Remember to Renew Your Domain Name!!!

It's funny how many customers write to us saying 'my website has gone down, can you fix it?' only to find that they have let the domain name slip  (We generally tell customer's to leave domain management to us, but some already have things set up).
This morning I read about 9Rules, which is a web company, letting their domain name expire because they forgot to update their address. While you get a nice little grace period to renew if you make this mistake, it is a little blushworthy in the meantime!
So keep track of those domain names, because they companies that offer them ar not charities, if you forget the email address you used when you signed up, they won't let it slide, you will lose your domain name :)

Just a friendly reminder :)

Get Googled, Invest in Multi Keyword Phrases

I just got this from Emergence Marketing, who got it from Blog CEO, who got it from... (oh, the wonders of news spreading in the blogosphere)

"According to Onestat, only 11.4% of all search queries are one-word phrases. 3 and 4 word phrases make up more than 50% of all queries"

This is very interesting. We currently seem to think singularly about keywording, it's time to think in phrases.

Why You Should Allow Un-Censored Feedback

It is frightening how often a business owner is afraid of what her/his customers really think. We say 'You should allow customer feedback', they say 'but I'll probably get bad feedback'.

Without going into the potential issues that this opens up (ie. why are you leaving behind a trail of unsatisfied customers?), every small business is open to critical/negative feedback. It is something we should all expect from time to time. The problem seems to be how to deal with it.

Tim and I are all for open discussion, whether it be good or bad, hense our recent blog post about one unsatisfied customer on our Decisive Flow blog, simple and loveable. Our reasoning is:

• no one believes you are perfect - I don't trust any company who only shows me blazingly happy feedback
• The negative comments, if addressed well, turn into positive feedbacks - Imagine getting bad feedback, only to promptly reply (openly) offering a free replacement/discount/explanation. That's impressive!
• Sometimes this is the only avenue people are willing to offer feedback in. Any negative feedback you get is therefore extremely valuable in developing your business. Embrace it.

With the increasing ability to have comment- like feedback on websites and definately on e-commerce sites, real-time, open, uncensored feedback is a reality small businesses have to stomach. It can be frightening to open yourself up to criticism, however, I am yet to see an example of bad feedback actually hurting a good company.

Is the Basic Website for You?

A lot of people come to us asking for a basic website that "tells people what we do and where we are". After all, this is what a website is for right? Well... Sometimes.

If you are planning on building a website that offers the most value to your business, sometimes a basic informative site can't hope to help you enough to warrant very much expense at all. Take for instance, these situations:

Case Study 1
A potential customer we met with the other day. She lives and works in a very small town, population less than 20,000, the kind of town where she knew everybody's business and they knew hers. She felt it was time to move into the internet age and wanted a website that told people about her and where she was.

But everyone in the area already knows where she is and what she does, and people from further afield are unlikely to travel to get to her shop. The only thing her money would do in that situation was clog up the drain it was going down.

Case Study 2
Same day, different potential customer. A locksmith. Locksmithing poses a few troubles for massive web returns, mainly that even the geekiest of geeks (ie. me) still turn to the good old yellow pages when in need. If I lock myself out of my car, I'm never going to choose a locksmith based on the quality of their website, I want the one that will be there in 2 minutes flat.

What this means for websites
As much as the internet may be the 'place to be' of the 21st century, there is no reason to go there purely for the sake of it. That is not to say I condone anyone who DOESN'T  currently have a website, because it would appear that you are missing out on many, many opportunities. It's purely a matter of being realistic about what you can achieve on the web, and how to contort the internet to make it fit you.

For instance, no one is willing to travel to a small town to buy a herbal remedy, however,  people would LOVE to have access to the unique skill and homemade blends that customer 1 offers. The solution: Set up an online shop. Give all the customers who currently rave about the products a few business cards each and let them pass them onto friends who can access those same products offline.

Sometimes it's a matter of figuring out what your business does. Yes locksmiths install locks one off. But the real money comes from fitting out homes/businesses with complete security systems. They already notice a surge in calls from homeowners before every holiday. Solution: Create a website around home/workplace safety. offer advice on security and information about complete security packages. That's what people will take the time to look up, and whilke they are doing it, your credibility as a locksmith is rising.

So Before You Begin...
Treat the web like any other part of your business, sit down and figure out the best way to make money from it. Treat a website like an opportunity, not a neccessary expense and see what you come up with. Obviously, it's best to find a web designer you can trust and sit them down too.

1. Think about your overall business goals and aims:
   • What business areas do you want to grow?
   • Narrow 'what you do' down to a couple of sentences description
2. Consider how your customers currently find you/are supported by you and how you'd like this to happen in the future:
   • Do you spend too much time on the phone offering basic support?
   • Is your current website (if you have one) generating new leads? Why?/Why not?
3. Start to think about how a website/web strategy can help you build on these areas or help your business become more efficient.

