Engineers from Mercedes and Ferrari say the limited practice time afforded by F1’s sprint format was a contributing factor in the costly setup mistakes they made at the U.S. Grand Prix.
The post Merc and Ferrari explain mistakes that led to DSQs appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.
We all know the foundation of e-commerce SEO is keyword research.
Over half of shoppers surveyed in a global retail study say they use Google to research purchases they plan to make online.
This is why SEO is your golden ticket to increasing organic visibility.
How?
Think about it: Before you create your site’s content, you need to know what terms your audience is using to search for products like yours.
How will you solve their problems without knowing the keywords behind their search intent?
You have to build your content with search engines and your users in mind.
The sooner you understand how SEO is changing and adapt your strategies, the sooner you’ll see ROI from e-commerce SEO.
Isn’t it impressive how far SEO has progressed?
Jump on the SEO train with me and I’ll show you why it’s important.
You’re trying to get new customers to have all eyes on you.
You can’t win their attention if search engines can’t easily find you.
Your site is basically the secret menu at Starbucks if you don’t invest in keyword research.
That’s why it should be the critical first step in your e-commerce SEO campaign.
One of two things will happen if you don’t get SEO for e-commerce right:
However, getting your potential customers’ attention can be expensive.
For example, the average cost per click for the apparel industry is about 89 cents. The average cost per action is right below $10 when you break down WordStream’s results. Cost per action is a pricing model where payment is contingent on a qualified specific action, like a sale or submitted form.
While cost per click generates fast, profitable sales, you could spend thousands reeling in new customers.
By using SEO for e-commerce, you’re gaining free organic traffic by getting your site to show up in the SERPs.
But there are some missteps you should avoid if you want to see success.
What are the user’s needs?
If you keep this question top of mind, you should have a solid e-commerce SEO campaign.
Here is a list of at least three e-commerce SEO mistakes I don’t want you to make:
There are many more benefits to SEO for e-commerce—and mistakes to avoid. I’ve got some examples of e-commerce SEO in action to serve as inspiration for you.
Some people say SEO is dead.
Well, I say they’re wrong.
No matter which side of the fence you’re on, you can’t deny the benefits SEO has on e-commerce.
Especially now with social e-commerce, there is big money to be made. Researchers see a trend in e-sales that will go beyond $1.3 trillion by 2025.
SEO for e-commerce done right drives relevant traffic to your social channels and website without spending big on paid ads.
Once you see those qualified leads come in, make sure your strategy is in place to convert them.
We chose these three examples to focus on because:
I’d like to show and tell you who’s crushing e-commerce SEO right now. We chose these three examples because:
All of these factors are extremely important to help with boosting rankings. Our research shows that show when sites implement SEO strategy and optimized copy, they see a larger keyword universe and higher domain authority. Combine these together and you get high organic traffic numbers.
Let’s take a closer look.
Etsy is a global online marketplace where brands can buy, sell, trade, and collect one-of-a-kind products. It’s a marketplace where you’ll likely find your new favorite handcrafted items from independent artists and designers.
This is a great environment for a brand to win at e-commerce SEO.
Etsy is making strong strides in SEO marketing right now.
In May 2022, Etsy ranked for over 14 million keywords in position one through ten, including nearly 5.5 million of those in the top three positions.
Etsy’s main navigation is intuitive and easy to use. There’s a banner with season-specific, popular items for the summer as well as popular gifts people are purchasing.
Businesses gain brand visibility thanks to how content is laid out over the site. There’s a strong emphasis on discovery. Etsy leans a lot on “keywords by intent,” especially via blog mentions. Their most trafficked blog article features the best Etsy shops, which nets 1,061 visitors and $462 in revenue.
Overall, 61.1% of Etsy’s keywords are informational and 29.9% are transactional. A whopping 87.4% of keywords owned are non-branded. This shows us what users want to know about the brands within Etsy. How they’re educated as an audience matters during their buyer’s journey.
I’d also like to mention a lot of Etsy’s success comes from stellar Core Web Vitals. This is a huge ranking factor in this mobile-first index ranking world. The faster people see their shopping interests during their user experience, the better.
Etsy gets this right all while supporting the shops that rely on them for a degree of brand visibility.
Overstock is an online retailer that sells home goods at low prices.
Like Etsy, Overstock has great Core Web Vitals, so user experience with their online database is sharp. They are a tech-driven company, so that’s to be expected.
Based on what users are looking for, they win a lot of traffic for non-branded keywords (83.2%) vs. branded keywords (16.8%). Overstock is capturing users searching for queries that are not associated with their brand. Meaning, they are catching a lot of users looking for a solution their site can solve.
It makes sense why much of the site’s keyword intent funnels in through informational search queries (47% in May 2022). The data shows customers want to be informed before they make their purchases.
Transactional searches are almost equally as high (42% in May 2022). Think of a popular search like “patio furniture.” The products Overstock offers are essentially what users are searching for.
SEO for e-commerce serves Overstock well by targeting keywords users are looking for, even if it’s not branded. They have mastered aligning keywords with users’ search intent, allowing them to see results with strong performing non-branded terms.
Lulus is a fashion brand with an affordable luxury feel.
They recently upped their Core Web Vitals, helping them rank higher and garner more organic on-page sessions. That’s just one of the ways they’ve upped their game.
Let’s look at how they’re crushing SEO for e-commerce to get these results.
One thing I noticed on this Lulus dresses page is the copy.
