Small Business Consulting Services

What does “small business consulting services” mean?  What do they do?

You’ve got a small business.  You know you need a website.  You know you need some sort of marketing strategy.  But, where you begin and which do you do first?

Do you have a logo?  A tagline? A mission statement? A privacy policy? Do you need these things?

Does your business email end with @yourbusiness.com or is it more like yourbusinessname@yahoo.com or yourbusinessname@gmail.com? Does it matter?

This is where Carmik Design’s Small Business Consulting Services comes in.  We can help you determine what is needed for your small business to succeed and even take care of some of those things for you so you can focus on what is really important – running your small business.

How Does it Work?

First, you Contact Us and let us know you need help. We’ll set up a meeting with you to discuss what you are looking for and/or what your small business may need to succeed in today’s competitive digital world. If you decide you want Carmik Design to evaluate your current situation and make recommendations for you, we can do that, too.

There is a small fee for the evaluation and recommendations but you are under no obligation to pursue the recommended course of action with Carmik Design.

That said, Carmik Design is skilled in both website development and digital marketing including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing (SMM), and other marketing channels- both online and offline.  You can read more about that on our About page.

You are free to take the report and work on the recommendations yourself or you may use it to shop for other website developer/designers and marketing companies skilled in business branding, search engine optimization (SEO) , and social media marketing (SMM).

Before deciding to do it yourself or shopping for other companies, there are a few things we think it is important for you to know.

Web Development, Website Design, Search Engine Optimization SEO), and Social Media Marketing (SMM)

One of the biggest misconceptions is that web development, website design, and search engine optimization (SEO) are all part of the same package.  This is rarely the case.  Let’s take a look at each of these and see what they encompass.

Web Design

Web design refers to the look and feel of the website.  A web designer will take the list of elements necessary for the website and decide where the best placement of each should be.

They also choose the color scheme, type of fonts used and other visual aspects of the website along with basic functionality according to the needs of the client.

A good web designer is skilled in creating the perfect user experience. S/he knows the latest trends in website design and will seamlessly combine aesthetics and functionality.

Web Development

Web development refers the non-design aspects of a website such as button functionality, interactive forms, data collection, etc..

Front-end web development refers to the  functionality of the website such as making sure the interactive forms, buttons, and other interactive elements display and function correctly in the browser.

Back-end web development refers to the programming and functionality that takes place “behind the scenes” at the server level.

A good web developer will seamlessly combine front-end and back-end functions for maximum functionality.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization  (SEO) refers to the process of creating quality, keyword optimized content for a website in an effort to achieve a high search engine result (SERP) ranking.

There are many facts involved to making this happen, not the least of which, is comprehensive keyword research.

Just thinking you want to be found via a certain keyword isn’t enough if nobody is searching for it or if the competition for it is too high.

Search engine optimization is quite complex which is why you may need to hire someone to do it for you.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing refers to your business presence on social media.  The name “social media marketing” is misleading because it sounds like you just post a lot of ads and information about your business and that’s it.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Social media marketing is about interacting and engaging with others to build their trust in your business and to build your search engine trust score (you can read more about this on our Social Media Marketing page.

It takes time. It takes effort. It takes diligence.

But, if you do it right, your small business is sure to grow.

Don’t make the mistake of neglecting social media. It could be detrimental to your business.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that there is a lot involved in building a successful comprehensive marketing strategy for your small business.

If you aren’t sure where to start, Carmik Design’s Small Business Consulting Services can help.

Contact Us, today!