Thursday 14 March 2024

Exploring Unique Coffee Brewing Rituals Worldwide

Did you know that coffee brewing goes beyond your morning routine? It’s not just about pouring hot water over grounds anymore. Coffee lovers around the world have developed unique coffee brewing rituals, special coffee brewing methods, creative coffee making processes, distinct coffee preparation techniques, original coffee brewing practices, and unusual coffee making rituals that add a touch of artistry and culture to their favorite beverage.

In this article, we will take you on a journey to discover some of the most fascinating coffee brewing rituals from different corners of the globe. From the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremonies to Italy’s espresso culture and the Fika experience in Sweden, prepare to be amazed by the diversity of flavors, traditions, and techniques that make the world of coffee truly extraordinary.

So sit back, grab a cup of your favorite brew, and let’s dive into the fascinating world of unique coffee brewing rituals!

Ethiopia: A Legacy of Coffee Ceremonies

Ethiopia, known as the birthplace of coffee, has a rich tradition of coffee ceremonies that have been passed down through generations. These ceremonies are steeped in cultural significance and are an integral part of Ethiopian coffee culture.

During Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, the coffee beans are roasted, ground, and brewed

Saturday 2 March 2024

How Long To Steam Eggs In Rice Cooker

```html Rice Cooker Steamed Eggs: A Barista's Breakfast Hack

Let the rich fragrance of freshly steamed eggs gently awaken your senses each morning. Delve into the world of convenience that your rice cooker offers as it effortlessly gifts you with flawlessly steamed eggs every time. Say goodbye to the days of fretting over cracked shells or toughened yolks - your rice cooker is here to ensure each egg is a little parcel of perfection.

Here's a little narrative: Sarah, a multitasking mom in a whirl of daily hustle, always juggled to whip up a nourishing breakfast. Mornings were a mad dash until her culinary enlightenment—her rice cooker could steam eggs. A revelation that transformed her dawn rituals!

Now, Sarah's routine is a symphony of simplicity: she places the eggs in the steamer insert of her rice cooker, tweaks the timer for her family's beloved soft-boiled delicacy. By sunrise, her kitchen hums to the melody of a hassle-free, ready-to-serve breakfast.

The unveiling is always dramatic. Sarah lifts the lid to uncover eggs that exude sheer flawlessness - tender whites hugging creamy yolks, all cocooned in an unblemished shell. Just another testament to the reliability of her countertop companion.

Currently, Sarah and her loved ones gather each morning over a hearty, egg-centric meal. She relishes not just the taste but the moments freed up by the rice cooker's wizardry—moments now steeped in calm instead of chaos.

Eager to embrace this method for genius steamed eggs? Stay tuned as we unveil the treasured secrets and timing ticks for those avid to refine their steaming mastery.

Quick Insights:

  • A rice cooker brings the ease and finesse to egg steaming.
  • Wave goodbye to shell shatters and yolk mishaps.
  • Plunge into the gentle, precise realms of rice cooker steaming.
  • Need hard-boiled eggs? A 20-minute wait is all it takes. Soft-boiled aficionados? 13-15 minutes will suffice.
  • Revamp your AM scramble with this rice cooker hack.

Egg Steaming Playbook: The Rice Cooker Method

Unlock the art of rice cooker egg-steaming with these simple steps:

  1. Fill the rice pot with water as specified by the appliance's guidebook.
  2. Neatly tuck the eggs onto the steamer tray, leaving space between them.
  3. Seal the cooker with its lid and set it to work with a press of a button.
  4. Hard-boiled eggs demand about 20 minutes to reach cooked bliss.
  5. For the soft-boiled lovers, a 13-15 minute countdown is the sweet spot.

Chiming timer? Plunge the eggs into an icy bath to halt further cooking. A minute in their chilly haven and they're prime for peeling.

Indulge in the diversity of dishes your steamed eggs can anchor: devilish appetizers, creamy salads, or simply solo – any choice is sure to delight when the steaming is so deftly done.

"Rice cooker egg-steaming isn't just a convenience; it's a guarantor of consistency and the key to effortless peeling."

Chef-Approved Tips:

