Idea Marketing Group
Contact Us Discuss a Project

Blog (page 10)

Web design and marketing tips, as well as a behind the scenes look into Idea Marketing Group. You are currently viewing page 10 of our blog articles.

Is Facebook Dead for Small to Medium-Size Businesses?

“Is it even worth it to maintain a Facebook page for my business?” is a question we’ve heard on more than one occasion from our clients. The answer, while complicated, is still a resounding yes! Any small to medium-size business owner who has marketed their products or services through Facebook in the past five years can tell you in great detail about their love/hate relationship with the world’s most popular social media network. In the beginning, businesses were free to market to all of their customers who followed their Facebook page with little concern for how many people they were...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

WordPress vs Squarespace

It seems that every time I turn on a Podcast, I’m always hearing an advertisement for Squarespace. It makes me uneasy hearing “Squarespace You Should,” because sometimes…you just shouldn’t. Squarespace is just another website builder, like Webby and Wix, that sells a template you can use as long as you keep up with the monthly payment. Many of these template companies lock you into specific themes and layouts that can make it impossible for your business to grow, unless you spend even more money. But, many people don’t see the negatives of using a theme until they have already invested...

Haley Langer

haley 2021

When Is It Time to Redesign Your Website?

When was the last time your business’ website was redesigned? If it’s been more than a few years, now is definitely the time. Google announced in late 2015 that more than half of all Internet searches now are conducted on mobile devices. Along with that news, Google also revealed that to provide the best user experience possible, they would start to limit search results for websites that are not mobile friendly. What does that mean for small to mid-size businesses with outdated websites that don’t provide a mobile-friendly user experience? It means your website will be pushed further and further...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

How Is Your Hashtag Game? Check Out This Guide to Getting it Right

Hashtags. We’ve all heard of them. In a world that seems to be dominated by social media, it’s hard not to know the term. You probably see them everywhere. Twitter, Instagram, even Facebook. But, do you actually know what they are used for? And more importantly, do you know how to use them yourself? What Is a Hashtag? The best way to explain what a hashtag is to go to the place that started it all. While hashtags are now used on pretty much every social media platform (to varying degrees of success), they originated in 2007 on Twitter. According...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

Instagram Announces Newsfeed Changes, But Users Push Back

A recent announcement that Instagram is considering switching its newsfeed to a more Facebook-like algorithmic user experience has been met with plenty of resistance from users of the photo-sharing application. In a blog post, Instagram said users miss up to 70 percent of the posts made by the accounts they follow. To remedy that, the company said it’s likely the new and improved newsfeed will be organized to “show the moments we believe you will care about the most.” Like Facebook, the order of posts in a user’s feed will be based on whether users are likely to be interested...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

How to Market My Small Business

Marketing is a common need for all small business, yet many do not understand what managed monthly marketing services can do for their business. Instead, many stick to non-paid forms of advertising to keep costs down, yet the results can be non-existent. Others rely strictly on word-of-mouth which can be effective for all business, but even that has limitations. Does your company have an annual marketing budget? If so, does it cover current digital marketing areas like social media, search engine marketing, or content marketing? I would like to take some time to help explain what these services are and...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

Writing and Publishing Your First WordPress Blog Post

Congratulations! Your new WordPress website has been launched! Hopefully we designed it because our websites look pretty awesome and perform really well. If not, it’s ok, we’re just happy you found us and hope you consider us on the next go-around. So, you know that you’ve been advised to blog. You’ve heard that blogging is good for SEO, good for PR, and good for business. So, you have this fancy new website and you’re thinking “Great! I’ll start blogging.” Then you realize you have blogger-block (a digital form of writer’s block) and it dawns on you, “What the heck do...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

Why WordPress Wins As The Best Marketing Website Platform

We Think You’ll Be Much Happier With a WordPress Website. The software available to manage a web presence currently is truly a modern marvel of technology and digital engineering. And although there are a vast number of solutions out there to manage web content, we use only one — WordPress. Idea Marketing Group is a WordPress shop. Meaning, all of the websites that we build and help manage are built using the WordPress platform. WordPress is by far the most popular website platform in use today with over 74.6 million websites depending on it. (source) That is an impressive number and...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

How Can I Improve My Search Engine Ranking?

We often hear the question, “How can I improve our search engine rankings for phrases like…?” Don’t worry, we get it. More high ranking phrases can lead to more traffic, but that content needs to first exist somewhere on your website while providing value to your visitors. It should not just be there to be there. Plus, search engines are smart enough to know when things seem out of place. Here are some tips on what can be done to boost rankings. Getting found in other service areas Plain and simple, people search more for what is nearby. Your business...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

4 Tips For Posting on Twitter

Whenever you are tweeting, keep these four simple but exceptional tips for posting on Twitter in mind. Enjoy! 1. Add a Visual Element A picture is worth a thousand words and in this scenario, that is exactly what a Twitter image is providing. With 140 characters, adding an infographic or a fun image related to the topic at hand can help draw in your audience and describe the message you are trying to get across. There is a vast amount of clutter that acts as a downfall for all social media mediums. As most Twitter users know, our feeds are constantly loaded...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

6 Free Tools To Help With Marketing Your Website

I love things that provide me new insight and show me new perspectives. I love tools that make my job easier. And, I love free things. I try a lot of new tools and toys for social media scheduling, website analytics, and distribution assistance. There is nothing better than a free trial that allows individuals to try out a cool new tool and see if it works. More than a marketing pitch, the free trial is a way to allow the company to show off their product and lure in new customers just by letting them try it. Sometimes this...

Darren Fox

darren 2021

E-mail Marketing Best Practices: Tips To Get Your Email Campaigns Opened Without Being Annoying

When we take on a new marketing client, we usually take over their email campaigning. We set them up with a Mailchimp account and import their existing email list. Since we don’t have a lot of history on the existing list, we want to make sure our first email campaign is exciting, engaging and stands out. If not, this is the sink or swim moment where users will unsubscribe, report the campaign as spam (hopefully not) or just ignore us. We have compiled a list of tips to consider that should help get your email campaigns opened and read by...

Darren Fox

darren 2021
Read More from Idea Marketing Group

Do you have a question about branding, web design or digital marketing? We are a helpful bunch, feel free to ask us anything. We have decades of experience in web development and marketing strategy.

Give Us a Call (312) 910-8402 Discuss a Project

© 2024 Idea Marketing Group, Inc. ‐ Accessibility – Privacy Policy ‐ Terms & Conditions ‐ Employment ‐ Site Map

We’re a marketing agency known for custom web design. Recognized by Clutch as a top Chicago Web Design Company. Top Web Design Agency For Manufacturers.