Newsletter #144 - 5 ways to promote your website online, How to reinvent yourself to stand out from the competition, Guide to Computer Viruses and Malware, VAT registered businesses must use sequential invoice numbers

In this week's Business121:

1. 5 ways to promote your website online
2. How to reinvent yourself to stand out from the competition
3. Guide to Computer Viruses and Malware
4. VAT on "services" - some basics
5. VAT registered businesses must use sequential invoice numbers

Small Business News

6. Entrepreneurs' Relief - Business owners urged to plan carefully
7. HMRC to take it easy on late filers of paper SA returns this year
8. Entrepreneurs need more pro-business Government action
9. BCC, IMF reports show UK economy already in recession
10. Small company staff redundancies set to rise as downturn deepens

5 ways to promote your website online

These days a website is a must for the vast majority of businesses. But there's no point in having a great looking website if nobody can find it, so here are 5 tips to help you to promote your website online and get visitors to your website;

1. Get more links to your website
Forget all the "quick fixes" to building links that you see advertised, the best thing to do is build up a bank of links yourself over time. You should look to exchange links with other relevant websites. Also, take part in business forums, visit relevant blogs and add comments. Add some value to the website you are contributing to and make sure you always have a link to your website in your signature.

2. Write articles
One of the best ways to display your knowledge is to write articles on subjects that you have an expertise in. If you write good quality articles, there are a host of websites that accept original content from experts. You will be spreading the word about your website and getting another link.

3. Use email marketing
When visitors come to your site give them the opportunity to leave their name and email address. The option to sign up to a regular email newsletter is a popular way to do this, as it's an excellent way to encourage repeat visits.

4. Add a blog
If you have a fair bit to say, why not add a blog to your website. By including social media tags for aggregators like del.icio.us, Technorati and Digg you can make it easy for people to spread the word about your blog.

5. Pay per click advertising
If you need visitors right away – the only guaranteed way to do that is to buy traffic by advertising online. Pay Per Click (PPC), advertising is popular with lots of small businesses because you can target your advert very specifically and you only pay when someone clicks on your advert.

For more details of PPC and to find out whether it's worth testing for your business, read our guide on Pay per click advertising for small businesses

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How to reinvent yourself to stand out from the competition
How do you differentiate your service business from those of your rivals? If you operate in a competitive market selling much the same services as everyone else, here are some ideas to help you to stand out from the crowd.

Guide to Computer Viruses and Malware
It is an unfortunate fact of life that every networked computer is a potential victim of computer viruses and malware. If your computer is ever infected then it can result in catastrophic loss of important business data. Protecting this data and your PC equipment is therefore a vital part of running a small business.

This guide will help you to understand the problems of malware and computer viruses and give you some tips to help secure your equipment from attack.

VAT on "services" - some basics
VAT law states that a service is the supply of anything that is "not goods"! Even the supply of goods on hire is the supply of hire services. That means a lot falls under the one category of "services". VAT law therefore breaks this huge "services" category into numerous different sub-categories. Here are some basic tips to help you determine whether the services you provide or purchase are subject to VAT.

VAT registered businesses must use sequential invoice numbers
From 1st October 2007, new VAT invoicing regulations came into play which required all invoices issued use an identifying number that is unique and sequential. Although HMRC said they were very unlikely to issue penalties for non-compliance with the new rules for the first year, that period is now over. Here are some FAQ's to help get your head round the sequential numbering requirements for invoices.

You can find articles and guides covering all aspects of VAT in the 'Value Added Tax' section of Bytestart, including;

• VAT Registration - When should I register?
• VAT - An overview of Value Added Tax
• Flat Rate VAT Scheme

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Entrepreneurs' Relief - Business owners urged to plan carefully
Entrepreneurs banking on the concessionary 10% capital gains tax rate on business sale proceeds need to plan carefully and think well ahead. One little-known outcome of the rushed Entrepreneurs' Relief rules is that Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) may be favoured over limited companies, where the intention is to develop a business for sale.

HMRC to take it easy on late filers of paper SA returns this year
Instead of issuing automatic late filing penalties, HMRC are to allow taxpayers to submit a "reasonable excuse" for submitting their paper self-assessment tax returns on time this year.

Entrepreneurs need more pro-business Government action
According to an entrepreneur think tank, business owners need the government to adopt more business-friendly policies to help them remain competitive. 26% of those polled are considering setting up shop overseas.

BCC, IMF reports show UK economy already in recession
The latest quarterly survey released by the BCC, based on 5000 business responses, shows that the UK is now in a worsening recession.

Small company staff redundancies set to rise as downturn deepens
Spiralling costs and a lack of credit is forcing some small companies to consider making staff redundant in order to survive the downturn.

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://www.Bytestart.co.uk **

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