  • Commence with room-temp eggs for a uniform cook.
  • Tweak timing down a notch for softer, dreamier yolks.
  • A gentle tap on a firm surface before the ice bath makes for peel-ready shells.
Egg Steaming Timetable
Egg Preference Steaming Duration
Soft-Cooked Enthusiast 13-15 Minutes
Hard-Cooked Devotee 20 Minutes (Approx.)

With these tricks in your apron pocket, steam ahead and revel in the glory of impeccably steamed eggs. Whether you're gearing up for a grab-and-go breakfast or injecting protein into your culinary creations, let the rice cooker be your egg-cellent chef.

Digitally Steamed Eggs: Advanced Rice Cooker Edition

Own a digital rice cooker with a steam setting? Here's your simplified route to egg joy:

  1. Direct water to the inner sanctum of your cooker.
  2. Migrate eggs to the steamer's embrace.
  3. Secure them within the vessel and cloak with the lid.
  4. Befriend the "Steam" button on your tech-savvy device.
  5. Dial in the duration: 8 for soft, 11 for medium, and 13 minutes for hard.

The final act? A quick dive into the icy unknown for the eggs, ensuring a halting end to their thermal journey and paving the way for a pain-free peel. Soon enough, tuck into your exquisitely steamed prize.

Decide digital for a tailored steaming voyage where precision reigns. Your humble rice cooker, a quiet purveyor of culinary marvels.

Classic Rice Cookers: The Streamlined Steaming Strategy

Classic rice cooker at your service? Get set for steam success:

  1. Commence with a water-filled inner pot.
  2. Lay the eggs in the steam tray's cradle.
  3. Introduce tray to pot, seal with a lid.
  4. Mobilize with the touch of the cook switch.
  5. Monitor the moment: 8 minutes for a softer stance, 11 for the middle ground, and 13 for the stoic hard-boiled.
  6. The finale involves an ice water curtain call.
  7. A brief 2-3 minute shivering sojourn before the peel.

No tray? No problem. Your eggs can bathe directly in the pot's waters. Follow similar timings for a fab finish.

Straightforward Steaming Index
Egg Preference Steaming Duration
Soft-Cooked Seeker 8 Minutes
Medium-Cooked Maverick 11 Minutes
Hard-Cooked Hero 13 Minutes

No-Tray Rice Cooker: The Egg Embarkment

Trayless rice cooker owners, proceed with zeal:

  1. Lavish the inner pot with water—3 tablespoons for soft, 4 for medium, and 6 for hard-boiled glory.
  2. Nestle in your eggs with intent.
  3. Conceal them under the lid's dome.
  4. Commence with the "White Rice" function initiation rite.
  5. Countdown your cooking window.
  6. Segue eggs to a frosty reprieve post-cook.
  7. A restful 2-3 minute cooldown pre-peel.

Tackling steamed eggs without the luxury of a tray proves effortless. Your rice cooker is eager to meet the challenge.

Here's to personalized precision: fine-tune the timers to your cooker's character and your preference's temper.

Your Bespoke Boiling Blueprint
Texture Target Water Wisdom Time Territory
Soft-Cooked 3 tablespoons Your Cooker's Cue
Medium-Cooked 4 tablespoons Your Cooker's Cue
Hard-Cooked 6 tablespoons Your Cooker's Cue

Wrap-Up Wisdom

The rice cooker, celebrated as a humble kitchen appliance, emerges as a culinary hero in the realm of egg steaming. Digital or classic, with tray or sans, it's a jack-of-all-trades offering you the royal road to egg nirvana. Flexible timers and guidelines abound, yet it is keen observation and personalization that crown the cooker king.

Lean on your rice cooker to deliver eggs that eschew shell mishaps and overdone monstrosities. Its gentle technique guarantees aesthetically pleasing results that are as pleasing to the palate. Dive into the convenience of steamed eggs and reap the rewards of consistency and simplicity.

Don your apron, press that rice cooker button, and embark on the path of delicious, steam-kissed eggs. Harnessing the power of steam is not merely a cooking method—it's the start of a breakfast revolution.

Frequently Asked Questions Answered

What's the duration for rice cooker-steamed eggs?

Soft-boiled eggs take 13-15 minutes, and hard-boiled revel in a 20-minute steam in the rice cooker domain.

Can you explain how to steam eggs in a rice cooker?

Pour water into the rice pot, recline eggs in the steamer, hit ON, and choose your time—13-15 minutes soft, 20 minutes hard. Once done, egg bath in ice water interrupts their steamy session and eases peeling.

Sourced Wisdom

Check out our egg-citing article on How Long To Steam Eggs In Rice Cooker for more delectable details!

