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SusanRanford

SEO Basics for Any Small Business Website

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 Foothold and forward motion 

The best way to explain SEO is to look at it as a game – each of the search engines that constitute the SERPs, or the Search Engine Results Pages, have different players who attempt to win coveted spots by formulating certain ‘rules’ or ‘tricks’.

So for example, if you wanted to rank for the term ‘ mainline train’, you would have to do lots of keyword research and a lot of onsite SEO in order to make sure that your website was optimized for that term. There are lots of things that you can do wrong, but let me cover off the most easily avoidable mistakes and the problems they bring.

So let’s assume you have your site optimized, the next biggest area that a potential visitor would look at is the title. The title tag is the words you see in the blue bar at the top of your browser on any page. Top SEO professionals use tools such as Title generators in order to optimize and create the best title tag. 

If the search engines are picking up your site, and particularly if they are readable in a browser by someone who has JavaScript on their page, they will read the words in the title tag as a big clue as to what your site is about and as to whether it is relevant to their search.

Make sure your title tag is unique  

Next is the H1 tag – in case you don’t know what an H1 tag is, it is the ‘header’ tag (I don’t know how else to say it, so just know that it is part of the HTML code used to create a webpage). The H1 tag needs to include the most important keyword for that page, and hopefully that is the main keyword your page is focused on.

The way many people manage this tag is by creating H1 tags for each and every page using the main keywords they are targeting in the titles and subheadings on that page. So if you have a page that is all about meetings in London, then you would want to use ‘Meeting in London’ in the H1 tag.

The meta data is the behind-the-scenes part of the web page that is not readily visible. It contains all sorts of information that is not seen by the user, but is compiled to determine how relevant your site is to the search being run. In our example, it would be useful to include a sentence or two about the meetings to help the search engines understand what the page is about. There is also likely to be some secondary keywords relevant to the Meeting and its Setting. So if you run a hotel in London, then you would want to include those.

Meta description 

The meta descriptions are the little blurb that appears under the Google listing with a very brief summary of the site and the time and location of the meeting. Again, there is a chance that some of the search engines will pick up on these.

But all in all, there is little to be gained by trying to fill in the meta description tag. I think that it is simply a waste of valuable online space that could be used to better effect by putting less entries or descriptions in the tag, and more focus could be placed on the page titles and the meet-ups. They are the single most important factor for getting your site on the 1st page of the search engines when your keywords are being used by prospective visitors!

So, in summary, there are 3 rules you need to follow to make sure that the metatags for the 1st page of Google are valid:

  • Validate the metatags(at least on the 1st page of Google)
  • Prior to uploading your site, make sure that you have made it clear to Google that the site is ready to be indexed and that there is nothing they (the search engines) would be likely to be searching for!
  • Make sure that the meta description and the meta keywords are as complete as possible.

Target the keywords 

 If you make sure that you have used the keywords that you think that visitors are going to search for when performing a Google search, you will very likely attract the visitors you are aiming for.

Make sure the H1 tag is used once on the page 

Make sure it’s used  at least once deep within the page if possible. It is actually preferable to use the H2 tag as the 1st phrase of your page content – this tells the search engine that the page is primarily about the H2 tag keyword, whatever that may be!

Author Bio 

Prior to becoming an online article writer for Technical Writers, Cooper took the opportunity to explore the digital world with a range of academic and fitness focused training courses. After taking a gap year, before acquiring a full time career in content creation, Cooper also worked as a personal trainer for his local gym where he developed his wealth of knowledge in the health and fitness industry.

How Employers Can Bring More Confidence To Their Team

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Teams that operate without confidence operate from a place of fear – fear to try new technologies, fear to report problems, fear to share ideas or observations.

This leads to a culture of stagnation, blame, exclusion “need-to-know mentality,” and lost productivity, among other negatives. Quality and quantity of output almost always suffer. 

By contrast, teams that operate with confidence are characterized by a variety of positive traits, which may vary depending on the culture and context and business needs – high rate of innovation, smooth change management, reduced error rates, collaborative and supportive environments, calculated risk-taking, and swift response to unforeseen circumstances. 

Confident teams are agile, friendly and provide great customer service.

Put in simple terms, the way a person feels about his or her work determines how engaged or disengaged they are – and being confident about one’s performance on the job is a key indicator of overall employee satisfaction. 

Below are some reasons that employees in general – especially high-performing employees on which companies heavily rely – either stay highly engaged and motivated, or completely disengage.

