Popular Advice

There are some very good answers to this question, but I thought I would dd a really helpful tech solution.

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Ranking in the search results is all about content creation and promotion. Without both of these in place, your content will simply get lost in the mix.

We are currently using a number of methods to improve our rankings (which are really good), using each of the methods below.

• High-quality blog content, case studies, and tutorials
• Social media to connect with new audiences and share blog content
• The creation of shareable content like infographics
• Guest blogging and article contributions on other sites
• Creating expert round ups of other top bloggers and industry influencers
• Getting interviewed on other podcasts and running a podcast of our own

Be sure to focus heavily on the content promotion aspect, as this is where the biggest power push for ranking in Google is going to take place.

For more guidance and working methods on how to rank higher in the search results from different experts around the world, I recommend you run through these ten SEO marketing tips.

I wouldn't use $ symbols in URL structure as Micha mentioned this can break the URL and cause issues.

Look at how most of the big Coupon players such as Retail Me Not set up their sits they have a category level page for "PizzaHut" and they list all the deals on the one page they do not set up seprate pages usually and if they do they dont use $ symbols they use dollars as micha mentioned. 

The short answer is YES it is bad practice to use the $ symbol in URLs - . As an alternative, you can encode it as %24 but the best option (for SEO as well) is to use the word 'dollar' or 'dollars' - for example: www.pizzahut.com/vouchers/50-dollar-gift-voucher.

For the long answer, read on.

The dollar symbol is a reserved symbol within URLs - it should not be used as part of a URL except for it's specific technical purpose (as a sub-delimiter). Any attempt to use a reserved symbol in a URL will either break the URL or result in the reserved character being encoded, in this case the $ symbol would be encoded as %24 making your example www.pizzahut.com/vouchers/%2450-gift-voucher

While there are parts of a URL that may contain the $ symbol without breaking the URL, it's safest to avoid them except for their reserved use.

For more information on reserved characters, you can read the URL specification here: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986#section-2.2

I just want to share my two cents with this one. I had an experience that is somewhat related to what happened to them but not that big.

The issue was a rivalry between two employees who took their argument on social media. It was unstoppable, and locals started tagging our business as " home of ****."

The outrage went on for just a few weeks. I didn't want our business to be known that way, so I had to move quickly and do what I got to do, I've initiated a couple of programs that amplifies our brand's core values, ran contests and hired a few local influencers that helped us revive our brand.

But for this one, this is pretty bad, not cool at all, and would be hard to restore their brand image.

Apparently, their issue has been going on in the past few weeks, and it looks like their previous clients who experienced "overbooking" has started sharing their personal experience.

They are totally damaged.

Saw this on LinkedIn and this kind of statements are harsh:

It's like their new value proposition is

"We stand United and heavy-handed if passengers are dead."

Think of this from your customer point of view.  How can your potential customers differentiate a fraudster website from a genuine website? Does fraudster website normally has a physical address on it?  What would your customer think if they can't find an address on your website?  You certainly don't need a physical address for a website but if are selling something on your website and you want to attract more customers, you should have one.

From a legal perspective, you will need to have a registered business address.  This doesn't need to be a business location where customers visit, it can be a home address.  This address will be on a publically available register so people can contact you for legal reasons.

I use a company in China who are very good and great value. wishpacking.com. My contact is Mr Woodwei.

Rick,

One way to know is by the number of clients you are landing. Are you having any issues getting clients at your current price? If not, your prices may be set too low. This may sound counter-intuitive, but you want clients to question your pricing. This gives you a chance to justify your rates and fees.

The other way to know is by the quality of your clients. Are most of your clients easy to work with or are some of them nothing but headaches? Raising your prices will deter clients that want everything for a small fee. Getting rid of clients will also make you feel better (as you won't always be stressed about them reaching out for changes or revisions at the last minute). Also, if a client doesn't seem like a good fit, turn them down. Start saying "no" and you may actually see your profit margin go up.

Matthew,

I have seen this in some of my previous work experiences, however, I think it vastly depends on how well you vet or verify the people you outsource work. I believe that you you conduct your due diligence you're more likely to find a good long term partner. The next part is working on that professional relationship in an ongoing manner. Constantly working on the relationship helps surface areas of frustration before they lead to problems (like them trying to steal your clients).

Speaking specifically about one of my ventures, children's books. I can say I did my due diligence in getting a solid illustrator. I've worked with him on a platform for about a year. Then we took it off that platform so he could give me better pricing and make a bit more money himself. We've been working together for almost 2 years now and it is a great relationship.

Great question Cassidy!! I'd love to answer this one with I personally LOVE SnapChat!!! At first it took a bit of getting used to since it was unlike any other social media channel, but sometimes you just want to give a quick update to your friends without having a deep long conversation. It's a way of keeping up with them even though you can't physically be there (since we're all super busy these days).

I also love the fact that none of it can be used to incriminate you in the future, or used to blackmail you in some way. Unfortunately this kind of things happen a lot with the invention of the smartphone (ability to take pictures quickly and where-ever) So you can still send you fun party photos to your friends without your future clients finding it on Facebook the next day.

It gives you a freedom and privacy you can't have in a public forum like Twitter or Facebook. 

Another thing I love about it not  being stored is that I tend to run a fine line in regards to my storage on my phone. SnapChat allows me to see what my friends are doing without having to save a photo of a half eaten hamburger onto my phone and me having to go and delete it later. This replaces SMS and emails which is great because sometimes the things you want to send you friends is really for that moment and most likely not important to keep.

I'm pretty sure snap chat was never invented as a tool to replace online forums - just another great channel for close friends to share short bursts of moments and information instead of sending a sms or an email.

It has a huge potential, because I'm sure more people send private sms and messages than posting on public social channel, and therefore there is more opportunity to make use of it :)

Absenteeism is a result of multiple factors. The best thing to do before taking any action towards attempting to resolve the issue is to first understand it.

Some basic analysis of the issue should help identify some trends, for example what are the most common days people are taking off. Do those days correlate with any internal or external events. If you can see a trend appearing, for example every second pay day the same employee is calling in sick, you can start to understand what is happening.

People are creatures of habit, that is why behavioral modeling is so effective if done correctly. If you have a system in place to identify when employees are starting work you may even be able to identify early signs of absenteeism and address the issue before it starts.

Absenteeism reporting is common place in large businesses, sure they have expensive reporting software however the same analysis can be done without expensive software.

In some cases it could simply be the person is lazy however in a lot of cases it is something you need to do to change. Like Neil said in his reply, review internal factors as it could be something your doing. KPI, bonus structure and other incentives work however some people just need a challenge and may be getting bored with their job and seeking new challenges.