Ahmad Kareh

With most Americans on social media (79% of adults use Facebook), neglecting to establish social media accounts for your business can be a detriment to your business. On social media sites, business owners can connect with prospective customers, discuss items of interest and build awareness of company products or goals. And the basic costs for doing so are relatively low.

Even if you're getting out the word about your company or brand, what you're saying may not resonate with your customers. Clients can be perfectly happy with the services you provide, but if they do not feel engaged — or remember why they connected with you in the first place — they may not stay. This costs not only revenue but time: If customers leave for competitors, then you need to not only make up the lost income, you need to cover the expenses related to drawing in new potential customers.

The longer you look at your graphics and website, the more you may see the seams and joints: Places where color choices could have been better or stylish fonts that may be looking a little dated now. You know that a full rebranding isn't needed yet, but you want to improve how your brand looks. So how can you do it? How much should you tinker with your visual style and elements? Would it be better for you to focus on updating the content featured on your site or in your social media?

Search engine optimization can be seen as a running battle between website design and search engine companies. Sites constantly seek edges to gain (or keep) their first-page rankings, while search engines want to refine what they promote, in order to improve results for searchers.

There is an old adage: Under promise and over deliver. The idea, introduced by Tom Peters in 1987, has been a truism for decades: Companies have found great success while striving to offer improved versions of services or products in order to retain or attract customers.

Conferences are an excellent chance to meet and network with others in your industry, as well as opportunities to pick up new techniques and ideas. Good speakers provide guidance, sharing stories of challenges they've overcome or highlighting future developments. Discovering what may lie ahead in your field gives you time to prepare, as well as take advantage of the opportunities that the change brings. If search engine optimization is about to change, and you're not ready, you could find yourself losing your place on front pages. If everyone swaps to AI to handle routine tasks, you may find yourself struggling to keep up while using older workflows. Alternately, if conference speakers start making compelling arguments that a particular technology is more fad than function, swapping to the tech while others avoid it can cost you in time, customers and resources.

Creating an image online is hard work. It requires forethought into what message you want to convey, as well as the writing and technical skills to create the image you're imagining. The rewards, though, are worth it: A brand offers a chance to display your skills, draw in public interest and establish a strong marketing engine. So how can you get started?

Social media provides a powerful tool for outreach: Companies can share stories, talk about events or offers, or discuss services or solutions with interested customers or potential clients. But not every small business has set aside the time and money to establish an online strategy or presence.

Rumors have been spreading about your company. Perhaps a product has flaws that should have been found before they were shipped, some of the people working for the company are facing ugly rumors or accusations, or your company simply made an error in judgment. Regardless, the brand's reputation has taken a hit and has the potential to spiral into a long-term issue, given enough time.

Blogging can provide a serious boost to companies or groups wanting to garner meaningful traffic. According to HubSpot, companies that published at least 16 posts a month received 3.5 times the traffic of blogs that published four or fewer posts a month. When done well, blogs offer a chance to show expertise, provide another path to get people interested in a service or product, and can help increase SEO by drawing in visitors.