The Importance of Strong, Positive Leadership

It is easy to forget sometimes that employees are human beings, often trying to do their best to balance the commitments of their lives. Employees disengage at high rates when they do not feel like the work they do is important, especially in the younger generations. This may be a result of any of a number of core issues; most often related to issues with process and management.

They may be micromanaged. Their core values may not be aligned with the company mission. The cumbersome processes they navigate on a daily basis may make a saint curse. They may not realize how their contributions support others. They may be in the wrong position for their talents. They may not be the right person for the job. They may not have the training they need to operate at optimal performance. They may have something else on their mind.

In general, an employee will re-engage if he or she receives recognition and praise at least twice a month for what they bring to the team – better if more often, best if related to specific achievements and given publicly.

How Tech Tools Can Help

One way to keep employees motivated is to clear all the small-minded administrivia off their plates. 

Employees want to function at a high level and think creatively. Freeing them up motivates them. One way to do this is to implement automation tools to make their lives easier and eat up a lot of the busy work. 

Automated management software can take over a lot of these tasks, like scheduling and reporting. Other tools are more specific. Some focus on marketing outreach, others focus on invoicing, some focus on data backup, and on and on. 

Software can make it easy for managers to track employee advances and contributions for recognition. Teams can use it to improve outdated business processes and update vital information systems. 

Attainment of goals and department contributions can be visually shared on a weekly basis. Latent talents can be uncovered. Employees that are the wrong fit can be identified early on and transferred. Employee training can be managed. Management problems can be identified. These are all positives. 

Let Employees Know You Value Them

Getting high-performing individual employees and teams to remain engaged and fully support the company objectives involves showing them that their contributions are valued. 

Take time to recognize them in the company newsletter for going above and beyond. Provide incentives. Provide the recognition listed above. However, most importantly, take the time to arrange their workload so that almost every day they get the chance to work on what they do best – and reduce the amount of non-value-added tasks they have to perform. 

Consider the employee’s education level, training, and ability. Are you making a highly skilled employee spend more than 50% of their time on tasks that a high school student could do? If so, you are both woefully losing out. 

If you are asking a person with a master’s degree in economics to scrub floors and spend all of time on data entry, do not expect them to wait long before looking for another job. The work that your employees do should reflect the real potential that they bring to the corporation.

One of the biggest hurdles to reaching the magic “80%” mark – where 80% of the time, an employee is confidently working in his or her area of added-value. Streamlining your business processes, and automating and updating your processes and systems, can free up valuable time where a good employee can better be contributing his analysis, her business acumen, their overhaul of your customer service program. 

Instead of spending two hours a day on reports, they can spend two hours a day brainstorming next year’s product line. A great way to build more efficiency into your company and processes is to optimize the use of good business process management software platforms, which simplify complex interactions and reduce duplication of effort. 

They can also handle things like electronic signatures, simultaneous review, and system upgrades. Clear expectations and goals and targets are also easy to create and communicate with the platforms offered by a number of software firms.

Think About  What They Need

The number one reason that employees disengage is that they not understand, clearly what is required of them. Only slightly behind is not having the tools they need to effectively, efficiently, and/ or responsibly do the work that is asked. The best employee in the world cannot do a job that requires a database if he or she does not have a well-designed, responsive database that creates the type of report they need to provide. 

The best thing you can do for your employees in this regard is understand the work they do, and respond adequately to their stated needs. Improve workflow processes and systems, and teach employees how to optimize their use. You can incorporate the use of software packages to proactively anticipate demand, examine inefficiencies, and test the performance of proposed solutions. 

Include employee feedback in the design, implementation, testing, and operational feedback of systems and processes- and use software to track and analyze this feedback.

Understand Who They Are

Many employers mistakenly think that pay and benefits are all that employees care about. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. You need to create the type of environment where the type of employee you want, actually wants to work.

Think about the needs of your employees as individuals. Know who is an introvert. Know who is best motivated by teamwork. Know what intrinsically motivates your employees – pleasure, pleasantness, and sense of security? Power, importance and influence? Being an outstanding contributor? Opportunities to learn and grow? Specific guidance on every task, or do need to figure it out themselves? Do they a 9-5 schedule, or will they be best suited by a flexible schedule?

Apart the above-mentioned focusing them on their best field of work expertise, also know what motivations and conditions encourage them do their best work. Try to work those things into their work to the extent possible, and also use your software platforms to encourage collaboration of complementary work styles and strengths.

Focus on Personal Growth, Relationships and Collaboration

Employees often feel isolated and insecure when they are not encouraged to create professional friendships at work. To build confidence in your team, encourage professional networking, collaboration and friendship building within your team. 