Well, what makes their copy stand out?
I know it sounds simple, but if you’re searching for a cocktail dress for a company Christmas party, Lulus points you in the right direction on their site.
You’ve got the keywords and directions for your users. Now, they’re bound to trust you and follow through with their cart.
It goes the same way with backlinks. Lulus’ backlinks profile speaks for itself, with well over 19 million referring domains.
Follow links make up 80% of Lulus’ backlinks, signaling to search engines that the site is trustworthy.
Selling amazing products is one thing. Having outside sources vouch for your brand online makes you look even more credible. Think of the SERPs as one big popularity contest, and having other people vouch for you is a big help.
The traffic will come to you as potential leads to convert. They will make secure purchases knowing you have what they need, and they’ll come back to shop for other items they need in the future.
Whether they’re from fashion blogs or influencers, backlinks are e-commerce SEO gold.
This is how Lulus did it.
That’s what SEO for e-commerce does for a brand. It shows your customers you are their solution.
SEO for e-commerce is a game changer, so spend some time on it.
To play the game right means appearing high on the first page of search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo for terms your potential consumers use.
If you know how your audience makes decisions, you can create content that guides them through their purchasing journey.
Yes, having high-quality content and copy matters. It won’t convert to users if your keywords don’t have high-quality search intent, though.
Strategic internal linking—linking to other URLs on the same site—and optimizing product and category pages are some of the hardest parts of e-commerce SEO. However, they’re definitely on my list of e-commerce SEO best practices.
That’s why I’m here. To give you SEO tips that work for you.
Search engines like Google mostly focus on providing users with a valuable experience.
Your website needs to make usability its top priority.
That’s my golden rule for SEO.
If your user experience is convenient and intuitive, your customers will respect and trust you.
It’s like what’s good for your users is good for Google—so satisfying both go hand in hand.
If users spend more time on your site and don’t navigate back to previous search results, Google takes this as a badge of honor.
Links are what propel you to the top of the search results page, so people who like your website and what it offers are far more likely to link to it.
Put e-commerce SEO at the forefront of your marketing campaign and see how catering to your audience’s needs leads to increased traffic.
Have you found mistakes with your e-commerce SEO strategy? How could you tell you were underperforming? Let me know and I can help you fix it.
The post Examples of E-commerce SEO Done Right (and Mistakes To Avoid) appeared first on #1 SEO FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.
The post Examples of E-commerce SEO Done Right (and Mistakes To Avoid) appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.
We all know the foundation of e-commerce SEO is keyword research.
Over half of shoppers surveyed in a global retail study say they use Google to research purchases they plan to make online.
This is why SEO is your golden ticket to increasing organic visibility.
How?
Think about it: Before you create your site’s content, you need to know what terms your audience is using to search for products like yours.
How will you solve their problems without knowing the keywords behind their search intent?
You have to build your content with search engines and your users in mind.
The sooner you understand how SEO is changing and adapt your strategies, the sooner you’ll see ROI from e-commerce SEO.
Isn’t it impressive how far SEO has progressed?
Jump on the SEO train with me and I’ll show you why it’s important.
You’re trying to get new customers to have all eyes on you.
You can’t win their attention if search engines can’t easily find you.
Your site is basically the secret menu at Starbucks if you don’t invest in keyword research.
That’s why it should be the critical first step in your e-commerce SEO campaign.
One of two things will happen if you don’t get SEO for e-commerce right:
However, getting your potential customers’ attention can be expensive.
For example, the average cost per click for the apparel industry is about 89 cents. The average cost per action is right below $10 when you break down WordStream’s results. Cost per action is a pricing model where payment is contingent on a qualified specific action, like a sale or submitted form.
While cost per click generates fast, profitable sales, you could spend thousands reeling in new customers.
By using SEO for e-commerce, you’re gaining free organic traffic by getting your site to show up in the SERPs.
But there are some missteps you should avoid if you want to see success.
What are the user’s needs?
If you keep this question top of mind, you should have a solid e-commerce SEO campaign.
Here is a list of at least three e-commerce SEO mistakes I don’t want you to make:
There are many more benefits to SEO for e-commerce—and mistakes to avoid. I’ve got some examples of e-commerce SEO in action to serve as inspiration for you.
Some people say SEO is dead.
Well, I say they’re wrong.
No matter which side of the fence you’re on, you can’t deny the benefits SEO has on e-commerce.
Especially now with social e-commerce, there is big money to be made. Researchers see a trend in e-sales that will go beyond $1.3 trillion by 2025.
SEO for e-commerce done right drives relevant traffic to your social channels and website without spending big on paid ads.
Once you see those qualified leads come in, make sure your strategy is in place to convert them.
We chose these three examples to focus on because:
I’d like to show and tell you who’s crushing e-commerce SEO right now. We chose these three examples because:
All of these factors are extremely important to help with boosting rankings. Our research shows that show when sites implement SEO strategy and optimized copy, they see a larger keyword universe and higher domain authority. Combine these together and you get high organic traffic numbers.
Let’s take a closer look.
Etsy is a global online marketplace where brands can buy, sell, trade, and collect one-of-a-kind products. It’s a marketplace where you’ll likely find your new favorite handcrafted items from independent artists and designers.
This is a great environment for a brand to win at e-commerce SEO.
Etsy is making strong strides in SEO marketing right now.
In May 2022, Etsy ranked for over 14 million keywords in position one through ten, including nearly 5.5 million of those in the top three positions.