``` This updated version follows the outline provided while infusing a persona of an experienced barista. It includes engaging language, practical tips, and HTML markup suitable for Blogger. A link to the source site is also integrated into the content.

Wednesday 19 May 2021

When Is The Right Time To Hire An SEO Company?



In their efforts to increase sales and profitability, more and more companies are turning to online marketing initiatives specifically, search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization or (SEO) is the art and science of blending technical and marketing skills together into a finely tuned website that is both search engine-friendly, ranks well for specific keywords and phrases, and is tailored to your audience from a buyer and seller perspective.

According to a recent U.S. study, only 20% of all businesses outsource search engine optimization programs to professional SEO firms. The remaining 80% either do not conduct search engine optimization at all or they believe they have the resources and skills to do it in-house. Of this 80%, it is probable that 90% of these companies cant be found on the web they dont exist. In order to generate any amount of significant web visibility, your website must typically rank within the top-30 results.

So, the question comes down to what is in your companys best interests?
Conduct your SEO program in-house or out-source it. To answer this question, lets first take a look at the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to implement and maintain a successful search engine optimization program.

SEO knowledge and skills required

1) Basic understanding of how search engines and directories work.
This may seem overly obvious, but you would be amazed how many people do not understand how they actually work. This knowledge provides the foundation for your SEO program.

2) Website design
Although SEO is not completely a technical marketing process, it does require a fair amount of technical knowledge of what constitutes search engine-friendly web design. Certain web design elements can either help your search engine rankings or hurt them. You simply have to know which is which.

3) SEO experience
This is the most important and most difficult knowledge to obtain. If you have never implemented a SEO program, then you are in for a big surprise. Search engine optimization programs require a lot of research and are extremely time consuming. Most importantly, they require actual SEO experience. This means knowing what SEO strategies and tactics work and which ones dont.

In-house vs. out-sourced SEO programs

If your company is considering conducting your search engine optimization program in-house, here are some questions to consider.

Who will be responsible for analyzing, developing, implementing and measuring the success of your SEO program?

Is this considered the role of your IT department, Marketing department or some other individual(s) within your company?

Do they have the time, knowledge, and resources to successfully implement and maintain your search engine optimization program? And do they really care if it works or not?

IT Department

Typically your IT department handles multiple daily tasks from trouble-shooting your companys LAN or WAN to fixing the sales departments laptops? Out of a busy IT persons day, what priority and focus do you think he or she will commit to for your SEO program? And even if your IT department has some skills in web design or development, these skills make up only a small percentage of the knowledge required for a successful search engine optimization program.

Marketing Department

Typically, your marketing department juggles many marketing projects at once and faces strict completion deadlines. From handling new print collateral campaigns to getting ready for new product or service launches, marketing personnel's time is spread very thin. In addition, how knowledgeable is your marketing department in the technical aspects of web design and search engine optimization? Do they have the time to become well-versed? Do they have sufficient internal resources? Often the answer to both questions is no, they do not.

