New Decade. New Website.

Many of us have come across the websites of well respected companies and find that they appear to be untouched relics from the company’s first launch online many years ago. What does that tell us about that company? Does it say “We cared at one point, but don’t see the web as a valid tool anymore?” or even “We’re on the verge, and don’t see any reason to attract new customers?”

Have you thought about how your customers and potential customers perceive your company because of your “dated” website? Take a look at your website, and peruse it as a customer or prospective customer may. Can you tell when the last update or new “look” took place?

If not, then maybe it is time for an update.

Your website speaks volumes to your customers, and your neglect to keep it regularly updated does as well.

It is encouraged that you give your site a new look every 1-3 years. This allows you to stay on focus with your customers, but still change your site as your company changes.

Take a look back over the past 3 years. In what ways has your company changed? Have you grown and added additional services or locations? Has your product line changed drastically? These are all things to consider when you choose to update your site.

A new look, and a freshly updated site reminds your customers of the company they grew to trust, and show your potential customers who you truly are.

If it's time to update your website, call us today to set up an appointment!

Elements of Good Website Design (Part 3)

A Picture can tell a Thousand Words

Although you want to make your Website informative and helpful to your consumer you do not want to overwhelm them with copy. People are generally coming to your Website to find information-not read a novel. In most cases, infographics or pictures will do the job just as, if not more, effectively as copy. Interesting and creative graphics can enhance a visitor’s experience and make the website look visually appealing.

It is important to note that images, graphics and media should always be optimized for the web before being placed on a website for fast load time and visual enhancement.

Media and graphics play an important roll in creating a dynamic and interactive website, however, overdo this critical component and you can lose professional credibility instantly. Always make sure to self-edit your websites before publishing them.

Elements of Good Website Design (Part 2)

First Impressions Matter!

The ultimate goal of a web designer is to keep the visitor on their site as long as possible. However, first time visitors to your website have very little time to spare. Research shows that a user’s initial impression of your website will be formed in the span of 2-5 seconds.

To avoid users from forming the wrong impression of your website and immediately leaving or “bouncing” away from your website you want to make sure your website’s homepage is optimized to be relevant and attractive to your audience. If you operate a site where users can find what they want immediately on the entry page, than you drastically reduce the amount of people that will bounce from your page.

For examples of quality web design visit:http://www.globalnetdesigns.com/

Check back next week for more tips on good web design.

Elements of Good Website Design (Part 1)

With the millions of websites available to your customers, it’s extremely difficult to create a website that will not only stand out, but offer a valuable service as well. But what makes a well-designed web site? What is the most important factor that differentiates successful from unsuccessful websites?

The criteria for effective website development varies from person to person, however, the purpose of each website should be at the forefront of your design. Whether you are starting an e-commerce website or showcasing videos or images, the main focus of your site should always drive the overall design.

Although design will change based on the nature of your site, there are several elements of good web design that are generally considered universal.

Easy to Navigate

The navigation portion of your site is possibly the most important aspect of any page so they must be easy to find, understand and follow. While special effects menus like Flash, JavaScript or Java look very appealing, you should always include an option to use an HTML version of your website. Should you only provide a Flash-based menu, you risk alienating users with web browsers that don’t support this program. You can bet that if a customer can’t use your menu, they’re not going to be using your website (or maybe even your product!).

Always keep in mind that your website should ultimately be designed to be “user friendly.” Keep your navigation links clear and meaningful to anyone that should come across your site. Your navigation should be prevalent across your website and appear on every page of your site. This will enable your visitor to navigate your website quickly and easily without having to return to the homepage every time.

Usability is key in web design and navigation is a large part of it. After all, it would be a shame to spend a great deal of time, money and effort to design a website that no one can use.

For examples of quality web design visit: http://www.globalnetdesigns.com/

Check back next week for more tips on good web design.

Widgets for Business

Widgets, often called gadgets, are mini applications that provide users with fast access to information. They are either downloaded directly on a user’s hard drive or included on a Web page. The content can be in a variety of forms, such as text, video and audio. Perhaps one of the most popular widgets being Weather.com’s weather widget, which streams the latest forecast information, based on your location preferences. They can also be used to stream financial information, travel information, mapping and much more.