Encourage team-building, not just once a year, but at regular intervals. Let employees train each other. Celebrate each month’s birthdays. Provide safe spaces for employees to voice concerns and ideas. Provide platforms for anonymous feedback. provide platforms for employees to recognize each other. provide the types of workspaces that aid both employees who need to focus on a task at hand, and those who want to collaborate. 

Provide cloud sharing and virtual meeting spaces for employees who work remotely. Remember to include and recognize the contributions of your remote employees as well, and invite them to company functions. Keep a “who to call” database of employee strengths for resolving challenges. 

Steps In Creating an Excellent Company Culture

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Work culture is the way things function every day in an organization. It encompasses the behaviors and beliefs of the staff. 

A company’s work culture affects how people behave in a company and how they treat customers. It can strengthen or weaken its organizational structure. 

For an organization to succeed, it is important to create a strong company culture. So, how do we create a culture that ensures the organisation and its people thrive? Here are some tips on how to go about it.

1. Have a purpose 

Your purpose will determine the work culture as it will guide how you interact and do business. 

If a company wants to have a great purpose, it must set up clearly defined goals aimed at excellence. By focusing on and achieving worthy goals, a company will create a culture of excellence.

2. Set a vision

In order to project excellence into the future, company leaders and staff must work with a vision in mind. The vision that leaders have, determines where the company will end up in years to come. 

Company leaders should write a vision statement that everyone in the company will follow. The statement will give purpose to every day of the companies’ existence, guiding the  and  leaders and staff choices. Following a good vision is a sure way of creating an excellent culture.

3. Set strong standards

The standards of a company will determine its culture. Standards help people choose the right values. The right values attract great customers and guide employees to do the right things. 

Determine the standards in your company and establish them by outlining them in a mission statement. This will create a strong foundation for your company. The main focus should be to provide the best services or goods. 

4. Let people lead by example

Leaders of a company and their values determine how the company performs. If the leaders have great values, they will create a great example that employees can follow. 

Therefore, company leaders must adopt habits of success and ensure the management team does the same so that they lead by example. Their focus should be doing the right thing and handling any problems promptly and efficiently. That will create a great work ethic that will benefit the company and its customers.

5. Establish a strong brand

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Establishing a strong brand is an essential step in creating an excellent company culture. Your company needs ambassadors that represent your brand. 

Your brand will inspire the staff and anyone associated with it to stick to company values. How strong your brand is, can also determine your customer base. Follow these steps to come up with a great brand.

6. Treat employees right

If your employees are unhappy, they are unlikely to maintain a work ethic that produces excellence. New Jersey Employment experts believe employees who are  well paid and treated right are more productive. After all, employees are the face of the company to the customer. 

A company with an excellent work  culture must have policies in place that establish worker’s rights.

7. Focus on quality

The quality of your services or goods will bring the customers to your door and build your reputation. As a step towards creating an excellent company culture, focus on actions that will lead to quality creation. 

Compromising on quality will end up hurting your brand. Invest in any procedures, training, or people that will push your company forward by producing quality services/goods, and you have a winner.

8. Embrace changes

If you want an excellent company culture, create a habit of looking ahead and preparing for change. Whether good or bad, your company must adapt to stay ahead. Therefore, create a habit of embracing change and even driving it where possible. 

Favorable change can bring you profits, and any adverse changes need to be foreseen, prepared for, and overcome. For example, with rising costs, you may have to embrace energy saving options such as architectural window tinting to save costs. 

You may also have to embrace modern technology to bring your company, its services, and products into the digital age. If you decide to stay in the analog era, you will have a hard time establishing excellence.

9. Communicate well

Communication is the foundation of great relationships. Communicate your goals to managers and workers and find ways of making sure what you say is understood and done the right way.

If you communicate your vision well, then you will succeed in seeing it accomplished. With numerous successes arising from well-communicated visions and goals, you will establish a culture of excellence in your company.

10. Interact with others 

Create great relationships with brands that have adapted and mastered an excellent company culture. You will learn from them how to conduct business in ways that bring you success. 

Networking with successful companies will also expose you to a more extensive customer base, which will bring you more profits. Where employees interact, they can learn from each other in ways that benefit your company. Therefore, make an effort to reach out to successful brands and networking with them often.

Last word

These are just a few tips on how to create an excellent company culture. It all starts with the desire for great things and the will to work on a great future. As a company leader, take it upon yourself to work on ways of improving your company culture, and you will see the benefits of higher employee satisfaction, lower turnover, happy customers and consequently, increased profits. Try these tips and see how they transform your business.

