are important is in your profile. The Name field is searchable on IG so using a keyword gives you a much higher chance of being found by people doing searches. So think of what words people would use to search for your discipline - go as niche as makes sense. For example - #dogphotographer is more likely to be found than the millions of posts using #photographer How else can I help you get "discovered" on Google and on any of the social platforms. DM me to set up a discussion See more

Back by popular demand - this months This or That - Working From Home edition. No wrong answers! Share this #thisorthat with someone else who #wfh or drop your answers below.

There is so much chatter on the search forums; site webmasters and SEOs panicking or bracing themselves over last couple of days wondering whether theres been a big bug let loose or is Google doing their THING and rolling out an update? Not confirmed but eyes on this was leaning towards a Google update. Forums were screaming, "Affiliate sites have disappeared from super competitive niches, ecommerce sites completely gone from local and long tail keywords. Crazy, insane.. ",... "SERPs look totally nuts." In the end, on August 11th it was confirmed that this disruption was just a BUG, dont fear, "That Massive Google Update Was Glitch & Bug - Search Results Back To Normal". You can all take a deep breath now. But while we are at it, lets take a closer look at your website SEO and see whether you can weather through the next Google SERP update. DM/PM me if you have any questions. See more

It turns out cottaging wins over weekending in the city. Thx for the awesome feedback @cinchlocal

celebrating #bookloversday Well, it was actually yesterday but does it matter - I could celebrate books every day. ~ Do you still prefer paper books or are you now reading ebooks? ~ Lets say you have 30 minutes per day for reading - would you prefer to spend that 30 minutes with a: paper book... ebook blog ~ My condo is very small - something like a tiny house - so space has to be well organized - so as much as I love paper books, I only have room for my course text books - goodness knows they take up enough space. - Whats your preferred reading style? See more

Best Business Directories for Your Business We listed the 3 best search engines - after Google to list your website - next up is a list of the top 10 Business Directories - of course this list doesnt include the business directories niched to your own city or locale but dont forget about those either, example your local Chamber of Commerce or CitySquares ~ Keep in mind keywords are important here as well. 1. Apple (Maps) 2. Google My Business + Maps... 3. Yelp 4. Bing 5. Yellow Pages US / Canada 6. Facebook 6. Brownbrook 7. ExpressBusinessDirectory 8. Foursquare US / Foursquare Canada 9. HotFrog 10. WhitePages + bonus >> dont discount LinkedIn Hope this helps. As an example, lets say Bing is your preferred search engine and you search for web design Ontario it would be a shame if I missed out on a good lead because youre not listed in some of these directories. Check out my business in the map listing results. Double tap me below if this list helps you - if you bookmark this post, you can come back as long as you need to until youve registered your business everywhere! See more

This is what good local SEO can do - bring people who love ice cream to your ice cream truck or your ice cream store! If you want to see happy faces, DM me and we can talk about how we can uplevel the buzz your business is getting.

3 Search Engines to Target for Local Search Results ~ July has been all about key words and local search results ~ Weve taken you through how to research out those all important key words, how to implement them in all your content, what a snack pack is and what questions to use to test how your website appears on your phone ~ Below is a list of search engines you need to register with to ensure your business (especially storefront) comes up first ~ Besides registering with... these sites could definitely your rankings with Google 1. Bing 2. Yahoo! through Yext (for USA only) 3. DuckDuckGo + bonus site: StartPage **Note that DuckDuckGo + StartPage - unlike Google - do not track your search - they dont use cookies to track your website visits. **StartPage Search also doesnt record your IP address or location ---------------------- This is a good resource for a directory of listings, http://ow.ly/wzfT50AHhZk See more