Although widgets are a rather recent trend on the Web, many business owners question how to make use of them or, more importantly, if they are worth the often-substantial cost of having them designed and created.

Quite simply, you should think of widgets as a way to distribute content, not only on your own Website but on other sites and desktops as well. Because widgets are easily shared and downloaded, there is a strong chance that your business’ widget could become viral - spreading your message to thousands of people in an instant.

Business owners have also been using widgets for in-house matters to actively monitor what consumers are saying online by creating widgets that aggregate streams (in real time) of information based on selected search terms. This allows businesses to easily monitor and respond to their customer’s conversations online.

Along the same line, already-existing widgets can also help improve both employee and consumer productivity. Custom widgets can streamline internal communication, allow consumers instant connect with a business or search online databases.

Most importantly to most business owners, widgets can provide a channel for direct communication which streams relevant information to customers instantly, 24-hours a day. If you are sending information that has a high value or interest to people, your audience is going to want to share it with others. As adoption of your widget increases, it will provide a new avenue for attracting attention and increasing awareness of your brand.

Although it may not be in your business’s budget to develop your own widget, there are still thousands of existing FREE widgets that will help you grow and develop your business.

Check out some FREE widgets here:

http://widgets.yahoo.com/

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

http://www.freewidgetzone.com/

3 Components of Internet Advertising (Part 3 of 3)

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is the new kid on the block as far as Interactive Advertising is concerned, but it is increasing exponentially in popularity. Popular networking sites including Myspace, Facebook and Twitter are social media most commonly used for socialization and connecting friends, relatives, and employees. Social media marketing is particularly attractive to marketers simply because it encourages a high degree of interaction with consumers and is relatively inexpensive. It's also hugely popular, with Facebook currently exceeding 350 million active users on global basis with 3.5 billion pieces of content being shared a week. Twitter claims 25 million users that posted 27.3 million tweets per day in 2009.

Social media offers a venue for word-of-mouth communication for the new decade, that allows consumers to share their experiences with your product with thousands of people in an instant.

By creating a social media marketing program, companies can closely monitor what consumers are saying about your brand and, more importantly, actively respond to negative word-of-mouth. It's also very appealing to businesses with small marketing budgets since it is inexpensive to publicize promotions and company news via social media when compared to using traditional media (T.V., radio, print, etc.).

Although social media is great for creating a dialogue between company and consumers, businesses must be prepared to give up control of the message. Businesses should go into this type of marketing ready to confront negative messages that users might generate.

SEO, Internet advertising and social media marketing are all important components to fostering your online presence. But just like traditional advertising you need to fully understand your marketing and business objectives before launching off into this apparently vast space.

3 Components of Internet Advertising (Part 2 of 3)

Internet Advertisements

Although Internet advertisements can encompass a wide range of advertising options, this article covers the most predominant one—Google AdWords.

Google Adwords allows you to create and run ads for your business, quickly and simply. It offers pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and site-target advertising and allows users to easily track the performance of various ad campaigns. PPC is exactly what you'd expect—advertisers specify the words that should trigger their ads and the maximum amount they will pay per click. When a user searches Google's search engine, ads for relevant words are shown as "sponsored links" on the right side of the screen, and sometimes above the main search results.

With site-targeted advertising, advertisers can enter keywords, domain names, topics, and demographic targeting preferences, and Google places the ads on what they see as relevant sites within their content network. If domain names are targeted, Google also provides a list of related sites for placement.

Once you've decided on your budget and keywords, Google will consider all the bids for that keyword and the Website's quality score to determine which bidder will “win” the keyword. On the downside, some of the more general and popular keyword phrases have a set minimum bid which makes some phrases unobtainable for many marketers. It's just too expensive given the type of sales transaction that results from clicks on that phrase. The word “free” can sometimes be very expensive on Google AdWords.

AdWords can produce strong results for businesses by putting their advertisements in front of targeted audiences more likely to be interested in your product and services. On the other hand, it can be a very expensive tactic with a high probability of click fraud. Meaning, there are estimates that 20% of all click-throughs are fraudulent, so with PPC advertising you can expect 20% of your budget disappearing.