Etsy’s main navigation is intuitive and easy to use. There’s a banner with season-specific, popular items for the summer as well as popular gifts people are purchasing.
Businesses gain brand visibility thanks to how content is laid out over the site. There’s a strong emphasis on discovery. Etsy leans a lot on “keywords by intent,” especially via blog mentions. Their most trafficked blog article features the best Etsy shops, which nets 1,061 visitors and $462 in revenue.
Overall, 61.1% of Etsy’s keywords are informational and 29.9% are transactional. A whopping 87.4% of keywords owned are non-branded. This shows us what users want to know about the brands within Etsy. How they’re educated as an audience matters during their buyer’s journey.
I’d also like to mention a lot of Etsy’s success comes from stellar Core Web Vitals. This is a huge ranking factor in this mobile-first index ranking world. The faster people see their shopping interests during their user experience, the better.
Etsy gets this right all while supporting the shops that rely on them for a degree of brand visibility.
Overstock is an online retailer that sells home goods at low prices.
Like Etsy, Overstock has great Core Web Vitals, so user experience with their online database is sharp. They are a tech-driven company, so that’s to be expected.
Based on what users are looking for, they win a lot of traffic for non-branded keywords (83.2%) vs. branded keywords (16.8%). Overstock is capturing users searching for queries that are not associated with their brand. Meaning, they are catching a lot of users looking for a solution their site can solve.
It makes sense why much of the site’s keyword intent funnels in through informational search queries (47% in May 2022). The data shows customers want to be informed before they make their purchases.
Transactional searches are almost equally as high (42% in May 2022). Think of a popular search like “patio furniture.” The products Overstock offers are essentially what users are searching for.
SEO for e-commerce serves Overstock well by targeting keywords users are looking for, even if it’s not branded. They have mastered aligning keywords with users’ search intent, allowing them to see results with strong performing non-branded terms.
Lulus is a fashion brand with an affordable luxury feel.
They recently upped their Core Web Vitals, helping them rank higher and garner more organic on-page sessions. That’s just one of the ways they’ve upped their game.
Let’s look at how they’re crushing SEO for e-commerce to get these results.
One thing I noticed on this Lulus dresses page is the copy.
Well, what makes their copy stand out?
I know it sounds simple, but if you’re searching for a cocktail dress for a company Christmas party, Lulus points you in the right direction on their site.
You’ve got the keywords and directions for your users. Now, they’re bound to trust you and follow through with their cart.
It goes the same way with backlinks. Lulus’ backlinks profile speaks for itself, with well over 19 million referring domains.
Follow links make up 80% of Lulus’ backlinks, signaling to search engines that the site is trustworthy.
Selling amazing products is one thing. Having outside sources vouch for your brand online makes you look even more credible. Think of the SERPs as one big popularity contest, and having other people vouch for you is a big help.
The traffic will come to you as potential leads to convert. They will make secure purchases knowing you have what they need, and they’ll come back to shop for other items they need in the future.
Whether they’re from fashion blogs or influencers, backlinks are e-commerce SEO gold.
This is how Lulus did it.
That’s what SEO for e-commerce does for a brand. It shows your customers you are their solution.
SEO for e-commerce is a game changer, so spend some time on it.
To play the game right means appearing high on the first page of search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo for terms your potential consumers use.
If you know how your audience makes decisions, you can create content that guides them through their purchasing journey.
Yes, having high-quality content and copy matters. It won’t convert to users if your keywords don’t have high-quality search intent, though.
Strategic internal linking—linking to other URLs on the same site—and optimizing product and category pages are some of the hardest parts of e-commerce SEO. However, they’re definitely on my list of e-commerce SEO best practices.
That’s why I’m here. To give you SEO tips that work for you.
Search engines like Google mostly focus on providing users with a valuable experience.
Your website needs to make usability its top priority.
That’s my golden rule for SEO.
If your user experience is convenient and intuitive, your customers will respect and trust you.
It’s like what’s good for your users is good for Google—so satisfying both go hand in hand.
If users spend more time on your site and don’t navigate back to previous search results, Google takes this as a badge of honor.
Links are what propel you to the top of the search results page, so people who like your website and what it offers are far more likely to link to it.
Put e-commerce SEO at the forefront of your marketing campaign and see how catering to your audience’s needs leads to increased traffic.
Have you found mistakes with your e-commerce SEO strategy? How could you tell you were underperforming? Let me know and I can help you fix it.
Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, says the web is for everyone. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Poor design decisions can present barriers for many different groups of people. In fact, research by WebAIM finds that across one million homepages, there were over 50,000,000 “distinct accessibility errors” at an average of … Continue reading Common UX Accessibility Mistakes Found on Websites
Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, says the web is for everyone. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Poor design decisions can present barriers for many different groups of people. In fact, research by WebAIM finds that across one million homepages, there were over 50,000,000 “distinct accessibility errors” at an average of just over 50 per page.
These errors don’t just make people feel marginalized; they stop hundreds of thousands of people from interacting with your brand or buying your product.
Few webmasters want to purposefully marginalize people or limit access to their site. That’s why it’s so important to understand the most common web accessibility issues and learn how to resolve them with clean design.
Let’s get started.
Because the internet has become an essential part of the day-to-day lives of more than a billion people, site owners must take steps to make sure everyone can access it equally. It’s not just a matter of human rights, however. There is an obvious financial case for making your site accessible. Given that 61 million people in the United States have some form of disability, an inaccessible site could be harming your bottom line. Make your site accessible, and you potentially open the door to thousands of more customers.
