lainey0704

[lainey0704]

W13 Reflection: Ranking, Link Building & Google Analytics

This week was not the easiest because of the subjects we learned, but it proved to be more useful the more I learned about each thing. The first thing we learned about this week is link building. I didn't understand this subject going into it, but the examples given in the instructions made the idea more clear. I was able to create two different strategies to improve my SEO through link building. I chose to use social media and a blog to help my links be gathered. I really loved the discussion board for this subject as well because my classmates had great ideas! They helped my understanding of the subject a lot which I was grateful for. The other thing we learned more about was Google Analytics. We learned how to look up and analyze data specifically for Google Analytics. It is an interesting tool to use. I think I will be sticking with plain ol' Google, but it was an interesting subject to learn. As this semester is coming to an end, I feel like this week has tied many important subjects to one another!

[lainey0704]

W12: Social Media for SEO & Social Networking

This week was really important because we learned how to optimize social media to our benefit. It was not as easy as I imagined and I learned a lot of interesting things. We were also able to make our own optimization plan, which I thought was a great idea! I stated in mine that I would share my business's social media with friends and family. I wanted to try and get their support, so it could eventually start growing bigger and bigger. My goal is to have a social media page with a loyal following where I can interact with them. Social networking is so important when starting a business. With some, it can make all the difference. It can really help boost your business and there are many ways to social network. It is something I want to take advantage of in the future!

[lainey0704]

W10: Reflection ROI & Optimization

This week has been a little tough for me because it is getting more into the specifics of setting up my Google Ads and Google Analytics information. At the beginning of the week, we learned more about what certain terms mean such as conversions and conversion values. Knowing Google's terminology is helpful because you want to be able to analyze the data you receive in the right way. It took me a little while to figure out, but I was successfully able to add Google tracking to my website. The second big assignment I had to accomplish this week was analyzing a Google Ads campaign. I enjoyed this assignment because I had to apply my knowledge of Google Ads to the data presented. I feel like it was helpful to have a real campaign as an example. It was an extremely helpful assignment. This week has been a learning curve,  but the lessons have given me good information to help me improve. 

[lainey0704]

W9 Reflection: Relevance & Quality Score

This week I learned about relevance and Quality Scores for Google Ads. This was an informative task because we learned more about the technology Google has to enhance our ads. There are a few things you can do to increase your ad Quality Score such as making your ads more relevant, improving your clickthrough rate (CTR), or updating your landing page. I also liked the group discussion on this topic because the class really added to the specifics of what you can do to improve ads. The second thing I learned more about this week was all about installing Google Analytics. This was a little tricky because I am using a platform that I had to manually connect Google Analytics to, but I ended up figuring it out. I'm hoping I did it correctly, so everything runs smoothly. I like learning more about Google Analytics and what it can do for your website. I'm impressed with all the features it has. I like how you can connect it to your Google Ads account to get more accurate advice on what ads are helping with website engagement. Overall, I believe it will be a very helpful tool to help my online business become more successful over time.

[lainey0704]

W8 Reflections: Ads

This week was a very simple week, which I am grateful for. We learned about refining our Google ads and how to create strong responsive search ads. The articles and videos about how to refine this particular ad were very helpful. When I first set up my account, it had me make a responsive ad. I was a little confused if I was doing the right things. I was not confident that it was the best ad, but I knew I would learn more about it and I did! There are so many useful tools and advice given on Google. It makes the process a lot easier once you understand the settings better. It was an interesting experience. I never realized how hard it is to come up with headlines and descriptions for an ad. I struggled to promote my store in specific and unique ways, but I was able to improve my ad through the assignments this week.

[lainey0704]

W7 Reflection: Google Ads & Keywords

This week we learned more about Google Ads and Keywords. This was an interesting assignment because we got to dive into how these things work. Starting the Google Ad campaign was simple considering all the different options. I won’t say I completely understand it yet, but I definitely got the main idea of how it works. I’m excited to put the Google Ads campaign into motion. I’d like to see how it works from both ends (my end and the customer’s end). The other thing we learned about this week is Keyword Basics. I found this module extremely useful because I didn’t have the slightest idea of what keyword I should use for my business. It is hard thinking from the creator’s perspective, so I tried my best to think of the customer’s perspective and what they would look up if they were trying to find my products. I also figure that the best way to create keywords is not to be too broad or too specific. It is important to hit the sweet spot which is right in the middle. Hopefully, I can start to perfect my keywords, so I can have more success with Google Ads!