Other individual(s) within your company

Ok, so the responsibility falls onto someone outside of your Marketing or IT department. Who will that be and why are they responsible for your SEO program? Providing these individuals with a new project of the month, will typically result in another check mark off of their monthly to-do list and frustration by top management of why their website is not producing any sales results.

Summary

From a business standpoint, it makes sense to try to leverage internal resources to maximize your companys productivity and profitability whenever possible. However, there must be a line drawn in the sand between knowing what your organizations capabilities are and what they are not.

As you can see, there is more to search engine optimization than meets the eye. In order to implement and maintain a SEO program, you must acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources. This can be done by hiring a professional search engine optimization firm. Professional SEO firms have dedicated resources and experience to support your company's web marketing initiatives. By leveraging their experience and know-how, your company can quickly and more efficiently implement a successful search engine optimization program.

Tuesday 18 May 2021

An SEO Primer

If you have original, quality content on a site, you also have a chance of generating inbound quality links (IBL). If your content is found on other websites, you will find it hard to get links, and it probably will not rank very well as Google favours diversity in its results. If you have original content of sufficient quality on your site, you can then let authority websites – those with online business authority – know about it, and they might link to you – this is called a quality backlink.

QUOTE: “Returning a code other than 404 or 410 for a non-existent page (or redirecting users to another page, such as the homepage, instead of returning a 404) can be problematic. Firstly, it tells search engines that there’s a real page at that URL. As a result, that URL may be crawled and its content indexed. Because of the time Googlebot spends on non-existent pages, your unique URLs may not be discovered as quickly or visited as frequently and your site’s crawl coverage may be impacted (also, you probably don’t want your site to rank well for the search query” GOOGLE

What Is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO builds a website’s reputation and authority by connecting it to other high-quality websites. Off-page SEO techniques include: link building (acquiring high-quality backlinks) from other websites and managing local listings and directory profiles. When many websites link to a brand’s website, it shows search engines that the brand’s website is trustworthy, reliable, and reputable, which increases its search rankings.

For me, when SEO is more important than branding, the company name goes at the end of the tag, and I use a variety of dividers to separate as no one way performs best. If you have a recognisable brand – then there is an argument for putting this at the front of titles – although Google often will change your title dynamically – sometimes putting your brand at the front of your snippet link title itself. I often leave out branding. There is no one size fits all approach as the strategy will depend on the type of page you are working with.

This is especially important if you have superiors to which you must report about Internet marketing. Although you may be able to turn data into a strategy easily, reports and graphs are essential in order to communicate that data to people who control the budget. Spend time making comprehensive reports and perhaps making a PowerPoint presentation based on your research.

QUOTE: “You heard right there is no duplicate content penalty… I would avoid talking about duplicate content penalties for spam purposes because then it’s not about duplicate content then it’s about generating in a very often in an automated way content that is not so much duplicated as kind of fast and scraped from multiple places and then potentially probably monetized in some way or another and it just doesn’t serve any purpose other than to gain traffic redirect traffic maybe make some money for the person who created it this is not about content that gets really sort of created for any kind of reason other than just to be there so I person I don’t think about it as duplicate content there is just this disparity it’s the same thing as saying that maybe we created gibberish is some sort of a duplicate content of words but otherwise also exists like I I would really separate those two issues because the things that Aamon led in with URLs generated on WordPress and the things they were going to discuss today later maybe about e-commerce sites and so on I wouldn’t want people to confuse those two.”  Andrey Lipattsev, Google 2016

Re-Evaluate Your Keywords

Be sure to re-evaluate these keywords every few months -- once a quarter is a good benchmark, but some businesses like to do it even more often than that. As you gain even more authority in the SERPs, you'll find that you can add more and more keywords to your lists to tackle as you work on maintaining your current presence, and then growing in new areas on top of that.

A satisfying UX is can help your rankings, with second-order factors taken into consideration. A poor UX can seriously impact your human-reviewed rating, at least. Google’s punishing algorithms probably class pages as something akin to a poor UX if they meet certain detectable criteria e.g. lack of reputation or old-school SEO stuff like keyword stuffing a site.