Complying with UX accessibility design trends can bolster your company’s reputation. Making an effort to cater to a particular group of disadvantaged users proves your company cares about all of its customers. This added step may encourage potential customers to do more business with your brand going forward.
There’s also the small matter of legal compliance. While there’s debate about whether the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act includes websites as well as physical stores, that hasn’t stopped thousands of lawsuits getting filed with federal courts each year. You may not be punished for a lack of ADA website compliance, but the threat of legal action is clear.
Ultimately, designing with UX accessibility doesn’t just improve the browsing experience for users with disabilities; it improves the user experience for everyone. Even users with perfect vision benefit from a better color contrast and more labels — and your SEO certainly benefits from things like added alt text and better link descriptions.
Making your website more accessible is as much about avoiding common issues as it is about integrating new technology. Avoid the following seven mistakes, and you’ll go a long way to making your site more accessible than your competitors.
Alt text is an HTML attribute that describes what an image represents. From an accessibility perspective, alt text provides information for screen readers to accurately describe images to visually-impaired users. If you don’t provide alt text or your alt text isn’t very descriptive, then you aren’t making your site’s images available to everyone.
There’s a difference between empty alt text and missing alt text. Sometimes images can be for purely decorative purposes. Where this is the case, an empty alt tag can be used, which appears as alt=””. This is ignored by screen readers and doesn’t impact usability.
Often, alt text isn’t empty but missing completely. When a screen reader comes across a missing alt attribute, it will assume that the image is important and inject the file name. For images like graphs and infographics that are fundamental to a user’s understanding of a webpage, the file name won’t be sufficient. That’s why it’s essential to create alt text for all of your images.
Have you ever tried to read a white font on a yellow background? Not easy, is it? But that could be how many users feel every time they visit your site. The truth is some people struggle to read text unless the color contrast between the font and the background is very stark. It’s why black font on a white background is such a popular choice.
The easiest way to improve color contrast is to avoid using similar colors for backgrounds and text. That means no orange font on a red background. Or green text on a blue background. Pay particular attention to design features like your website’s header or the submit button on forms, too. These features tend to incorporate brand colors and are more likely to cause contrast issues.
Alternatively, you can use a tool like the Contrast Checker from WebAIM to quantify your contrast ratio. The higher your ratio, the better the contrast and the more readable your website will be. The tool will tell you whether your colors pass or fail. As a rule, text and background colors should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 for large text and at least 4:1 for normal-sized text.
As you can see from the images below, dark blue text on a white background has a great contrast ratio.
But yellow text on a white background has a terrible contrast ratio.
Links are a vital part of a web page, both from a user experience perspective and for SEO. But you need to accurately describe them using link text to make them effective.
While those versed in SEO might never dream of missing a chance to add a keyword in an internal link, missing link text is surprisingly common. Logos, buttons, and icons are all guilty of having no text, which means screen readers will ignore them. That’s not great if you want users to click your CTA button.
Vague or ambiguous link text is also an issue. Not only does a phrase like “click here” offer no SEO value, but it can also hamper users accessing your site via a screen reader. Including the entire http:// link without any anchor text whatsoever is even worse. Neither version contains the information these users need.
Instead, make sure the clickable text describes exactly what the user can find on the next page. In the example below, for instance, you know that by clicking the link, you’ll be directed to a page where you can get a 14-day free trial of Shopify.
Then there are navigation links. These can also create problems for screen readers if they are poorly coded. That’s because screen readers will not skip over them, meaning users will have to listen to your navigation menu every time they open a new page. Solve this by assigning ARIA roles to your navigation menus to indicate their purpose. This will help screen readers to avoid them where necessary.
I’m almost certain your website has at least one form on it, even if it’s only on your contact page. But does every field have a label telling users what information they need to input? If not, your forms aren’t accessible to everyone.
Just like with link text, form input fields need a label so screen readers and other accessibility devices can understand them and help users navigate them. A label isn’t just the placeholder text you can see in the form field, though. You also need to add a description in the form’s code. That’s because placeholder text is usually ignored by screen readers. It also doesn’t help that placeholder text usually lacks a strong color contrast.
Ideally, you’ll have a visible label inside a <label> element so everyone (users, screen readers, bots) can understand what’s meant to go in each field.
Tables are something of a nightmare for screen readers and other accessibility devices. When screen readers come across a table, they tell the user that there is a table with a given amount of columns and rows and then proceed to list out all of the data. Unfortunately, that data may not be read in the correct order. Worse still, screen readers can’t read out tables where there is more than one set of row or column headers.
In truth, the best way to make tables accessible is to not have them at all. Of course, that’s not going to work for some websites. So, where tables are required, you need to make them as simple as possible and use the correct markup. ID, HEADERS, and SCOPE attributes should be used to correctly label each part of your table. You can also use table captions to provide additional information to users about how to best understand your table.
Another alternative is presenting your data as an image file, with appropriate alt text listing out the data. However, for complex tables, that may not be feasible.
Not everyone is going to use a mouse to navigate your website. Many visually-impaired people will use a keyboard or another accessibility device to move around your website. And that means you need to pay special attention when designing and creating the layout of your site.
Specifically, users must be able to navigate your website using the space bar and tab key. Simple sites built in semantically correct HTML may make this possible without any adjustment, but more complicated websites will need to code in digital landmarks that better allow keyboard users and screen readers to move about.
