Archive for the ‘Website Development’ Category

You’re excited about trying some Social Media Marketing. You’ve got your Facebook page and Twitter profile ready to go and you can’t wait for all those hot new leads to come pouring in.

Whoa….hold on there just one minute. If your website is screaming 2003 it’s time to go back to the basics and fix your foundation first.

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before launching your Social Media Marketing campaign.

1 - Is my website visually appealing? - Do the colors, layout and images look like a nice, new Web 2.o site…or is it plain, rigid and templated? Are there scrolling marquees? Do you have multiple navigations? Are there little pieces of clip art that flash and float around? …There’s your sign.

2 - Is my website set up to “convert?” – Is there a prominent phone number in the top right corner? Do you have a simple contact form on every page of the site? How easy have you made it for users to contact you? Remember, they may land on any page of your site based on their search results. Can they easily get in touch with you from every page?

3 – How well does my site come up in the search engines? – If you’re “Joe’s Crab Shack in Myrtle Beach”…does your site appear in the organic results when someone searches for “seafood in Myrtle Beach?” What other keywords or search terms do you think users would type in when searching for a business like yours? Check all those out also.

4 – Do I have enough content on my site? – Is there robust, relevant content on every page of your website? I’m not talking about a 700 word mini-novel. You need a couple of specific, well-written paragraphs that incorporate those keywords and search terms that the search engines will be looking for. (Contact Me to learn more about making sure your website is coded properly for the search engines.)

5 – Do I have analytics installed on my website? - Before starting any kind of internet marketing campaign you have to make sure you’re able to measure results. Google Analytics is free and easy to install on your site. This way you’ll know how many people are coming to the site, what they’re doing while they are there, how they left, where they came from and how they found you. Analytics are imperitive.

Granted, there are tons of other issues and questions we could cover here. However, if you get these basics down your site will be more effective. We can throw all the traffic in the world to the website, but if it’s not visually appealing, set up to convert and easy to use…we’re wasting our time.

Remember also, fixing your website is probably one of the most cost-effective marketing solutions to your multiple business challenges. Fix your foundation first. Then, build your dream house.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or to learn more.

Visit: DicksonInteractive.com

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It’s fundamental – focus on your website.

You thought this Blog post was going to tell you that you’re missing the boat because your company is not on Twitter or blogging. Wrong. Maybe the problem is that you have not created an iPhone app yet, or that you don’t even know if there is a Facebook page set-up for the brands, products and services that you sell. Wrong again.

All of the attention you think you should be spending on online marketing in the many digital channels and platforms will bring your company zero return if you don’t have a website that is not only nice and easy-to-use, but findable through all of the search engines (yes, that includes Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!).

It’s time to get back to basics. It’s almost laughable to think that some companies don’t have a serious, robust and up-to-date website in 2009. No matter what you do – and this include business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) – everyone, at every level of any organization, always goes online to see just who they are doing business with. This could be potential customers, clients, vendors, consultants and more. As each day passes, we’re seeing just how significant a website is to the overall business strategy of all companies.

Here’s a scenario: you’re having lunch with a business colleague who recommends a new laptop for you to check out. Do you run down to Best Buy? Do you call your IT department and have them fax you over a spec sheet? No and no.

You do what everyone does: you check it out online.

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