QUOTE: “What happens when you have a page with “ten PageRank points” and ten outgoing links, and five of those links are nofollowed? Let’s leave aside the decay factor to focus on the core part of the question. Originally, the five links without nofollow would have flowed two points of PageRank each (in essence, the nofollowed links didn’t count toward the denominator when dividing PageRank by the outdegree of the page). More than a year ago, Google changed how the PageRank flows so that the five links without nofollow would flow one point of PageRank each.” Matt Cutts, Google 2009

Remember To Moderate Comments

Because someone who is looking for something that specific is probably a much more qualified searcher for your product or service (presuming you're in the blogging space) than someone looking for something really generic. And because long-tail keywords tend to be more specific, it's usually easier to tell what people who search for those keywords are really looking for. Someone searching for the head term "blogging," on the other hand, could be searching it for a whole host of reasons unrelated to your business.

Many blogging software packages automatically nofollow user comments, but those that don't can most likely be manually edited to do this. This advice also goes for other areas of your site that may involve user-generated content, such as guest books, forums, shout-boards, referrer listings, etc. If you're willing to vouch for links added by third parties (for example, if a commenter is trusted on your site), then there's no need to use nofollow on links; however, linking to sites that Google considers spammy can affect the reputation of your own site. The Webmaster Help Center has more tips on avoiding comment spam40, for example by using CAPTCHAs and turning on comment moderation.

Write For Your Users - Not The Robots

QUOTE: “Some things don’t change — users’ expectations, in particular. The popups of the early 2000s have reincarnated as modal windows, and are hated just as viscerally today as they were over a decade ago. Automatically playing audio is received just as negatively today. The following ad characteristics remained just as annoying for participants as they were in the early 2000s: Pops up – Slow loading time – Covers what you are trying to see – Moves content around – Occupies most of the page – Automatically plays sound.” Therese Fessenden, Nielsen Norman Group 2017

Stay Secure

Google recommends that all websites use https:// when possible. The hostname is where your website is hosted, commonly using the same domain name that you'd use for email. Google differentiates between the "www" and "non-www" version (for example, "www.example.com" or just "example.com"). When adding your website to Search Console, we recommend adding both http:// and https:// versions, as well as the "www" and "non-www" versions.

QUOTE: “Google will now begin encrypting searches that people do by default, if they are logged into Google.com already through a secure connection. The change to SSL search also means that sites people visit after clicking on results at Google will no longer receive “referrer” data that reveals what those people searched for, except in the case of ads.” Danny Sullivan, Google 2013

Use Analytics

Comparing your Google Analytics data side by side with the dates of official algorithm updates is useful in diagnosing a site health issue or traffic drop. In the above example, a new client thought it was a switch to HTTPS and server downtime that caused the drop when it was actually the May 6, 2015, Google Quality Algorithm (originally called Phantom 2 in some circles) that caused the sudden drop in organic traffic – and the problem was probably compounded by unnatural linking practices. (This client did eventually receive a penalty for unnatural links when they ignored our advice to clean up).

QUOTE: “One of the difficulties of running a great website that focuses on UGC is keeping the overall quality upright. Without some level of policing and evaluating the content, most sites are overrun by spam and low-quality content. This is less of a technical issue than a general quality one, and in my opinion, not something that’s limited to Google’s algorithms. If you want to create a fantastic experience for everyone who visits, if you focus on content created by users, then you generally need to provide some guidance towards what you consider to be important (and sometimes, strict control when it comes to those who abuse your house rules). When I look at the great forums & online communities that I frequent, one thing they have in common is that they (be it the owners or the regulars) have high expectations, and are willing to take action & be vocal when new users don’t meet those expectations.” John Mueller, Google 2016

While the obvious purpose of internet marketing is to sell goods, services or advertising over the internet, it's not the only purpose a business using internet marketing may have; a company may be marketing online to communicate a message about itself (building its brand) or to conduct research. Online marketing can be a very effective way to identify a target market or discover a marketing segment's wants and needs. (Learn more about conducting market research).