Author: Denise Paul

Understanding Predictive Index Test Scores

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Baffled by your Predictive Index Test score results? 

In this article, we will shed light on the test result of the two common Predictive Index Tests: the Predictive Index Cognitive Assessment and the Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment. 

What Is The PI Cognitive Assessment?

The Predictive Index (PI) Cognitive Assessment is a 12-minute timed cognitive test that is made up of 50 questions, which are comprised of three categories: abstract reasoning, verbal and numeric. It is a measure of general cognitive ability, or the capacity to learn quickly and assimilate new information.  

According to research, general cognitive ability is a reliable predictor of how an individual will perform in a workplace setting. Thus, many organizations use this Predictive Index Test when making hiring and promotion decisions. 

Understanding PI Cognitive Assessment Test Scores 

The PI Cognitive Assessment scaled score, is calculated according to the number of correct answer responses of the test-taker. The scaled score is the only PI Cognitive Assessment score intended to be used by employers when making employee talent-related decisions. 

What is the Average PI Cognitive Assessment Raw Test Score?

A raw score is the number of correct answers you got on your test. The average raw score in this Predictive Index Test ranges from 17-23. However, you can pretty safely say that the population’s average raw score is 20 right answers. 

What is the Norm Group?

When making hiring decisions, most employers use scoring tables of certain norm groups that relate to the job position they are hiring for. 

A norm group (or a quartile group) is a sample of pre-tested candidates who share a specific characteristic and whose scores were aggregated to develop a benchmark. When an employer seeks to hire a candidate for a new job position, the test administrator provides them with this benchmark so they can establish a cutoff score for their recruitment process. 

What is a Scale Score?

The PI Cognitive Assessment score is a scaled score that is calculated based on the number of questions you answer correctly on the test. There are no penalties for incorrect answers. In short, the more questions you answered correctly, the higher your score.

The only score on this Cognitive Predictive Index Test report that is meant to be used in relation to talent decision making is the scaled score, which is found at the top of the score report. The scale is 100-450 and the average score is 250, which is equivalent to a raw score of approximately 20/50. Every score falls into a percentile which demonstrates how your score compares to the scores of other test-takers in terms of percentages.

What are the PI Cognitive Assessment Cutoff Scores?

A cutoff score, or target score, is influenced by the employer’s decision, the profile of the job, and the recommendations of the assessment company (in this case Predictive Index). In essence, each employer determines its own cutoff PI Cognitive Assessment score. 

What Is The PI Behavioral Assessment?

The PI Behavioral Assessment is a free-choice, untimed, stimulus-response tool that is designed to measure the motivating drives of individuals. It measures four central personality traits: Dominance, Extraversion, Patience, and Formality. 

The PI Behavioral Assessment Reference Profile

After you complete this Behavioral Predictive Index Test you will receive a Reference Profile—a snapshot overview of the way you think and the way you are likely to work. 

The Predictive Index Test science team identified 17 “Reference Profile” after analyzing millions of Behavioral Assessments. These Reference Profiles provided groupings of attributes of individuals who have similar drives. 

The Reference Profiles  

Analytical Profiles:

  • Analyzer – Analyzers tend to demand a lot of details and will collect all relevant facts before forming a decision. 
  • Controller – Controllers are fast-paced and self-disciplined. They are always pushing themselves to get things done correctly.
  • Venturer – Venturers are always pushing past and exploring boundaries. They look for ways to drive the business forward.  
  • Specialists – Specialists are introspective, err on the side of caution, and are very loyal to authority. 
  • Strategist – The strategist looks at the big picture, they look towards the future and think about how decisions can benefit the whole business. 

Social profiles:

  • Altruist – Altruists are accurate, supportive, humble, and helpful workplace colleagues.  
  • Captain –  These individuals have a strong will and very independent and open to any change. 
  • Collaborator – Characterized as generally empathetic, cooperative, and patient. 
  • Maverick – These individuals tend to adopt leadership positions, they are visionaries and have high aspirations. 
  • Promoter – Promoters are extraverted and charismatic, they are popular and widely liked. 
  • Persuader – Persauders don’t easily take no for an answer. They are well-spoken and likable. They know how to motivate others. 

Stabilizing Profiles

  • Adapter – Adapters can take on different types of roles, they are typical generalists.
  • Craftsman – These individuals listen more than they talk, and are reliable workers.
  • Guardian – Guardians tend to bring precision and structure to their place of work. 
  • Operator – They are informal, relaxed, and reliable individuals.  They tend to be patient and cooperative.  