Testing Testing Testing! 123! How often do you search your business name in Google or any other search engine? ~ Its important to do this regularly. After all, this could be the first introduction to your business by a potential lead - so you want to dress appropriately for the party ~ Verify your post shows well - the images arent cut off, the text is easy to read, the information is complete and up to date? ---------------... ~ To help with your testing, here are a couple of asked questions people would ask. Well use coffeeshop as the search word: ~ coffeeshop/cafe near me **FYI** "Near me searches have increased more than 500% in the past few years. ~ coffeeshop Yonge & Bloor ~ what time does Cafe Athena close? ~ how long will it take to walk to Cafe Athena? ~ Cafe Athena phone number ~ Cafe Athena reviews ~ We did this with a store front, but you can come up with appropriate questions for your type of business. --------------- Does this help? If you want the goods on Google My Business listing, check out our pretty awesome post titled: "Have you claimed & verified your Google My Business listing yet?" - perhaps youve bookmarked it? See more

Have you claimed & verified your Google My Business (GMB) listing yet? (Wow, I didnt realize I had one!) If you want to show up on Google Maps and local search results, filling out this GMB listing 100% will help your business rankings for local search queries on the Google Search Results Page. (check the website for specifics around the qualifications) ----------------- Thus, continuing with our social media post theme of "keywords"; "local keyword searches" are important t...o your SEO efforts to drive foot traffic into your storefront. We have more great tips for you read on. It probably doesnt surprise you that more local searches (55% in 2019 according to SimilarWeb) are done on a mobile than on a desktop and it would be a shame to miss out and have those searches go to your competitors ---------------------- ~ Registration is not a quick 5 minute process - spend the time to answer as many questions as you can. You can also update it as often as you want to reflect changes in your business. ~ Think of this as FREE mini ad space ~ You can add posts, a CTA, an event link, blog, sale, etc. ~ You can even add product and services images! Cool, right? Did you know this was even available? Most of my customers didnt realize. The greatest advantage are REVIEWS! Building your 5-Star Reviews which you can easily embed into your website and let potential visitors feel comfortable reading how other customers are engaging with your business. ---------------- NOTE: GMB can be edited by anyone. You know when you search for a business and in the bottom, you see suggest an edit? Well anyone can add information. To avoid unwanted edits, verify yourself as administrator of your listing. >> Message me if you need assistance. ------------------------ https://www.google.com/business. > Yes, theres a LOT of information in this post and hopefully its useful. > If your business is listed with GMB - drop an emoji or your business name below

Looking for some free training on all things digital - over the years Ive built a library of how to blogs and training videos and so much more. Ive got you covered with everything from SEO, GDPR (what the heck is this?), email marketing, funnels, design, architecture and site mapping, etc. etc. etc. Click on the link in my bio and select Blog Articles.

Whats your favourite keyword search tool? ~ Keywords - doing the research itself doesnt require a big investment of time or money, but having the right keywords on your website and in all of your content can deliver HUGE results in terms of leads and traffic to your content. Yeah! ~ My favourite tool ~ which happens to be free as well ~ is Ubersuggest.com ~ type in 1 keyword at a time and then select Keyword Ideas ~ The info you get for a free app is crazy cool. You can eve...n get question suggestions. ~ For instanced, I used the keyword web design ~ The results I got was 509 keyword suggestions and 80 possible questions. ~ Questions like: is web design a good career? who are the best web design companies? So, lets say youre creating a blog or an offer - knowing this information allows you to answer those questions in your content. Give me your best keyword below! See more

Claim your spot within the snack pack results! ~ What are the snack pack results? (No, not donuts!) You know the boxed area at the top of the search results that display the map and the 3 listings that are most relevant to your search request? ~ This is exactly where you want to be when someone does a search for a local business ~ Stats say that 33% of the clicks go to the local snack pack ~ Yes, Google still has by far the biggest piece of the pie, but Bing and Yelp ...(and other local search engines) are worth optimizing your local presence for. If you havent registered and optimized your business yet with Google - stop reading here and go for it - well wait for you .... ~ We dont want you to miss out in any local searches ~ A local search looks like this: chiropractor in Toronto or cafe near me or even more niche cafe yonge and bloor ~ Doing this gives you a definite advantage - especially since stats also show that 56% of businesses havent claimed their spot with Google My Business - Uh uh! ~ This applies whether you offer a service or a product or a storefront ~ This month were going to help you get on Google My Business and other search engines - it doesnt happen over night, but it is your snack pack spot to claim. If you want some help with this, let us know because we want our community to thrive and be the first to get that lead! See more