The result of these preliminary steps (which seem to be missed fairly often) is that a basic about us/ contact us website is not your best bet.

homepage design and entry points

Homepage is as important now as ever with your website. Its an opportunity to provide simple entry points to target the different audiences you have and most importantly the different ways people start their decison making process.

We've got exacly what you want
People need to immediately know how what you offer benefits them. This is not something exclusive to your website, every business needs to focus on what makes them different and uniquely valuable to customers, we often find that its not until customers engage with us on homepage design that they really get this right, as its an absolute must that your homepage represents your business simply. Make this a clear statement at the top of your homepage. Make it about your customers, make it easy, make it as few a words as possible.

Where can I start my journey

Not everyone will come to your site in the same frame of mind, with the same knowledge. The most valuable thing you can do on your homepage is provide small focused entry points that let each of your target audience start their experience with you. When you look at and simplify your service you will most likely come up with the primary decison-making process that your audience will go through to become a customer. This is really important and the idea is to show people just how easy it is to go from being a visitor to  customer. But how you lead people into this process requires another perspective.

Speak to peoples state of mind
Your homepage is the opportunity to speak to the many different states your potential customers will come to you in. Think about the knowledge that different segments of your audience will have, appeal to what they know when they first arrive and let them start their journey from there. In the end everyone who becomes a customer is likely to have the same set of common knowledge required to make the decison to choose you, but they will each start in different ways. Some customers know what they're looking for and will see you as an option to evaluate, guide them straight into your approach and what makes you different and better. Others dont understand the context for making the decison to choose you, show them how the market works and where you fit in. Entry points are the main way most people will begin their journey into your site, they will head back to the main site navigation one they're deeper in and potentially loose their way, the flow of your site should always lead them naturally to where they need to go, but thats a different article : )

5 Simple Ways to Make your Website More Interactive

Static websites are dull. We all know that. We also know that in about two years we will look back at the cutting edge websites we are creating now and sigh at just how static they are. But all is not lost, because it's easy to introduce some dynamic elements to your site that will only grow bigger in the next few years. Be amoung the first to prepare your website for the new generation of the web.

1)  Google Maps (or your local alternative). No need to offer extensive instructions on how to find you, just dump a whole scrollable map on your 'contact us' page.
Benefits:

• You are very easy to find - customers have a full map right in front of them
• Your website/company looks cutting edge
• Anyone searching your area on Google Maps will see your business.
• It's as easy as copying and pasting a bit of code.

2) Blog RSS Feeds on relevant parts of your site.
No, you may not have the time to always be updating your website, but keep the content fresh by pulling through relevant content from other sites
Benefits:

• Gain readers who wouldn't otherwise find your blog
• Become the 'news source' in your industry/area

3) Cocomment Feed on your personal profile page
Keep track of all the conversations you're having in the blogosphere and then display them on your site. Immediately visitors can see how actively involved you are in shaping your industry
Benefits:

• Be recognised as a 'thought leader'
• Show how active you are within your community
• Your personal profile becomes a lot more 'real'

4) Link back to your LinkedIn profile

Online business networks really work and their popularity is growing like wildfire. Use your website to generate conversations with like minded people and boost busienss opportunities.
Benefits:

• Visitors to your website become valuable business contacts
• Keep your personal 'web presence' linked together

5) Allow Visitors to your site to call you on Skype in one click

Yes, even my mum uses it now, so if your's isn't already, she wont be far behind. Your website should always leave an opening for further communication, whether it's connection through to your sky-click web call center or yourself, one click calls are the future of business communication.

5 Reasons Why A Content Management System Will Change the Way You Use the Web

I've built one static website, it was the first website I ever made and because I mucked up so many bits of it, I immediately saw a need for something more scaleable and a little easier to update. A lot of web designers think differently, they claim that CMS's are restricted and enjoy the trickle of income that comes from website updates. A lot of customers don't even know what a Content Management System is. What you're average person needs to know is that it is a system that holds all the content of your site in a databse that you access through a nice website backend. If you can use basic Microsoft word functionality, you can update your website. So how exactly does this benefit you?

1) Better Search Engine Rankings - Which means more visitors to your site
Search engines love sites that are regularly updated. If you can update your site as easily as you can write a word document, chances are, you will update it - unlike your static site that sits unchanged for years at a time.

2) Save money, you no longer have to pay someone every time you want to update your website.
Or wait for them to have space to do the updates. Although you may have a slightly higher hosting bill each month, the savings by updating your site in-house more than make up for this.

3) Your whole team can be focused around your website as a marketing tool
Because everyone has control over the marketing material, your website becomes the dynamic, up-to-date center of your marketing strategy. Your website becomes a living reflection of your company and involves all of your company.