Adding skip-to-content links at the top of each page can also save your users from having to tab through every menu item every time they open a new page. These buttons, which appear when you push the tab key, allow users to navigate the site using the tab and spacebar keys to skip the navigation and head straight to the main content of the page.
It’s easy to forget about non-HTML elements when optimizing your site for accessibility. But content like PDFs and Word documents can also be an issue. Out of the box, users cannot customize these documents to make them easier to read nor do they work well with assistive technologies. Accessibility issues are even worse when documents are produced as image-only PDFs.
One solution is to solve navigation mistakes by tagging these resources for navigation by screen readers. Another is to use Office’s built-in Accessibility Checker to improve the accessibility of these documents when you create them.
Interactive content like sliders, accordions, and drag-and-drop widgets can also affect accessibility. So, too, can dynamic content like pop-up boxes and confirmation messages. If the screen reader can’t understand when these pieces of content are loading, it won’t be able to tell users about them.
Once again, you can use ARIA attributes to resolve this issue. Tagging these interactive and dynamic elements with the correct ARIA attribute will notify screen readers that the page’s content has changed. Alternatively, you can design your site in a way that avoids the need for pop-ups and other forms of dynamic content. Static websites may not look as flashy, but they are much more accessible.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are built upon the four principles of POUR: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
If your site is ADA-compliant, then it meets the recommendations set out in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and is accessible to someone with a disability.
You can make your website more accessible by improving color contrast, adding alt text, or adding keyboard accessibility for screen readers.
Allowing users to navigate your website using a keyboard instead of a mouse is an example of website accessibility. So is adding alt text to every image on your website.
Unfortunately, even the best designers and web entrepreneurs can create inaccessible websites. It’s why it’s so important to keep referring back to these mistakes whenever you build a website or create a new piece of content.
It’s more effort to include alt text on all images, add markup data to tables and improve the quality of your link text, but millions of users will thank you for it.
But don’t stop there. Next, learn how to create inclusive content and improve the overall user experience of your website.
What UX accessibility mistakes are you going to correct first?
Lenders pull business credit reports and scores from a business credit bureau. However, not every business has a business credit report at all, let alone a credit score. Business credit, in stark contrast to consumer credit, does not start building automatically.
With consumer credit, as soon as you use your first credit card you have a credit report. If you continue to use credit responsibly, that report will include a strong credit score. The same is not true of business credit, and that leads us to mistake number one.
Just owning a business does not ensure you have a business credit profile. There are some things you have to be intentional about to ensure this happens. The first step is setting up your business with a Fundable foundation to ensure that it is recognized as a separate entity from you as the owner. This has to be done before you can even get credit in the name of your business.
Then, a business credit profile can be established with the bureaus.
In addition to a D-U-N-S number, you need to be sure your business has:
This list is not exclusive, but it is a great start. Additionally, you’ll need to be incorporated. Operating as a sole proprietorship or partnership does not help you get set up with any business credit bureau.
If your business is not set up to be Fundable, the information on the credit report may not be accurate. Furthermore, if your business is not set up to be a separate entity from you the owner, payment experiences may not go to business credit bureaus at all.
There are many business credit bureaus. The three main ones are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. Among the others, FICO SBSS is gaining popularity. Not all of them function the same way when it comes to setting up a profile with them either. It’s different for each one.
Many of them don’t really require anything from you. But, you still have to have your business set up properly. Then, when your creditors report payments, they are reflected accurately.
D&B is the oldest and largest credit reporting agency. Go to D&B’s website and look for your business. Don’t see it? It’s probably because you do not yet have a D-U-N-S number. You MUST apply for a D-U-N-S number from them. If you do not have one and your creditors report payments, your business will not be recognized in the D&B system regardless of how your business is set up. This number is how D&B gets your company into their system. You can get one for free.
Once you have a D-U-N-S number, you’ll need at least 3 payment experiences before they assign a PAYDEX score. A payment experience is just a reported purchase from a business, which reports to a credit reporting agency.
Experian will assign your business an identification number called a BIN after you have a payment experience reported to them. Just be sure your business is set up to be Fundable. Then when you have business creditors that report to them, your business will be in the system.
Equifax assigns companies an Equifax ID. It doesn’t appear that you will need to sign up for or request one.
Suppose you have been in business for a while. Maybe you are just now figuring out what business credit is. Maybe you thought you had credit in the name of your business, when actually what you have is business funding that you got based on your personal credit.
Where do you start if this is the case?First, look for your business credit profile from each of the main credit reporting agencies, starting with D&B. Of course, if you do not have a D-U-N-S number you will not be in their system.It is POSSIBLE that you may be in the Experian or Equifax system. but you’ll want to check your information closely and request corrections to any mistakes.
The next question is, how do you do this? You can go through the business credit bureaus directly, but it can be costly. Credit Suite offers business credit monitoring with all three of the most commonly used business credit reporting agencies, for a fraction of the cost.
Once you see your reports, or lack thereof, you can be proactive in either correcting errors or establishing initial reports. What sort of errors are you looking for? In addition to payment experiences being reported incorrectly, you need to look at your actual business information.
Make sure your business contact information is up-to-date and accurate. If you already have an EIN, ensure that it is attached to your business and is correct. One big issue a lot of small business owners run into is inconsistency in the name of the business.
Something as small as using an ampersand in one place and the word “and” in other places can cause big problems. Ensuring your business name is correct and consistent everywhere, including on your business credit reports, is crucial also.