Are you tracking your metrics? ~ Admittedly, there are metrics for almost everything - so which ones are most important for your business and how to get started. ~ If you want proof that your business is growing and why and where youre getting the most traffic, then its vital that you track your leads ~ Now if you dont want to add one more tool to your repertoire, you can start out with good old Excel til you get used to the information and then invest in a CRM tool. There... are lots on the market, but Excel will get you started. ~ There are different elements to leads, such as what is a qualified lead, how much is it costing you to get those leads and how many referrals are you getting? And it gets more complicated ... ~ But if you at least know the basics every month, it will help you plan your campaigns and understand where to focus your attention, on which platform and what approach you can drop --------------------- ~ Heres the data to collect to add to your Excel spreadsheet. The bonus for this is once you decide to uplevel to a CRM tool, you can simply upload this info to your CRM. ba boom! ~ Add date, fname, lname, phone, email, campaign or freebie they clinked on to go to your site, channel (social media platform, blog, newsletter, webinar, etc), whether they purchased, if so the $ value of the purchase. ~ Of course, then comes the nurturing of your leads - but thats a different topic for another day ... --------------- If this helped you, please let me know below and if you want more information, then let me know that as well. SEO & sales funnels go hand in hand when it comes to being a lead generation guru. :)

You probably hear or read this all the time: "Be active on your social networks by posting, sharing, commenting, having your posts shared, liked and followed. They all contribute to your overall social mention score which Google and other search engines favour. ~ Thats one part of attracting Googles attention - the other part is having good SEO on your website. ~ In this blog, I get down and dirty and specific on some things you can do yourself - check it out - the link in the bio goes to all my blogs, but the one Im talking about is: "Getting more clients with better SEO"

Lots of activity is happening in the SERPs right now, see whether it has affected your site positioning. A shakeup like this tends to reflect some changes happening with a possible algorithm changeup. Check to see where your site ranks for your set of key phrases. If you need help in investigating this I offer SEO consulting bookings. DM me.

The best things in life are free: hugs, smiles, friends, kisses, family, sleep, love, laughter, and good memories ---------------- Having spent more than 4 months in self isolation, I bet we are more appreciative of so many more things - what is one (or more) things youre going to do when we are able to get out and about again? Me? I love hugs - so Im going to hug every friend I meet.

What does your engine check light have to do with SEO? Let me tell you a little story that explains it. Lets just say your cars oil check light is on. You assume its an easy fix, so off you go to your favourite auto repair. However ... it turns out your car actually has a hole in the oil tank which needs a more in-depth review and fix. The moral of the story is that SEO is as important to your website and getting those leads as oil is to ensuring your car gets y...ou to your destination safely! to get your oil check oops SEO check, DM me before its too late See more

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on a Friday Thought Id show you a little behind the scenes fun shots of me in my office - before and after coffee. ~ How many of you are being driven crazy by out of control hair? Or have been driven to cut it yourself?

Stories Quiz Alert! Last week I did an impromptu giveaway quizzing your SEO knowledge. I was pleasantly pleased with the response. Very cool! Today Im giving another opportunity to win - because yes, there is a prize involved. ~ Even If SEO is a struggle, you could still win because the questions are meant for all levels of SEO - you might surprise yourself - check out my Stories... ~ You can win a 20 minute call with me to get clarity on your biggest SEO puzzle. ~ Check out my Stories and ready! set! go! ---------------- ~ Oh yes, you must be following me ~ Tag someone else to enter Have fun! See more