4) Create an extranet and provide customers, partners and investors access in a few clicks
If you have some content that you don't want all the world to see, but want to provide access to it for your customers, partners or investors, a CMS allows you to partition it off in just a few clicks. You can easily create user accounts for chosen people on your website, or allow people to sign up themselves to view extra content, participate in forums or any number of activities you'd rather restrict access to.

5) Keep people coming back
No one likes returning to a website that hasn't changed since their last visit. They do like returning to a site that provides relevent, up-to-date information. New products? Special offers? Exciting news? Your website becomes THE place to go to know what's going on.

The Difference Between "Traditional Design" and "designed Traditionally"

A friend of mine is organising a website upgrade for the company she works for. She asked me to look over the proposal she had been given, one she is not particularly excited about. I commented that the company sounds like they design websites in a very traditional way, the 'insert 1/4 page text here', 'this will be a  marketing bubble' way. She said she agrees but her boss wants a very traditional looking website.

I found it interesting that the two things: a traditional looking website and a website designed in an out of date way, are confused. A lot of people like the idea of a website that is built to generate new business, but they seem to associate those principles with bright sparkly sites, not your average corporate look.

Traditionally Designed Websites
I use this to describe the type of websites that were made a few years ago. The ones that have had little thought put into the desired outcomes, the users and the content. Fair enough as the web is still relatively new and these were designed without the benefit of the research we now have. However, because they were designed a few years ago, most of them also look quite traditional and 'corporate'.

Traditional Looking Websites
These websites are your general corporate sites. Toned down, aimed at a mature and professional audience.

But they don't have to go hand in hand.
The thing is, regardless of age of professional status, most people use the web in the same way: to get information and to make decisions. If a website is designed without much thought put into these things, it is bound to be a failure. That is something traditionally designed websites have taught us.

Obviously, a lot of designers are aware that the 'corporate style' is not necessarily the way to go, even if your audiences is conservative 50 year old men... but at the end of the day, it's just a look. The most funadamental requirement of a successful website is that it is structured around your goals and your users, from there any look and feel can be applied.

How Much Should A Website Cost?

For every website project that is quoted for by more than one company, the range in prices seems incredible. Being that website design is an area most of us feel mildly uncomfortable in to begin with, the fact that web designers seem to pluck prices out of thin air makes the whole experience a little unnerving - to say the least.  Often a customer will say to us "so what are we looking at? $3,000? $30,000?" with a grimly defensive look, like they are resigned to the fact we will rip them off, but not happy about it.

Yes, there does appear to be a good few web design companies out there who are willing to play on ignorance and milk you for all you're worth. I heard a horror story last night about a small business owner who spent $50,000 on a shonky website, only to have to have it redone immediately by another company. Ouch. Thankfully, this is becoming more of an exception to the rule as the internet becomes more mainstream and businesses demand more.

The Purpose of a Website
Sadly, the initial aim of a web designer was to create flashy, graphic laden works of art. The purpose of these was to look incredible at first glance and be admired for their artistic qualities... not much thought was put into how this was actually going to help a business make money. The result is that websites are now looked at as a necessary expense.

However, these days, web designers are quickly realising that websites should be the conerstone of a small businesses marketing strategy. They are often the first point of contact for a potential customer, they should be an interactive, frequently updated, near realtime view on a company. A knowledge hub that leads customers through a decison making process until they are happy to purchase or enquire. A website these days should pay itself off fairly quickly, whether you spend $3,000 or $30,000, you should be generating at least that much value from it in the reasonably short term.

Case Study
One of our customers had a very basic website that they'd done on the cheap. It generated no sales or enquiries, and they were fairly embarrased about it as the rest of their company looked quite slick. They came to us, spent a bit more, and immediately noticed they were getting 5 enquiries from the website per week. Since every customer was worth a few hundred dollars a year, their website was paid off very quickly and has made money for them ever since.

So How Much Should A Website Cost?
Once you have ensured that the web design company you're dealing with has a history of creating websites that achieve results ( A very important point that most people overlook), then a small business should be looking at spending anything between $5,000 and around $12,000 for a basic website (with no extensive extra functionality), depending on your size and what you want to get out of the web. Another option is to create a staged project, so you're not lumped with a massive bill all at once. Get the first bit done, and build it up slowly over the course of 6 months or so.

Really Tight Budget?
If you're a really small company and your budget will never stretch to a full web presence, consider starting a blog. These are far cheaper to set up as web designers don't have to work on building an entire site, just one template that you fill with content. While they demand a bit more time on your part, I doubt you'd ever match the return on investment with any other marketing spend. Check out this post about the price of blog design (and the ensuing conversation).