Igniting Business Blog

We are excited to introduce Andres Ospino as our newest team member at Igniting Business.  Andres will be joining our team as our Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Manager. 

In many respects the world wide web has been a major game changer for small businesses. The web has opened up a company's door to a 24/7, world-wide audience. Customers can reach businesses anytime, anywhere with the simple touch of a finger or voice command. When it comes to competition between businesses; however, some companies are still clinging to a "If you build it, they will come" strategy. This philosophy ignores the fact that companies are competing for business, especially online. In this post, we will discuss the concept of SEO competitor analysis.

Recently, Instagram released its shopping feature to a general audience, including users in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Spain, and more. The feature gives approved businesses the ability to tag products in a post. Users can then view product details and make purchases through Shopping on Instagram without ever leaving the mobile app.

Numerous industry and market-focused blogs exist across the web. These websites are packed full of resources, and quality blogs often come with a devoted following of readers. Guest posting on key blogs allows you to reach new audiences with your content, and it's an authentic form of outreach. By providing targeted posts to informational sites and blogs in your industry, you build a credible backlink profile and exposure to your brand. Each publication is an opportunity to educate a new set of readers. It creates brand awareness and showcases your professionalism as a business.

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.

If your small business is on social media, you're likely there to grow your customer base, audience, and following. Unfortunately, we can make very basic mistakes that will get fewer people to follow us, and may even drive away some users who had already chosen to follow you. Avoid these three practices on your social media platforms.

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.

YouTube's global reach is far and wide, with users spending a billion hours consuming video content. Average people can gain celebrity fame and there are videos suited for everyone's needs, so this platform will surely continue growth throughout the year. Video marketing has become popular among businesses, with companies publishing on average 18 videos a month and even more video content and media reserved in their library. Now that videos are a marketing staple, like other social platforms, your small business can grow its audience by capitalizing on trends. Keep an eye on and adopt these in the rest of 2018 and onward:

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.