[lainey0704]

W6 Reflections: Legal Structures

There were some great insights this week. It was all about learning about the legal structures and requirements of a business. This is not only important, but it is crucial to avoid legal trouble. I figured out that I'd like to start my business being a Sole Proprietorship. This seems like the best option and the easiest to simply get started. If I decide to continue on this path, I will probably consider making my business an LLC because it provides more legal protections. I was also thankful that we were pushed to research the specific business licenses, certifications, and tax information in our state. This gave me a better awareness of what I have to do to legally be able to start my business. It was extremely helpful to the cause! I also enjoyed Project 2, which was about publishing your website. I had so much fun designing my website and I feel like it helped me process some more ideas that I want for my business. 

[lainey0704]

W05 Reflection: Site Design

My favorite part of this week was learning about site design. I enjoyed this activity because I got to compare websites of what my future store may look like. I am a very visual learner, so I found this activity extremely helpful. Being able to find the similarities between the websites was interesting because most of the websites I visited had very similar website layouts/designs. I thought the advice of only creating a couple of tabs on your website is a great option because if there are too many tabs it can be very overwhelming for the customer. I liked this advice, and I will most definitely implement it on my website. I also learned about credit card payments and ways to get a payment system set up on my website. I didn’t realize how much coding went into these types of things. It is a great reminder that there are so many things that I can learn! Although I wasn’t successful in creating a PayPal button that works, it gave me a better idea of what is needed to launch a PayPal button

[lainey0704]

W4 Reflection: Site Builder & Hosting

This week was very insightful on what the next steps are to having a business! This week was especially exciting because we got the explore website builders. This was my favorite because it was so interesting to learn the logistics of building your own website. There were so many interesting options and features to choose from and I enjoyed exploring what would fit my needs. I am a creative person, so this piqued my interest in what my website could look like. I also like learning about hosting as well. I didn’t realize how important it is to have a good host for storage and efficiency purposes. We also turned in our Project 1 where we explored the pros and cons of certain products. This project got my gears turning about what I really wanted to do and achieve. It was very helpful to figure out the statistics on what the best choice is. I found the project to be extremely helpful and now I am one step closer to having my online business. I am so excited!

[lainey0704]

W3 Reflection: Sourcing the Product

This week’s lessons were very valuable to me. Learning about brokers, manufacturers, and wholesalers was interesting. I will admit that I had no clue what a broker actually did before this week. I have always heard the term but have never understood what they do. Now that I have a better understanding of it, I can understand their place in things. I liked learning about manufacturers and wholesalers as well. It gave me a better insight into what it might be like, when trying to find a product that you’d like to sell. The article we read was truly informative as to how everything worked and it simplified things for me. It also taught me, the less people I need to go through, the better prices I’ll get! I also like learning more about drop shipping and affiliate marketing. These two things were probably what I was most familiar with, but it was nice to investigate it a little more to see how everything worked. I think they are both great ways of making additional income. Overall, I enjoyed the lessons this week. I feel like they add so much value and clarification to how businesses work!

[lainey0704]

W2 Reflection: Choosing a Business

I really enjoyed this week’s modules. The first thing we really learned about were business models and idea generation. I enjoyed reading the article about all the different business models. There are so many different models to choose from. It really came as a surprise to me, and I learned so much about how the different models functioned! It really got me thinking about what I wanted to do for my own business. That lesson was, in my opinion, a great start to the course because it sparked a lot of ideas for me. For example, I wasn’t too sure what sort of product/service to choose from, but now that I have a better idea on how things work, I believe I figured out what will work the best for me. I also like learning about demand and competition as well. There are so many variables that go into the demand and competition of products. It was interesting to test those variables out in Google Ads. It was a great way of seeing direct correlations between specific keywords. It will be a useful tool/resource when creating my online business.

[lainey0704]

only because I do this...

visit the struggle wagon for more funny posts like this!