A website today is an extremely important tool for almost every business. Whether you are a home based business, a business with a storefront or any other kind of business, a website provides your customers a door to your business 24x7, 365 days a year. A website provides credibility, it allows you to promote your business even when you are closed. Most people (consumers and businesses alike) research a service or product on-line and then typically buy off-line. With the right website and combined effectively with a good marketing program, you can capture those opportunities that you you would otherwise miss out and lose to your competition that is on-line.
Companies that do not have a website, are invisible to prospective customers who might be searching for your business, products or services. Even if it was a s simple as providing directions to your business, office hours, etc.. Even a brochure type website when done correctly can be and should be a valuable business tool. Yellow page ads, Newspapers, fliers all help to brand your business, but are often not utilized because the recipient isn't in need of your product or service at that moment. But when they are ready, they go on-line and search. Your business needs to be there to grow and acquire new clients. It's only a matter of time. The internet is the future today!
To learn more about how to market a website, refer to the marketing a website questions or go to the Search Marketing page.
Websites are like houses, there are all kinds of homes and each has different features, amenities, etc. and therefore different prices. You wouldn't go in to a builder and say how much for a house would you? That's because without determining some basic information first, how could a builder begin to give you a price? Same with websites. You can find ads for $250.00 do-it-yourself websites. If you are computer and graphics savvy then you might be able to use that. The more bells and whistles you want the more you pay.
Everyone today seems to know somone who can do a website for them. But in reality they rarely have them do one. why? Primarily for a for a few reasons:
It is an imposition
it is a low priority for them because it is being done in their spare time
They don't know what they want or understand how to go about it so they don't bother.
A website can be effective if done properly, and very detrimental to a business if done improperly. A professional website company will insure that the website is done right and will guide through the process. There is so much more to a website than just how it looks. If you don't take everything into consideration, you are missing out on opportunities. Websites are investments and should be thought out. That's what we do. We understand what a website can and should do for a business and we help them get the best possible return on their investment.
initial Consultation: First meeting to understand as much as possible about the customer, goals, objectives, demographics of their customers, issues affecting their business or industry, current and past marketing efforts and establishing a budget for the project.
Proposal: Follow up to the initial consultation where the proposed solution(s) are presented, pricing and options are reviewed and documented along with a site plan overview.
Proposal Acceptance: Sign off on contracts, terms and conditions, initial payments completed.
Project Kick-off: (Timelines defined, design is discussed and reviewed in order to begin creating the design concept(s) and content for the pages is determined.
Project site created: This is a separate site that all content, pictures, design is done without effecting an existing on-line website if it exists.
Design: This is the way the website looks. It includes the navigation, layout, colors etc. that give it the overall appearance.
Content: The text and pictures that provide insight into what the customers business is, what it does, what services it provides, etc. All the information about the company)
Design Acceptance: Sign-off on design concept(s) prior to implemention on the project site. Design acceptance payments are due.
Final review: Once the design has been added to the project site and all the content has been added, the website is ready for review, Review is done for accuracy, clarity, spelling, etc. and changes made accordingly.
Project Acceptance: Upon completion of any changes required or uncovered during the final review, the site is determined ready for launch and customer signs off on an acceptance form signafying that the website is as expected and is ready for launch. Final payments are made.
Site Launch: Project site is converted and goes live on the web. If replacing an existing website, the address is changed to point to the new website server. Email addresses are defined and the website is avialble to the public within 24-72 hours.
Site is live
On-going updates: site changes are made to keep the website current if applicable.
Search marketing is making use of the search engines (the three major search engines are: Google, Yahoo, & MSN) to promote your business. The fastest growing medium today for anyone looking for goods or services of almost any kind is to do a search on-line for it. The most effective programs make use of all the 3 major search engines. Skipping any one or more of them and you are missing out on a great opportunity. Even more important today, when looking for a local service or product, because with local search, the 3 search engines mentioned above are almost equally split on the search traffic 1/3 each.
Just like some people like Coke and others prefer Pepsi, the same is true with search engines. Some people prefer Google, others prefer Yahoo. They are all good, but what is important is that what ever program you use, should cover all of them.
There are 2 main types of Search Marketing:
Search Engine Optimization or SEO. This is also known or referred to as "organic:" search. The results and placement about where your website may or may not show up, is determined on many factors and are somewhat different with each of the search engines. Most use some sort of algorithm that calculates your score depending upon the content on a page, relevancy of that content, reciprocal links into your website, etc. Based upon the score, your website is ranked and your positiion determined. An ideal placment listing is on page one. 85% of the clicks are on page one! SEO Considerations:
With Google for instance, an SEO program can take anywhere up to 6 months to see results of the program with no real guarantees of placement on page one.
SEO programs are more expensive to do because they are more labor intensive. Done right, they can be a very powerful tool for your business.
Another thing to remember is that if the algorithm changes, your listing could go from 1st page to page 30 overnight.
SEO programs are more difficult to target local geographic areas only.
Paid Search Advertising also known as Pay-Per-Clickor PPC or Sponsored links. These listings are usually found either on the top and or on the right side of of the screen when presented with search results. Like the name implies, PPC means that when someone clicks on your listing (ad) and is taken to your website, you pay that search engine what ever the price of that click was. Prices range dramatically depending upon the demand for that keyword or phrase. The most popular ones cost more. PPC programs also require monitoring to be effective, but the resulkting listings can be up and running in hours or days unlike SEO. That in itself is a major benefit. Other benefits or PPC programs are:
No long term commitment required
Set a monthly budget of what you want to spend and that is all that is spent. When the budget is used up, the ad is removed unless renewed.
Geographically targetd to a particular service area so that you aren't spending money on someon clicking on your ad in California when you only do business in Chicago for example.
Depending upon the PPC program, it can provide extremely comprehensive information, statistics and tracking allowing you to understand what amount of business you are getting via the campaign as opposed to other means. One of the programs we use, not only automaitically optimizes the campaign for the best and most cost effective words/phrases, but also can track phone calls and emails that were done through that PPC ad as opposed to other means. This makes it easier to know what your return on your investment for the program really is. PPC programs are the fastest growing advertising media and can make a significant difference for your business. Call us to schedule an appointment to learn more about how our PPC program could work for you.
A content managment system or CMS is a prgram that allows you to edit your website, add text, change the font, font size, color, create tables, add or delete pictures, create pages and sub-pages, turn them on or off yourself without having to call your web designer. In most instances and with the more sophisticated programs, you can do most if not all of the above typically using a screen that resembles a MS Word document and buttons. In that way, you don't need any other programs to maintain and edit your website and it can be done from any PC on the internet. See the picture below.
No absolutely not. You can decide when it makes sense or cents for you to adminsiter your website yourself or when it might be better to have us do it. the choice is up to you. It just means that you have an optionif you want to use it. We terach you how to use the system and it usually takes under an hour. It is a great option that you should consider for your website solution.
We can and usually do provide the hosting service for most of our websites, but not all. Some of our clients want to host their website themselves or some only want to host their email service only and we host the website. We can in most instances accomodate what ever our clients want. In most cases it is simply easier for us to host and maintain the site. In that way, our customers can focus on their businesses and not have to worry about it.
Email is included with every website that we host. It is a function of the hosting service. If we don't host your website, you will have to make alternative arrangements. Some clients have their own email services like MS Exchange servers. You can keep that service and still host your website elsewhere.
Email is an important aspect and tool for your business. Your business email address should be using your company websites address. this is good for branding and adds credibility as well. Business should not be using AOL or Yahoo addresses, it isn't professional.