Persistent Profiles

  • Individualist – Individualists are strong-minded and tackle challenges with confidence. They are analytical and persistent.  
  • Scholar – Scholars are knowledgeable yet reserved individuals.  

Summary 

In this article, we have seen how the most important score of the PI Cognitive Assessment is the scaled score, which is based on the number of questions the test-taker answered correctly. We have also noted, that after you complete the PI Behavior Assessment you will receive a Reference Profile—an overview of the way you work and think.  

Proven Method to Inventory Forecasting and Accurate Budgeting

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Inventory forecasting or estimation can be explained as a financial routine of preempting or forecasting future inventory on a particular timescale. More mundane it is a scientific take on predicting specified future sales regarding a based proposed marketing approach and competitive and uncontrollable sets of forces. 

The future of your retail is predominant on Forecasting inventory and plays a big role in figures of profitability. The type of system you use is supposed to consider sales or purchases encountered in the past month; past season, and the customized duration that depends on future business transactions.

Inventory Planning In Relation To Past Month Sale
When planning the inventory for a coming month using the past month sale, the number of planning days on the inventory is pertinent. (For this scenario, 30 days) in touch with how long you intend the inventory arrangement to be worked on in regards to (for this scenario, past 30 days).

Ascertained to a specific vendor or product, it is feasible to use a brand name based filter. You will be provided with a suggested quantitative by the system you are using when filling in your inventory. 

This will be based on the past month daily average sale. The systems suggested quantity can also be used to calculate the precise delivery time of a product by a vendor.

Inventory Planning In Relation To Past Season Sale

As the one above, you will be provided with the quantities that are suggested by the system. This can help you in the afore planning of holidays like Christmas to come based mostly on how much you sold on the previous Christmas. 

In this case, you will need to have the required days, 60 days that’s for December and January in conjunction with the previous December and January to calculate a perfect inventory prediction.

With that said, looking at your fresh stock and how fast or slow they are moving is also essential. On bigger occasions like Christmas, it is imperative to apply other factors to your inventory planning on fresh stocks will help you in keeping your customers for lack of new stock.

Why Both Beginning And Ending Inventory Cost Calculations Are Important 
Firstly it aids you in monitoring your business’ current trends. For instance, on one side a beginning inventory that is decreased is a nice omen since it might result from that sales growth of a certain period.

While on the other side, it might result from problems in the processes of your inventory management or supply chain.  

For the beginning inventory cost that has increased, it might arise either from a sales’ downward trend or having stock build-up prior to a busy period like prior to holidays. Thus it is crucial to be very accurate draw right conclusions as well as make good decisions while calculating both the beginning and ending inventories.

How to Calculate Ending Inventory
Are you having difficulties on how to calculate ending inventory? Basically ending inventory is calculated by annexing new purchases with the beginning inventory then deducting the sold goods costs. In other simpler words, ending inventory is a product of the available goods that have not been sold at an accounting period end. 

Despite the unit number at the end of an accounting period is not dominant to the inventory outcome; the type of valuation system has an impact on the value of the dollar of ending inventory.

So management has to be very careful on the type of system they use.
In a time of inflationary pressures or rising of prices, FIFO brings out a bigger ending inventory valuation as compared to LIFO. In that regards, specific businesses strategically choose FIFO or LIFO techniques based on the environment the businesses are located at.

Ending Inventory Breakdown
A physical inventory count may lead to additional correct inventory valuation. However, for enormous businesses, that’s unpractical. RFID systems, Inventory management software, as well as other technologies leveraging platforms and connected devices advancements, may ease the challenge of valuation.

Other inclusive problems are:
• Listing down theft inventory levels, general obsolescence, and decreases in market value.
• A popular item of the balance sheet is the Ending inventory that is important for obtaining financing. Creditors and investors closely monitor financial statements that are owned by manufacturing and retail businesses that are inventory rich.
• Correct inventory valuations can have an impact on several popular metrics of financial statements.  

Income statement items are inclusive of gross profit, cost of goods sold as well as net income. Equity, total assets, current assets as well as working capital emanate from a balance sheet.

Every item is crucial for having a business’ performance and financial statements assessed.
Conclusion
Therefore, when it comes to forecasting, several uncertainties are for sure for every organization. To have these uncertainties’’ adverse effects reduced an organization needs to take an iterative approach to determine a projected inventory in the future.

When you have data available, everything is measurable. However, to forecast inventory accurately, you need to be focused on relevant data points. It is important to take a few points when you are forecasting inventory.