This score is becoming increasingly common. It stands for FICO Liquid Credit Small Business Scoring Service. Unlike your personal FICO, the SBSS reports on a scale of 0 to 300. The higher the score the better. In general, most lenders demand a score of at least 160.
The thing is, you don’t really “set up” your business with FICO SBSS. The scoring model for this score is very different from other business credit scoring models. However, that does not mean you are helpless.
The score itself isn’t readily accessible. The formula for calculations is proprietary, and they guard it well. The information is not public. Of course, this means you can go into a lender totally blind as to what your FICO SBSS credit score may be.
With other credit reports from business credit reporting agencies, you can actually get a copy of your credit report and know where you stand. In contrast, the FICO SBSS can be different from lender to lender.
After you fill out a loan application and turn it in with all necessary documents, the lender processes this information and sends it to FICO with a request for your SBSS score. At this time, the lender can ask for certain factors in the score to carry more weight than others. Your score can vary depending on how a lender weighs each factor .
A score variation can happen if a lender puts more weight on your personal credit score or your business credit. Similarly, they could choose to weigh annual revenue as more important than payment history. It is their choice.
FICO then searches business credit information from business credit agencies including D&B, Experian, and Equifax. As a result, your score with these bureaus affects your FICO SBSS.
Even though there is no real way to set up your business with FICO SBSS, you can definitely work to affect the score. Establish your business with the other business credit bureaus. Keep your personal and business credit in good order. Then, if a lender chooses to use that score, regardless of how much weight they put on each factor, you should be good.
You aren’t powerless. The great thing about business credit is that it does not just carry you off before you know what is happening. In contrast, you have to intentionally jump in. The first step is to set you business up to be Fundable. Then, get a D-U-N-S number. After that, find accounts that report and get started building your business credit score. Check out our business credit builder for a step-by-step guide to building the strongest business credit score possible for your business.
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The Ringer’s Bill Simmons talks about his involvement in the HBO documentary series ‘Music Box’ (1:55) before chatting with The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson about the 12-2 Golden State Warriors, the production from young players like Jonathan Kuminga and Jordan Poole, the rejuvenation of Andre Iguodala, Andrew Wiggins, the much-anticipated return of Klay Thompson, and more (14:40). Then BiIl is joined by The Ringer’s Danny Kelly and NFL Network’s Peter Schrager to revisit the top 15 picks from the 2021 NFL draft (51:25) before Peter and Bill make their Million-Dollar Picks for NFL Week 11 (1:42:30).
Host: Bill Simmons
Guests: Marcus Thompson, Peter Schrager, and Danny Kelly
Producer: Kyle Crichton
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Company Marketing Mistakes: 3 Biggest Marketing Mistakes Every Business Manager Makes
That hasn’t allow a typo slip by or misspelled the CEO’s name or published the incorrect telephone number someplace? Those advertising and marketing blunders do not necessitate a post. Simply one word of how-to-fix-it guidance is adequate: check!
Right here are a couple of more vital advertising and marketing blunders that almost every manager around makes, together with an advised solution that will certainly aid you bring in much more service as well as improve arise from your advertising, despite exactly how large or little your advertising and marketing budget plan is.
Error # 1: We believe that advertising is something we ‘do’.
Issue is, when you assume of advertising as something you ‘do’, you’re normally assuming regarding promotion, straight mail, leaflets, e-mail, advertisements and also promo. Advertising and marketing is a lot even more than just promo, as well as it’s seldom a fast solution.
The genuine repair is to broaden your meaning of advertising and marketing. Rather than thinking about it as something you ‘do’, think about advertising as anything that prevents the sale or aids or use your services or product. This consists of: your area, the mindsets of the individual that responds to the phone, your name, rates, plans, propositions, individuality as well as even more.
Prior to you compose an advertising word, do a ‘assistance or prevent’ checkup. Make a checklist of what’s aiding you draw in organization as well as what’s obtaining in the means. What ‘aids’ can you highlight or boost?
We are such large followers in our services that we can not wait to reveal it off. We exhale it all right into our advertising interactions. The trouble is, when you do that, your advertising and marketing is all regarding you.
The very first point it should do is attach to something potential customers care around if your advertising is going to obtain any type of action at all. Attach prior to you encourage. Attempt this four-step workout:
1. Define your solutions as well as items. Obtain the exhaust fumes out.
2. Recognize a couple of features or tourist attraction variables.
3. What is the advantage, the requirement or the desire, that is pleased by those qualities?
4. Why is that advantage crucial, directly, to the target market?
Happiness dishwashing fluid (descprition) has actual lemon (quality) that reduces oil as well as leaves recipes shinier (advantage). What a good representation on you! Link to what individuals desire.
A financial institution is a financial institution is a financial institution. Below’s the great information: the much more 2 companies look alike, the a lot more vital each distinction comes to be, as well as the even more effect also the smallest distinction will certainly have on establishing you apart.
The exact same is real for your organization. Your potential customers are looking for a factor of distinction (simply concerning anything )they can utilize to establish you apart from your competitors.
Service card, fax cover sheet, billing, phone welcoming, front door, house web page, and so on. Simply a little bit will certainly make a large distinction, due to the fact that your leads are looking for them.
In the meantime, attempt the Help or Hinder, Connect Before You Convince and also Find Your Points of Difference devices to make your advertising and marketing a lot more reliable and also significant. Beware, also, of impractical assumptions, malfunctioning research study, harmful bullet factors as well as absence of follow up– 4 various other typical advertising and marketing errors.
