An interesting question came to light recently. When purchasing a website should you pay for the site development or for the benefit it brings? Any developer worth their salt will promise to deliver what you need, but few are willing to commit to a guarantee. Would you be willing to pay for information on a monthly basis?

Similarly when puchasing advertising, all the statistics are there, but no guarantee from the publication. Would you be willing to pay for such a website ‘guaranteed return’ service and what would that be worth? What percentage of your business is worth giving in return for a website that really delivers the results and what and how would you measure the success? Read the rest of this entry »

Email remains one of the easiest and cost effective ways to communicate with existing and potential customers. There are several options to consider to either attract new or maintain existing customers. Website marketing is not only about what happens on your website but also in the message you and your staff are sending.

When talking to existing customers it is important that they see a consistent presentation of the brand in the layout and content of the email sent.

It goes without saying that managing the brand is going to prove critical for long term marketing success.

What makes it easier is that email messages can be managed centrally and the email format controlled from a central point. Read the rest of this entry »

When you finally go live with your website the search engines will look at you with fresh eyes. It is interesting to see what information is collected and what is displayed in the search results.

While it is exciting to go live, it can also be disappointing if you get ranked a lot lower than you hoped. You can of course make changes, but Google then has to re index the site and that can take time.

The home page

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Most websites really focus on putting the company information and products into the website. Few consider the flow in getting the customer from the home page to the point of action.

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A few points to consider when getting to the top of Google.

Website Domain Name

Finding a domain with one of your main keywords available is a winner.  Most companies want a domain with the company name in, that is great, but also consider your aim on search engines, you want to get to the top. The domain alone gets you several steps above the competition.

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Websites are a means to an end, not the final destination. Your site visitor is on a journey to meet a need. Visiting your web site is a stop along the way that they can use to get what they want. Meet the visitor’s need effectively and they will do the business with you. Read the rest of this entry »

The web has changed and technology improved, expectations are up and yes, there are services that websites should be offering. Below are some of the main features that should be standard on any website. Read the rest of this entry »

Planning begins with what you want to achieve and is a process then that identifies ways in which to achieve set objectives. To say that you want to be the best or the top site is a great idea, but what does that mean and what is encompassed in those thoughts? Add to that the method of measurement, e.g. in product sales, number of visits, visibility etc. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve heard it all before, dynamic websites with changing content are better than static sites. That may be true, but how many dimensions does your site have? Read the rest of this entry »

The difference between just a website and a marketing site lies in the value you unlock for your customer. Anybody can create a web presence, but few can create platforms that visitors return to.

How to unlock? Read the rest of this entry »