According to a recently concluded study, online giving grew 14 percent in 2009. It was disclosed by the study that nonprofits reported more gifts and were able to grow their email files.

Volume of traffic to a nonprofit’s website is responsible for 38 percent of its success in building large email files.

From Philanthropyjournal.org:

Overall, 69 percent of 499 nonprofits studied raised more online in 2009 than 2008, while 31 percent saw online fundraising decline, says the Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study.

Among nonprofits that grew their online fundraising in 2009, 92 percent generated more online gifts, while just 43 percent saw an increase in the average gift amount.

Online giving to small nonprofits grew fastest, with online revenue growing 26 percent and online gifts growing 32 percent for nonprofits with fewer than 10,000 email addresses on file, says the study, which analyzed data compiled from nonprofits with at least 24 months of data.

It was also revealed that web traffic grew only 6 percent when compared to double-digit growth in previous years despite the fact that 60 percent of nonprofits grew their website traffic from 2008 to 2009.

Online presence has become essential in today’s business world and a business ignoring it for long runs a high risk of getting neglected by the customers. In this second part of the two-part series, we would read about how to explore the concept of online presence.

In the first part of this series, we read about how to create a website to promote business products and services along with website creation tips and effectiveness of content, let us read more.

After the web site has been created according to the laid-down marketing and SEO plans, it is now time for it to be seen by the business employees. This will not only make employees wanted but also help in identifying errors (if any) or additions of more interesting website matter. Once that has been done, the website must be kept on trial and be allowed to seen by the business vendors and support staff so that they can create and maintain proper understanding about the same.

Once all this is done, the website must be submitted to search engines such as Google and quality web directories. It is important to note here that one-way links must always be preferred over reciprocal links (which must be best avoided). The submission to search engines and directories must look like done by a human being and not like a robot. This means that it is a complete waste to submit to 100 directories in a single day to avoid being termed spam and get banned by search engines and the best way would be submissions to 4-5 directories per day.

If the business can take specialized writing services to create unique articles, blogs, press releases, and product descriptions then there is nothing like that. Once the articles, blogs, and press releases have been created and reviewed, they must be submitted to quality related directories. In order to help customers make informed decisions, a business can offer free downloads related to its products and services highlighting its USP (unique selling proposition), past achievements, present activities, and future tasks. This allows the customers to trust the business and relate to it in a better way without much effort.

During these times, website content must be regularly updated and offline promotion of the website needs to be taken care of. This can be done by putting the website name on company leaflets, pamphlets, brochures, stationery, emails, and any other mode of communication.

We hope that this two-part series on how to explore online presence helped you in more than just a way.

Many online businesses are left with no clue when they are asked to answer a simple question: How wireless-friendly is their business website?

These businesses may be using the latest and most advanced technology on their websites; they may even be coded with the latest HTML flavor or using the coolest applets for business promotion but somehow things fail to click. Moreover, when an Internet visitor happens to surf these websites with his mobile then they appear to engage themselves in unintelligent talking. The reason is simple – Many websites do not support mobile Internet access like they support the traditional Internet browsers.

Since more and more people are using the mobile nowadays to access the web while remaining on the move, it is essential for each online business to have its website friendly to mobile navigation as well. It will not be wrong to say that in many market segments, computers will soon be replaced by wireless technology. This simply means those small businesses that resist wireless technology by avoiding or delaying it will be left behind against their tech-savvy peers.

In short, it is best for online businesses to tailor their wireless web site to the specification of users (mobile users) without jettisoning the web functionality they would normally expect from a regular website’s home page.

By going wireless-friendly, your website can offer a unique opportunity to its prospects besides helping it to stay ahead of the curve, with the biggest benefits still yet to come.

In the web-dominated world of today, much emphasis is given to keywords and rightly so. More and more businesses are readily accepting their importance with each passing day. This is because success stories of many successful businesses have encouraged them to follow their footprints.

In order to ensure that keywords are effectively incorporated on a website and its pages, it is essential to notice and implement certain things. In this article, we would be reading about these important things for every small business owner that can help him to find a rewarding business approach.

Overture and Wordtracker, two of the Web Industry’s most trusted web sites, make it easier for website creators & developers to select rewarding keywords. The free online tools, which are offered by these two web sites, provide a popularity barometer of keywords. Furthermore, these two sites also offer suggestions about choices of keywords to a business that intends to move ahead in its business ladder.

A business must realize that it is beneficial for it to ensure that gamut from broad keywords to specific ones is extended so that it becomes possible to reel in all possible prospects. It is essential for a business to timely review its website. This will help it to find if its choice of keywords still work or not.

Once the identification process has been undertaken, a business can winnow out effective & rewarding keywords and put a track on which ones pull from which search engines. The Golden Rule of Keywords – Keyword to be included in both the title and the description – must not be ruled out by an online business in any case. Moreover, it is best for a business to avoid any hype and desist from shading the value of its offerings via juiced-up keywords.

Such things if undertaken by a business only disappoint searching and potential customers and no business can afford them.

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Opting for online presence is the sole thing that must be in your mind as the business owner. This is because the road to success is not going to be any easier with the passing days and the earlier you start making efforts, the better.

The few things that you will need will be discussed here. First of all, gift a professionally designed website to your business. Do make sure that website is good enough to generate interest else the sole purpose of creating it is defeated even before it is launched on the web. Thereafter, add unique, refreshing, useful, and relevant content to the web site. If you can add some free downloads that help customers make easy and informed decisions, there is nothing like that!

After that, publicize your website both internally and externally. Ask your employees to check it out for feedback and see if the feedback is worth changing the site. Promote your website in online and offline ways. Online promotion can be related to submission to search engine directories while offline promotion is related to putting it on business cards and brochures to inform the customers about your business’s web presence.

These ways to create online presence can do wonders to the prospects of your business in the short as well as the long run.

In bygone days, a small business used to succumb to the infrastructure of the big businesses while promoting its products and services. But, this is not the case any more as online business marketing now provides a level-playing field to all the participants (small as well as big businesses). This clearly means that a small business is able to make necessary moves to ensure that its prospects are realized on a continuing basis just like a big business.

Let us have a close look at some of the advantages offered by online business marketing to get a clear and complete insight on the usefulness of web.

Since the Internet never sleeps and can reach local, nationwide and global audience in no time, it becomes easy for a small business to promote its existence and offerings to the general public and other interested parties such as vendors and investors etc.

A website is like an extended shop or outlet for a business that never gets closed. It stays attentive to the critical business needs and objectives to ensure that the business is able to achieve its predefined objectives without any deviations.

Since the web offers uninterrupted and seamless solutions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year, a business availing its services is protected against any internal complacencies and inefficiencies.