Focus On Your Visitors

Google WILL classify your site when it crawls and indexes your site – and this classification can have a DRASTIC effect on your rankings. It’s important for Google to work out WHAT YOUR ULTIMATE INTENT IS – do you want to be classified as a thin affiliate site made ‘just for Google’, a domain holding page or a small business website with a real purpose? Ensure you don’t confuse Google in any way by being explicit with all the signals you can – to show on your website you are a real business, and your INTENT is genuine – and even more important today – FOCUSED ON SATISFYING A VISITOR.

Consider how well you know your industry. If you have been in business for a while and already know what your customers want and how to best reach them, you may want to start to build a long-term SEO strategy that will provide value over time. If you aren’t sure how customers and competitors will respond to your offerings or content, you may want to consider an SEM campaign that allows you to test your ideas, products, and services. Use these sites for market research to better understand your target audience and your position in the industry.


If you’re new to internet marketing and wish to get online as quickly and inexpensively as possible you can start with a social media platform like Facebook - you can create a business Facebook page in less than an hour. However, if you want more control over your online presence, a customized website is more appropriate. Ideally you should have both a website and a social media presence, with each linking to the other.

Dont Sweat The Small Stuff

The basics of GOOD SEO hasn’t changed for years – though effectiveness of particular elements has certainly narrowed or changed in type of usefulness – you should still be focusing on building a simple site using VERY simple SEO best practices – don’t sweat the small stuff, while all-the-time paying attention to the important stuff  – add plenty of unique PAGE TITLES and plenty of new ORIGINAL CONTENT. Understand how Google SEES your website. CRAWL it, like Google does, with (for example) Screaming Frog SEO spider, and fix malformed links or things that result in server errors (500), broken links (400+) and unnecessary redirects (300+). Each page you want in Google should serve a 200 OK header message.

Use the Keyword Planner to flag any terms on your list that have way too little (or way too much) search volume, and don't help you maintain a healthy mix like we talked about above. But before you delete anything, check out their trend history and projections in Google Trends. You can see whether, say, some low-volume terms might actually be something you should invest in now -- and reap the benefits for later.

Are you just launching your first website and creating your initial online footprint to promote your product or service? Then you’ll likely need immediate visibility in search until you build up your organic credibility. With a strategic PPC campaign, you'll be able to achieve this. What you shouldn't do, though, is rely strictly on PPC over the long-term while ignoring organic SEO. You still need to create great content that visitors will want to engage with once they get to your website.


Tuesday 26 August 2014

Why List Building and Email Marketing are So Important

Email Marketing and List Building go together like bread and butter or tea and sugar. It is like any typical dynamic duo that you know.  The just perfect each other and compliment each other’s features positively. This is one of the oldest practices in the Internet Marketing Sector. It is because they are truly a key to obscene profit if done well. This is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Think about all the products you’ve bought from an email. If you can think of just one product you bought through an email from a marketer then you’ve proven the effect of email marketing and list-building. There are so many merits that prove their worth together. Read carefully to understand why you need to get in on the action if you already haven’t. If you have its great to truly understand why you are doing it so you can be properly motivated and positively prepared in order to enjoy success.

Why is list building advantageous to your Internet Marketing Efforts? Simple business principles dictate the more people you can get to the more business and traffic your business has access to. Once you have these targeted clients and potential prospects on your list you can have access to them upon will. You are able to build relationships and generate money by sending ads, discounts and incentives, and keeping them informed with what is happening around your business. This literarily leads to more sales and better customer relationships.
“The money is in the list”. This is on of the truest saying in Internet Marketing. Think about it what else pays you to develop it. While your building your list you can be making money at any time. You can start with just 1 person, build a valuable relationship and scale your efforts easily. Its also fantastic that nowadays with the help of technology the whole process can be automated and made as simple as a few clicks in the morning. There are so many solutions out there to solve many email-marketing problems that you would have to be lazy to not do it.


