Julia Price

 Link building and Analytics! First impressions- WOW. Analytics has SO MUCH information! It's a little overwhelming, and I don't really understand what all of it means, but I'm sure in the right hands, every piece of information is valuable. It's seriously nuts the detail they go into. Very very powerful stuff. Aside from the beast that is analytics, we talked about link building this week! I honestly do not think I understood even a small percentage of what goes into an online business before this class. It's so much more than SEO and attractive website design. I think the biggest takeaway for link building that I learned was quality over quantity. Google is smart. It can tell when a website isn't related to yours, or if a bunch of spammy links are being inputted. I also didn't realize how big networking would be for an online business. I feel like when I think of networking I think of boujee galas or MLM conferences, but networking can work online as well!...

 All things social media!! My favorite haha. I honestly have a love hate relationship with social media.. it can be so much fun but it's ridiculously easy to compare yourself to others. It really is such a powerful tool though. I surveyed my followers on Instagram and over 70% of them found their wedding photographer on Instagram which is CRAZY. But I did the same thing! I can't remember the last time I Googled a product, if I know what I'm looking for I'll just go to their Instagram page and click on their website there. I like that I don't have to wade through ads or spam links, I can just immediately find what I'm looking for. BUT. That being said. Websites are where the money gets made. (Unless you're an influencer) When Instagram/Facebook was down for a few hours a couple weeks ago, a business owner I follow stressed the importance of websites. If social media went down forever and took your website down with it, we would be in trouble! They compared so...

 Search Engine and Landing Page Optimization! My landing page is pretty good I think, it's very true to the ads that I'm running. I do think I should add more to it, give it more body text so it's not as choppy and abrupt. As far as SEO, my website needs a lot more to it to help it out. There isn't a lot of texts, pages, or products. I think something I could do to help it become more established is adding social media links, blog posts, and more on my About page, specifically about Date Night Boxes, since that's my main keyword. My website's SEO isn't very good right now because there's not very much to optimize, so I need to change that. I also want to focus on optimizing more unique or specific keywords on my pages. I'm trying to focus more on the locations, even though my product is able to be shipped. This way, I can create blog posts about Rexburg, about what it's like dating in a college town, etc!

 We're getting even more into the nitty gritty of Google Ads! As well as tracking successful conversions for your business. My conversion is when customers complete an order, so that's where I installed my code. I'll be honest, I was surprised at how many different codes I needed, for a simple small business. There's a lot to learn though, and why not take advantage of all the resources available to us? I feel like we're in the endgame now, just fine tuning our ads and SEO to hopefully see some good results. These projects and discussions have given me a lot to work with and apply to my photography business. I already have some keyword and headline ideas which is exciting! I'm also excited for my classmates, the different websites sound really interesting. I hope that people will post their websites so we can all look, like a mini science fair. 

 Google Analytics, and Quality and Relevance Scores!! Lots of big words and big moves here this week. First impressions- if you don't use Google, your business is toast. There are SO many resources in Google to build up your SEO and get your website in front of the right eyes. It's amazing how in depth they are, especially for a free service. Google will tell you if how your ad is looking, so you know if it's ready to be published. This means you truly get the most bang for your buck, which is what we're all looking for right? There's also resources within Google that will let you know how you can improve your quality score, it really is just a wealth of knowledge and resources. I love how everything works together too- Quality score is a reflection of your Ads, which can be linked to your Analytics, so you have a good idea of what's going on within your website after the Ad is presumably effective. 

 Ads! I had a bit of scare this week, where I was unable to get into my Google AdWords account. Luckily I figured it out after going incognito, so I'm taking my business underground and operating in secret. I'm just joking around, but seriously- going incognito is so much fun to say! Anyways, back to the task at hand. Expanded text ads. It was really cool to see my business ads set up in the same way that I see REAL business ads. Does that make sense? It just feels very legit and professional. And, it was super easy! I'm kicking myself for not running any ads for my photography business, but I definitely will be running them in the spring, when rings start getting bought and weddings start getting planned. It was also really cool to see what my classmates are doing for their businesses, and what their focuses are. I hope that we get to share our websites with one another, I'd love to see what everyone has been working on. I have some improvements I want to make to my we...

