News/Media
The Two Kinds of Online Marketing Help You (Probably) Need
Most business owners just aren’t great at online marketing. However, they tend to think that their choices are to pay tons of money to an expensive agency or give up on finding customers over the internet. Neither seems like an appealing option, does it? Years of...
The Best and Worst of Services Like Wix
I know some entrepreneurs who think that services like Squarespace and Wix are some of the best tools ever invented. I also know more than a few web designers who think they are complete ripoffs. Which group is correct? You could make a good argument that it’s...
Why SEO Isn’t Actually Getting More Complicated
Read a few articles about search engine optimization (a.k.a. SEO) lately and you’ll get the distinct impression that it’s tougher and more complicated than ever. The algorithms change, AI is shaping search results, and humans are more discriminating than they used to...
Why Online Marketing Is a Challenge for so Many Business Owners
Do you ever feel like online marketing success – the kind that’s measured in actual dollars and customers – feels slightly out of reach? A lot of business owners do, and there is a fairly simple reason why. That’s because getting customers over the internet seems...
The Big Lessons From Elon’s Twitter Implosion
If you’ve been watching the news lately, then you probably already know that Twitter seems to be going up in flames with Elon Musk at the helm. It’s too soon to say whether the service will actually go out of business, but it’s fair to observe that things are probably...
How to Make Your 2022 Online Marketing Plan Stick
Online marketing plans and New Year’s resolutions have a lot in common. Both tend to begin each January, with the best goals and loftiest intentions. And similarly, both tend to have been forgotten by the time February rolls around. If you’re a business owner you...
Web Services, Inc. Launches New Website For East Peoria Historical Society
East Peoria, IL, August 21, 2021: Web Services, Inc., a long time supporter and business owner of the East Peoria area, announced the launch of a website for the East Peoria Historical Society. Web Services has donated a website and hosting to the historical society...
Why a Good Website Will Always Pay for Itself
When business owners and other potential clients ask me about the return on investment for their new websites, I tell them confidently that a good web presence will always pay for itself. That’s not a sales pitch – basic math will back it up. Consider this: if a dozen...
Why You Must Own Your Name Domain
When I’m giving advice to business owners, executives, or professionals about online reputation management, one of the things I always stress is the need to own the domain that corresponds to your name (e.g., TammyFinch.com). While this advice is often unexpected, and...
Online Reputation Management Explained in 60 Seconds
Although I’ve become something of an Illinois expert in the field of online reputation management, I find that lots of business owners, self-employed people, and professionals don’t really understand the term. Is it something you should care about, especially if you...
The Importance of NAPS … to Your Website
Sometimes, I hear from clients who just don’t seem to be making any progress with search engine optimization on Google, even in light of the recent algorithm changes that made it easier to for local businesses to come up in search results. More often than not, my...
One Big Covid Lesson for Business Owners
All big “game-changing” events leave us with big lessons, and the current Covid pandemic is no exception. There will undoubtedly be many future changes – like more work from home arrangements and sick day policies – that will stem from the lessons we’re learning...