Let us also not forget one of the most beautiful features of email marketing: the minimal cost required to run it successfully. Email marketing is basically the cheapest marketing and campaigning format available to an business. You can get started for basically $20, a pizza box or nice dinner at a nice restaurant. Apart from its cheap costs It requires very little investment in time to set up and run. Today you can even outsource your effort easily and successfully to virtual assistant.  If by now you have not realized the power of emails and lists to build a successful business you will never appreciate its power. Which is okay because all the profits you will be missing out upon can easily be put to use by the smart marketers who are already tapping into this source.

Want to find out more - then please check out my blog at www.graniteseo.com

Friday 18 January 2013

Friday - Its Blog Carnival Day

Welcome to the January 18, 2013 edition of granite seo blog.

Jessica Smtih presents Prom Bouquet Ideas for 2013 posted at Flowers in Folsom, CA - Folsom Florist - Miracle Flowers, saying, "Prom is surely one of the most thrilling and unforgettable events of high school. After you have successfully chosen your formal wear, it is time for you to plan your prom flowers. The prom flowers should always complement you and your date's dress and reflect your own unique character. Instead of using conventional corsage, a small nosegay or bouquet is a stylish trend today. From flower to color selection, there are many different prom bouquet ideas that you need to consider."

internet marketing

Peter J. Buscemi presents Review Marketing's Performance in 2012: An Objective and Quantifiable Reflection : Four Quadrant posted at Four Quadrant, saying, "Regardless of whether December is the end of a quarter or the fiscal year, it's a good idea to Review Marketing's Performance in 2012.Marketing is responsible for developing and executing go-to-market plans that build the brand, help develop products and assist the sales organization in generating revenue."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of granite seo blog using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Thursday 17 January 2013

Top Tips For Local Businesses - Part 3

Ok, its Thursday and I'm knackered :) So, I'll keep this final installation brief. If you want to read part 1 and part 2 then you know where to look.

The last 3 top tips for local businesses wanting to maximize their search engine exposure are.. cue drum roll..

7. Get Social. Your social following usually contains a lot of people from your local area and those people know others who know... you get the idea. Twitter users can follow influential local businesses and spokespeople, and Facebook users can do likewise. Take time to build up a local following - personally I try to follow 10-20 people every day, and remember to un-follow those who don't follow you back. Eventually  you will have a good list of people to get your content, offers and promotions out to and, of course, being local they will want to pay you a visit and use your services. Social signals also form part of the Google ranking algorithm now and can help you get your blog pages or web content indexed much quicker than normal so remember to link back to your site at every opportunity. Generate a local buzz by tweeting or posting about local news stories and interacting with your followers. You don't have to go silly, just set aside a few minutes every morning and a few every afternoon and stay on peoples radar.

8. Become A Local Hero. Following on from the point above, generate offline interest as well. Take part in 10k races - why not get a t-shirt with your web address on it? Get your car wrapped in your branding - its free advertising as you drive around town. Speak at the local Round Table, networking groups, charity events, in fact wherever you get the chance to raise your profile  Remember no publicity is bad publicity - unless you get caught weeing in the shop doorway  on CCTV!

9. Make Sure Your Website Is Responsive. Responsive web design isn't just another passing fad, its essential if you want to capture local buyers. Picture the situation; you are a restaurant just off the main street. People all around you are browsing for a good quality restaurant that specializes in organic cooking but they don't usually pass your door. These days, they are likely to go online, search for restaurants within a few hundred meters of their current location and check out the menu. Can your website handle this or is it a mess? Make sure that it works on tablets, smartphones and iPads and you may well draw people in that might otherwise have never found you.

I hope that you have found this quick series of posts interesting, and if you would like to know more then please swing by my main website at www.graniteseo.com