 GoogleAds and Keywords! The nitty gritty. I feel like this is where we're really going to learn HOW to make our business successful, with SEO and Ads. You can have the most amazing, fantastic business in the world, with the world's most beautiful website to go along with it, but if people can't FIND your website.. what's the point? This is something that I've been needing to work on with my photography business, but I've felt a little hesitant for whatever reason. So I'm glad that I'm in a class that will force me to start making ads, getting familiar with the program, and that allows me to see the results. I've been thinking a lot about WHO I want to see my website, and what those customers might be looking for. Aside from creating a product that I think will serve my target audience, I have to really get inside their heads to a new level, trying to figure out what they're literally typing into their phones. It's not as creepy as it sounds....

 All things LEGAL this week! I'll be honest.. just this stuff alone is enough to make me rethink owning my own business. There is a LOT that has to be done! Having a business is more than offering a product or service that you're passionate about and getting paid for it unfortunately. You have to be legit, and have to play by the same rules as the big dogs, even if you're just a college student completing a project for class. So that's kind of a bummer. It definitely takes the fun out of owning a business. But I'm sure it's worth it, I'm sure there's countless horror stories of small business who didn't register their business, get licenses, permits, pay taxes, etc. So hopefully it doesn't take too long to set up. A problem I'm running into this week is that my Squarespace interface isn't loading.. so I can't get in to edit my website. Luckily I had already completed a decent amount, but I still need to add product pictures and update...

 Site Design!! My favorite part of this whole class! I love creating and designing a brand/website that accurately reflects my product, business, and personality. But this doesn't mean I'm an expert at it. I don't have a lot of coding knowledge, and I need to explore more websites to see what I do and don't like. I really liked BrightBox's layout and color scheme, and their product photos were very well done. I'm thinking about possibly doing a flat lay sort of of photo, not just the box, because what I'm selling is the contents! I'm also unsure of how to get away with a colored background. I've seen it really well executed on other sites, but I've been struggling to get it to look good on mine. Overall, I'm really happy with my current site. It's just missing some product photos and reviews, but luckily I'm a photographer so I can take those after putting together the products. I think I'm going to give some friends a box and see...

 Okay WOW- Each week I'm realizing more and more just how much goes into an online business. Setting up products and payment on a site is trickier than I thought. Also, I honestly had no idea what hosting meant. Probably because the site I've created prior to this class has automatic hosting. So I've decided to use Squarespace again, just to stick with what I'm familiar with. I've really enjoyed brainstorming product ideas, designing the website, and even though I have no idea if it'll even be successful, I think it's going to be fun. I'm definitely stretching out of my comfort zone though, not just with the website end of things, but actually putting out a product and the possibility of not selling anything is pretty daunting. But I've experienced that in my photography business as well. Being based out of Rexburg can be tricky, because the main population is college students, who not only don't have a lot of cash, they're also being bombard...

Web Business Creation This week I learned about how important it is to consider all your options before starting your business. Not only do you need to consider different business models, but depending on the model you end up going with, you will have a LOT more options to consider. If you become a retailer, you need to decide who you will purchase your products from. If you were to go with affiliate marketing, you need to decide what companies you want purchasing ad space on your website. Something I've realized is that I like small businesses, keeping the product in my own hands. I like being able to create the product so that I have total control over the end result. I don't think I would be a very good retailer, unless I was able to source my products from either a reliable and well known company, OR another small business that I could work with. Here in Rexburg at the nail salon I go to, she sells products from other small businesses nearby- she has scrunchies, hair clips,...

 Web Business Creation Okay, I have learned a LOT this week about what goes into a web based business. But I think what I've learned can apply to any business, because all business should have websites and be easily accessible to people all over their area. It's definitely making me think about how I can better my photography business to not only be successful, but to be a better reflection of my company values and goals. Some things that I think are especially important in creating a business, after this week's lessons are the following; COMMUNICATION. I fortunately am the only person making decisions in my personal business, but in the case we're reading, I can see a lot of disconnect due to lack of communication. When I do start working with others, like website designers, associate photographers, or business coaches, communication will be key. I already have to have great communication skills when talking with potential clients, but when it comes to the business end...