Those advertising blunders do not call for a write-up. Issue is, when you believe of advertising as something you ‘do’, you’re normally assuming concerning promotion, straight mail, leaflets, e-mail, advertisements as well as promo. Advertising and marketing is a lot even more than just promo, as well as it’s hardly ever a fast repair.
Rather of reasoning of it as something you ‘do’, assume of advertising as anything that impedes the sale or assists or usage of your item or solution. If your advertising is going to obtain any type of feedback at all, the very first point it need to do is attach to something potential customers care around.
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Mistakes happen. When under pressure, even more mistakes happen. If business owners have ever been under pressure, it’s now. COVID-19 has thrown the economy for a loop, and business owners can’t makes heads or tails of it. Before you do anything else, take a look at the relief options available, including the Paycheck Protection Plan. Then, consider these common mistakes business owners make in a recession, and how to avoid them.
A recession can be a hugely stressful time. Not only can finances be in shambles, but the stress can take a toll on many other things as well. During a recession it can seem that all is lost, but avoiding these common mistakes business owners make in a recession could help. It certainly won’t hurt.
Imagine you wake up tomorrow in the twilight zone, and it lands you right in the middle of recession land. You may be feeling the effects of the recession even now. Here is what not to do if you want to survive. Avoid these mistakes, and your business could just make it out alive.
While you definitely have to spend money to make money, it is necessary to be a little more careful during a recession. Spend money cautiously and only when the payoff is certain to avoid this and other common mistakes business owners make in a recession. That’s not to say that you can’t ever take a risk, but definitely don’t do it too quickly.
For example, if you have the opportunity to purchase inventory at a cut rate, it may seem the best idea is to purchase as much as you can. After all, if you sell it at the same price as before, you will still make a larger profit because the cost to you was less.
This is one of the common mistakes business owners make in a recession, because it makes sense when you are not in a recession. However, with people having less disposable income to spend, it is possible that that inventory will not move. Then, you are stuck with inventory you cannot sell, and a lot of it.
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Considering the financial hard times, take a minute to evaluate things. Why is there a cut rate on the inventory? Is the wholesale provider is having a hard time moving it? If that is the case, you may have the same problem. Pay attention to your customers and your current inventory. Do you see any downward trends?
There a few options here that may be more beneficial. First, consider not stocking up on the inventory at the reduced rate. Maybe buy a little more than normal, but focus instead on the option the reduced rate gives you to lower your own prices.
The better decision is to evaluate how the recession is affecting the industry and the markets around you. Then, make decisions about how much of the discount inventory to purchase based on that. From there, you can make a plan for how to make the most of the discount.
That may mean that you have a sale offering the cheaper inventory at a price below what your competitors are offering. Another option is to purchase enough to lower prices for the duration of the recession.
The only way to make these decisions however, is to have thorough market research. That may cost money as well, but it is a much better use of the funds than wasted inventory. It will take time, but the slowdown will definitely be worth it.
One of the most important parts of running a business is planning for the unexpected. This includes planning for a recession. That is one of the most common mistakes business owners make in a recession. They panic, and either forget their plan, or they realize they never had a plan.
The first way to avoid this mistake is, obviously, to make a plan. If you have a plan, now is the time to put it into action. Don’t panic. Take stock of your expenses and revenue. Adjust expenses accordingly as much as possible.
Keep a watch on the market to see how your particular industry is responding to the recession. Use what you learn to tweak your plan as necessary. The point is, if there is a plan, use it. If not, it’s never too late to avoid this one of the most common mistakes business owners make in a recession. Make a plan and put it into action.
You always need a safety net. Unfortunately, one of the common mistakes business owners make in a recession is not realizing this until they are in the middle of a recession. Technically, that is the mistake made before the recession.
The “in recession” mistake is actually not trying to do something about it. If you catch the problem soon enough, you may be able to take action. What type of “fail safe” do you need?
A credit card that is open can help you float until you find a more permanent fix for whatever woes the recession is causing you.
A line of credit works similar to a credit card in that it is a revolving line of credit, but it does not carry the same types of interest rates and terms that a credit card does.
Whether you get a credit card or a line of credit, it is important to remember to use it only to get you over a hump. It has to be paid back, and you need to be sure you can do that. These are tools that could be useful if you have customers that cannot pay invoices, or if you need to take advantage of a special deal like in the example above.
However, if you find you are continually using these “safety nets” to simply run the day to day operations of your business, you need to do more. You are going to have to find the leak and shore it up.
There are a few other options if you have already waited too long. For example, you can consider factoring your invoices. This will allow you to access cash immediately, often without a credit check. Also, you do not have to worry about paying the money back, as your lender will collect the payments on the invoices directly.
Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.
Be aware however, they will purchase them at a premium. You will not get the full value of the invoices, but if you need the cash fast, it may be worth it.
Another option is a merchant cash advance. If you accept credit card payments, a lender may advance you funds based on your average daily credit card sales. Then, they collect repayment from those future sales, typically daily.
It is easy during a recession to try to save money by cutting staff. While there may be a time for this, one common mistake business owners make in a recession is trying to save money by doing everything themselves.
That just is not always the answer. If you are trying to do the day to day operations as well as the bookkeeping, cleaning, advertising, and even purchasing yourself, you are going to burn out. Not only that, but things are going to start slipping through the cracks. Bills will be missed. Orders will not get entered. Invoices will not get sent.
These things are just as detrimental to a business as paying employees you cannot afford. What is the better option? The first thing is to not let go of a bunch of employees out of panic. Slowly and carefully evaluate each job. Do you have any positions that can be combined? If so, do you have employees capable of accomplishing the tasks of both positions?
Is it possible to cut one position, split it between two others, and raise the pay of the other two but by less than what the cut position was making? No one likes to let go of good employees at all, but taking the time to evaluate all of the options is much better for everyone than a massive axing party.
Additionally, consider which jobs can be outsourced. Outsourcing can save money because you do not have the additional payroll costs that go along with an employee. Janitorial services, bookkeeping, and social media marketing can all lend themselves well to outsourcing depending on the situation.
Another of the common mistakes business owners make in a recession is not playing to their strengths. This is similar to taking on too much, but for different reasons. While it may seem like you are saving money by not paying someone else to do certain things, it can definitely cost money to do things that you are not good at.
We all have certain strengths, and not knowing yours can be a money drain. If you are not good with the books, don’t try to do them. A mistake in that area can be very costly. If you are not great at managing people, assign that task to a trusted employee. Know your strengths and your weaknesses, and delegate tasks accordingly.
Do not let the fact that you are operating in a recession cause you to try do work in areas where you are weak in an effort to save money. It won’t work, and during a recession it could cause even more damage than it would otherwise.
When things start to look scary, it is almost a reflex reaction to cut prices. The idea is that If you offer a better deal, more people will do business with you.
This isn’t always the case. If your products are not at a price the market supports, it might work. Otherwise, you may see an increase at first, but long term it isn’t going to be a good thing.
People are willing to pay for a quality product. If you are struggling, it is best to figure out what they are buying instead of what you have for them. It could be the demand just isn’t there.
In a recession it is quite likely that people just do not have the disposable income necessary to purchase your product or service. In fact, it is even more likely than not. The answer then is not necessarily as easy as a price cut.
A price cut could work, if you can maintain quality. A better option is to be flexible and figure out what they are able to spend money on. For example, if you specialize in premium quality boutique clothing, consider adding inventory that is not as expensive. Call it something that sounds catchy, like “economy boutique,” and you just may have something that will get you through the recession.
In the restaurant business, consider offering specials at reduced rates to make what you have a better deal for customer that they can better afford.
Truly you get what you pay for, and a hugely common mistake business owners make in a recession is that they forget that. This rings true in all aspects of business from inventory to supplies, and even employees.
There is a fine line between saving money and sabotaging yourself. You cannot purchase lower quality inventory, charge the same, and expect that profit increase to hold. Word will spread. You can’t pay less than the competition and expect your employees to be top notch.
Keep in mind that for you and your customers, quality counts, always. You get what you pay for, and your customers expect to get what they pay for.
If you don’t already have established business credit, that can go a long way toward helping your business through a recession as well. Incorporate your business and get an EIN from the IRS. Make sure your business has a different address and phone number from your own, and sign up for a DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet.
Once these things are done, check into doing business with starter vendors. These vendors, such as Uline, Quill, and Grainger will offer invoices with net terms. They do this without checking your credit score, and they will report your payments to the business credit reporting agencies.
Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.
In this way, you can begin to build business credit even during a recession. If you make your payments on time, you can continue to build it by applying for credit from the retail credit tier, the fleet credit tier, and the cash credit tier. Then, if you need funding to help get you through the recession, you will have it. It takes time, but it’s never too late to start.
Of course, there are no guarantees the recession won’t pull you under, but there are things you can do to make it less likely. If you are careful to not make these common mistakes business owners make in a recession, and pay attention to what is going on around you, your business just may have a fighting chance of making it out of the recession twilight zone intact.
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Do Not Make These Mistakes!
There are a couple of gigantic net advertising blunders that can spoil the entire factor for web advertising in the initial area when it comes to internet advertising and marketing. Below are a couple of web marketing blunders you will certainly wish to prevent in all prices:
Not having a web marketing target. When attempting their hand at net advertising and marketing, this is a significant net advertising and marketing blunder than several amateur residence company proprietors make. It is exceptionally vital for your web marketing project that you recognize that you are targeting the web marketing at.
Be really specific when you are doing web advertising and marketing that you comprehend your target market and also provide them something via your web advertising and marketing that they will certainly be able to associate to. Web advertising and marketing is concerning attaching with others in a method that they can best recognize with net advertising.
The greatest point for web advertising and marketing is recognizing exactly how to place your web advertising and marketing creative thinking to utilize. If you can be clever with your net advertising and marketing, you do not constantly require to invest a whole lot of cash on net advertising.
Due to the fact that of web link web pages that are not permitted, an additional error in net advertising and marketing is being eliminated from crucial search engine websites. Check to make certain you are not damaging any kind of search engine guidelines via your web advertising when you are doing web advertising and marketing. Showing up in an online search engine is a massive component of web marketing, which net benefit should be taken seriously.
It is very vital for your web advertising and marketing project that you understand that you are targeting the web advertising at.
Be really specific when you are doing web advertising and marketing that you recognize your target market as well as offer them something via your net advertising that they will certainly be able to connect to. If you can be clever with your web advertising and marketing, you do not constantly require to invest a whole lot of loan on net advertising.
When you are doing web advertising, check to make certain you are not damaging any type of search engine guidelines with your net advertising and marketing.
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