Igniting Business Blog

LinkedIn has existed on the periphery of what most users consider social media for years, but they're making a more and more concerted effort to gain legitimacy in that stage. While it's not as all-encompassing or as interactive as Twitter or Facebook, this platform is especially popular if you’re selling or marketing business to business (B2B). You can incorporate LinkedIn marketing into your small business campaigns with an increasing degree of success using LinkedIn’s resourceful toolset. You’ll find to continue increasing engagement, LinkedIn has further developed its range of features, with one of their newest being Smart Replies.

Balancing a business, regardless of size, can be incredibly difficult. Management may be an incredibly demanding job and unpredictable journey; however, there are a few things you can do to lighten your entrepreneurial load when it comes to selling online.

Your logo is arguably the most recognizable part of your business. People know who Pepsi and McDonalds are due to their iconic logos and their tie to their brand and products. But that doesn't mean you're limited to your original logo design. Logos, just like websites, have trends that can change year-to-year. If you're feeling it's time to give your logo a facelift, here are some design trends surfacing in 2018.

When customers search for a local business on Google, sometimes they have unanswered questions in their mind. Questions that, if answered, may capture their business. If left unanswered, these searchers may turn to another provider who successfully answers their question – this can all happen before the customer even decides to reach out to the potential vendor!  Google noticed the need for a Q&A section and added one for companies listed on Google My Business (GMB). As a small business owner using GMB, it's important to stay up-to-date on new tools like this and learn how to use them effectively. Let's go through some key elements your small business needs to know about Google My Business's Q&A feature.

When it comes to the business world, having a strong business card is the key to starting new relationships. From networking with possible clients, connecting with business professionals in your industry, contacting leads, recruiting new hires, using the right business card puts you and your business at an advantage. A specially designed business card can help promote your business uniquely, and set you apart from competitors. Here are some key reasons why having a distinguished business card is the right decision for everyone.

Join us in welcoming a new team member, Walter Sewell. As a veteran, Walter served in the United States Marine Corps and the Missouri National Guard. During his time with the Guard, Walter decided to pursue a career in the Information Technology industry. Walter has his CompTIA IT A+ certification and currently working on Centriq Training, the CCNA Routing and Switching certification, and CompTIA Security+ certification. Walter will be joining our team in the Lee’s Summit office, providing superior IT service, maintenance, and troubleshooting to our small business clients throughout the Kansas City metro.  Walter’s passion from IT stems from how quickly technology advances and he enjoys troubleshooting to resolve complex issues and building custom desktop computers.

No matter what business you're in, online marketing success depends on good graphics. Visual displays decide everything from consumers' faith in your website's legitimacy to the likelihood of a product's reliability. One of the most important graphical elements to include on your website, your e-commerce platform, and any video thumbnails is properly executed and relevant images of people. 

Getting customers is hard, but keeping customers can be harder. Sometimes all it takes is a single bad experience, an off-day with customer service, or just a product defect to make a customer take his or her business elsewhere. For small businesses who want to keep customers coming back time and time again, it's important to consider best practices to keep your customers coming back.

In 2016, mobile use moved ahead of desktop browsing and it has increased with every passing year.  Additionally, Google has begun rolling out it’s “Mobile First Index” which ranks each website based on its mobile experience, instead of the desktop experience.  Thus, it should come as no surprise then that the web design trends in 2018 are geared towards creating a better experience for mobile users.  In this post we will outline three emerging trends in web design and how they help improve customer experiences, especially for mobile users.

Last month we discussed the difference between popular and profitable keywords.  Today, we want to propose a general rule of thumb that will help keep your different keyword strategies scalable: