Archive for February, 2009

Keep your website FRESH

Your website is a window into your business from the rest of the world and as such it should be dynamic. Your business is always changing (and in the current climate this is more critical than ever!) and your online strategy needs to reflect these changes.

We work with lots of business owners who struggle to get the content of the website right. I have found that if you spend too long on this area it can drive you ever so slightly crazy. As long as you can update the website yourself then changing the website should be an ongoing task. Something you spend a few hours a week or a month working on.

I try to update our blog a number of times each week. Our main website is updated regularly also. The regular updates are good for google and ensure that our clients can always see accurate content.

If our business changes focus then so does our online strategy. We recently launched a budget website service, we wanted to market this differently from the main bespoke business. The new business was thus given its own website. We also like to keep our portfolio up to date. Adding recent examples of our work is useful as it illustrates what we do right now and also shows how we are evolving over time.

Your website should not be completed and then forgotten about for two years before being redone completely. Instead keep it fresh. Keep it up to date and keep it in line with your business strategy.

How many hours a week do you set aside to update your website?

Everything else | 16.02.2009 11:08 | No Comments

Tip number 4: Get the website menu right

If you have a lot of content to add to your website it is really important to ensure that the user can navigate to pages and sections in your website easily. The menu system should provide clear guidance and ideally you don’t want to have information buried under too many clicks.

Generally people can only take in around 8 different options at a time. So try to divide your content into around 8 top level sections. These would from your primary navigation. If some sections are larger than others then you will need a secondary navigation and again you can split this up into around 8 bite sized chunks. Third levels of navigations and so forth can be added if needed.

If the quantity of content to include on your website is so comprehensive that dividing in this way is not possibly then you need to include other aids to finding information:

Search functionality is key. These do not need to be expensive – Google provide search tools that can be added to your website by adding just a few lines of code.
Similarly a bread crumb (links at the top of the page showing where is the site you are)
Sitemap – if possible you need two versions – one in XHTML for your visitors and another in XML format for Google.
Concentrate on making the most important information can be found in just a few clicks. Remember the importance of information should be weighted by your client and not by yourself, your “about us” page might be a huge ego boost built unless it has information in it that will convert your visitor then move it down your priority.
Including a latest news section to the home page or a left/right hand banner will guide visitors to new content.
Simple naming convention, don’t try and be too cleaver and use your own nicknames for area’s of content that mean the visitor and to guess what they might mean.

Once you have organized your website and publish your content , always be prepared to go back and rethink it. Ideally you would have access to a content management system that would allow you to easily move the content and menu structure around if needed.

If you have Google analytics enabled on your website then you will be able to find out wish pages people are visiting and these that have low traffic, use this information to adjust the layout accordingly.

If you need help organising your website content then please do get in touch – I would be very happy to help

Everything else | 13.02.2009 11:33 | No Comments

Should I use multimedia on my website?

I was in talks with a potential client today about plans for his website. Something that he felt was very important was the use of multimedia instead of just static content. There are some real benefits of using multimedia content and I would say that as long as your multimedia enhances your basic XHTML content then this is an area that could be invested in.

The www.bbc.co.uk is one of the most popular websites on the planet and they are using multimedia in their content more and more. You can listen to sound bites and watch videos – but they are following some every basic rules

The users gets to choose, you can choose to read the transcripts or listen to the sound bite.
Content does not start playing automatically, the user is kindly asked to press the play button if they would like to proceed
There are clear labels on the content to indicate if there is sound, so that we know what to expect
Multimedia is used for content only – there are no flashy distracting images used on the website that are not content.
All multimedia is designed around the content

Content is Key

The most important thing to remember when designing and planning your website is content. Content is key, it is the reason that Google exists, the reason people will be coming to look at your website and should be the reason for the website’s existence in the first place. All design, layouts and code should be created to enhance your content and sell your business.

Some examples where we have used multimedia http://www.arkenis.com/ – uses a small flash animation on the home page only. The animation is just for decoration and impact, there is no need to repeat on all pages since it would be distracting.
http://www.melodicdj.co.uk/Video.html – this website is for a DJ and Mathew really wanted to show off some of his light shows. We explained that having the videos on all pages would slow down the website and possibly deter people from reading any of the text. Instead we chose small chunks of video and displayed them on a separate page and allowed the client to choose if they wanted to see this or not. As you can see the page is slow to load and including them on all pages would make for poor usability.

If you have a very heavy text based website or perhaps you have a service that is really visual then I believe adding multimedia content would be a very good way of helping to convert your visitors. But using video’s and flash for design without considering their effects on content can be very distracting, affect the download speeds and might put some people off.

Ultimately if you want to use multimedia on your website, consider the pros and cons. Invariably it will cost more since it will need to be produced and optimised for the web and ask yourself if the extra costs have any clear benefits?

Everything else | 12.02.2009 15:20 | No Comments

PART 2: Marketing in a recession? Go on then, tell me more!

Hopefully by now you’ve started to think about how to implement marketing into your business plan and are busy thinking about creative and cost-effective ideas that will achieve results. So here are a few more tips to help you out…

Networking
Start attending business networking events as often as you can. Don’t go with the attitude of trying to sell at the event – you might get lucky, but often people are there to get to know others and see what products and services are on offer and build up their own network. Talk to as many people as possible because although they may not be interested in what you have to offer, they may know people who are or can provide you with useful feedback from their experiences. Swap business cards and follow up by email a few days later saying that it was nice to meet them and keep in contact. Consider joining your local Chamber of Commerce as they hold lots of networking events and some are even free.

Print On Demand
The latest digital printing technology means that you no longer need to print 1,000’s of copies of brochures or datasheets requiring lots of storage space that then go out of date before you’ve even made a dent in the pile. It’s now cost-effective to print what you need, when you need it and still save money. If printing and posting a direct mail piece – make it personal by changing the content and images for each individual to make it relevant to them. Although slightly more expensive than a regular print run, it will increase your return on investment as it is more likely to get you noticed.

Improve Internal Communications
Come on, be honest, does everyone in your company always know what’s going on? Even in very small companies communication is often poor – but if every member of staff was kept informed of all the positive developments (an exciting new product, new customer win etc) not only does it increase their motivation and loyalty but they can also help to act as an extension of your sales team.

Love your customers
New business is great but you also need to ensure you keep and grow your existing customer base. Make sure they know they are valued and that loyalty is rewarded. Keep in regular contact, make sure they are the first to know about any new services, send them a regular newsletter to make them feel even more connected to your company. Provide them with special offers from time to time and consider offering an incentive for referring others.

Small WOW’s
Don’t blow your whole budget on one big bang! You’ll only get the one hit and if your prospects miss it then you won’t get another chance for a while. Instead go for a series of small wow’s – for example, rather than sending out a glossy brochure to the masses, send out a series of well designed postcards containing clear and consistent messaging to a focussed target market.

Be adaptable
Bear in mind that you may need to become more flexible in order to suit current market conditions. If you find that sales are slowing down, consider if your product or service should be adapted to make it more appealing in current market conditions? Or can you now offer your service to a different market? For example, we all know that Estate Agents are struggling at the moment – so although they still need to protect their ‘sales’ business where possible, the smart ones are now focussing on their ‘lettings’ business which is now more in demand.

To find out how BrightStar Marketing can help you develop your marketing plan to help you succeed in these challenging times please contact me on clare@brightstarmarketing.co.uk or call 07864 927007.
Visit our website www.brightstarmarketing.co.uk

Digital Marketing | 4.02.2009 17:55 | No Comments

SNOW !!

This is what we woke up to today. Clearly this is just one of the many advantages of working from home – no car to dig out and no cold trek to the office.

snow