Instagram Ideas for Business

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Instagram is not just for Millennials. The number of active users continues to grow. Increasingly, it is a good social channel for businesses.

Organizations can use  the platform to connect with audiences, customers, the broader community, and complementary or competing businesses.

Eighty percent of the billion people globally who use Instagram are following at least one business account. With Instagram, you let them know what you are up to – and learn what others are doing – with pictures.

Instagram Stories

Stories are the powerhouse of Instagram. They’re a series of pictures or video clips strung together in sequence. You can have different themes for stories or have regular stories to connect with your followers.

Hashtags 

Instagram is largely organized by hashtags. Hashtags are how people search Instagram. Your brand can create a new hashtag for your community to use and/or make use of existing tags to tap into an existing audience.

The Link Challenge

Many brands use social media to drive traffic to a website. Instagram doesn’t make that easy. Instagram only lets accounts with more than 10,000 followers include a link in posts. Before you hit that number, the only place you can have a link is in your bio. Yup, one link for your whole account.

Because of this, it makes the most sense to engage with users on Instagram. Use it to build awareness, engage and share information. Use pictures to share product and service features and demonstrate your value.

WordPress or Wix?

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Guest post by Natalie Rose, NOVA Web Group

WordPress or Wix?

There are many content management systems (CMSs) to pick from when you create a website. I often get asked whether WordPress or Wix is the better option. My answer is WordPress, hands down.

I have supported several Wix and WordPress websites. While Wix may seem easier and less expensive in the short term, it always works out to be the lesser choice. WordPress is almost always the best option.

Wix Is All-in-One, But Features Are Limited

Wix is for non-technical folks. You can sign up and have hosting, CMS, and design all at your fingertips. The drag and drop interface is easy to use. The designs and features are limited, however.

With Wix’s layouts, you get a dumbed-down, generic look that you’ll share with a lot of other Wix sites. You get some built in features, but if you want something else you are out of luck. Neither of these limitations exist with WordPress.

Search Engine Considerations

There is also a question of how visible a Wix-based site is on search engines. Wix has recently announced improvements to search engine optimization (SEO) features, but it is not clear how effective they are.

WordPress is designed with SEO in mind. Many top-ranked websites are on WordPress. When SEO requirements change, WordPress developers are often the first to adapt.

Different Cost Structures

Wix is entirely subscription-based. You pay a monthly fee for as long as you want your site. If you cancel your Wix account, you lose your website. You can’t use another host.

With WordPress, you own your website. Once it’s developed, you only need to pay your web host to keep your site live. Great hosts can be as little as $4 a month! You can update the software yourself. Even if you elect to have that done for you, the cost is minimal.

When your business grows or your needs change, you have at your disposal literally thousands of plugins to add functionality or create integrations at your site. Most are free. Some have one-time or subscription fees.

WordPress Allows You to Grow

Wix is often a good choice for new business owners with low budgets, personal websites, and small businesses. Most companies will grow beyond Wix sooner than later. Again, you cannot automatically transfer your Wix site content to another CMS like WordPress.

Any company that anticipates growth is better off with WordPress. It is the CMS of choice of businesses that want to maintain a unique brand identity, grow their business, and be flexible during that growth.

Gain an Audience for Your Content

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You work hard to create compelling content but your analytics show that your site traffic isn’t delivering on your expectations. You aren’t alone.

Few sites attract visitors without a visibility strategy. You need to promote your content to attract an audience. Here’s how.

Share Your Content on Social Media

Distribute site content across your social networks. Share to as many networks as are relevant to your target audience. A tool like Hootsuite can make it easy to post to all of your networks from one interface.

Get Others to Share

Build a community of people who are interested in your content. Share their content and ask for the same. These individuals might be in your professional industry, or appeal to an audience similar to your own.

Look for relevant content aggregators. There are sites that gather content on just about any topic. Determine which content aggregators are most relevant to your niche and familiarize yourself with the types of content they share. Follow the guidelines to get included.

You can also ask journalists and publications to distribute your content. Some publications accept submissions from guest bloggers. Others will consider your content as source material for a story they will write. Always look for the guidelines to determine how your content best fits with each publication site.

Allow People to Subscribe

When someone lands on your content, make sure they can sign up to get more. People are busy and content that gets delivered to them is more likely to be followed.