Digital Marketing - Archive

Your website needs you!

Your website should form a vital aspect of your marketing mix. Your website should be a ongoing effort, keeping it current and fresh is vital to winning more business.

Here are a number of idea’s to revitalise your website.

1. Update your content. Is all the content up to date? Are you displaying the correct opening hours, prices and contact details?
2. Add compelling copy. Do your web pages blubber on about what you do and what you offer instead of addressing the issues and needs of your customers? Check out our free copy writing guide for some top tips on writing effective copy.
3. Have you included clear calls to actions? If you want people to call you for a free consult – then don’t forget to ask – it really will make a different to the n umber of people who get in touch.
4. Check out how your competitor sites stack up. It’s probably a good idea to check out your competitors websites at least one a year.  Make a note of any functionality/content is missing from yours. However, never be tempted to copy the code or wording- this could land you in serious trouble!
5. Add a newsletter. Newsletters can be a really effective tool with keeping in touch with both existing customers and potential clients. Adding a newsletter sign up form to the website will enable you to directly market your products and services to your mailing list.  Just make sure that you do send a newsletter at least every 6 – 8 weeks.
6. Seasonal updates. If your business is seasonal then consider giving the website a revamp for different times of the year. A simple change of background or banner can lift the entire website and help the visitors connect more with your products or services.
7. Are you using twitter and facebook effectively? Social networking sites are still in their infancy but they should be an essential part of your marketing tool kit. I have found twitter invaluable for business to business networking and consider facebook an ideal platform for selling to joe public. Remember, if you don’t use them – your competitors will!
8. Landing pages and squeeze pages. If you are placing an advert in a magazine or have been asked for your web address for an exhibition/website you do not have to use the link to your home page. Why not be a bit more dynamic and provide a tailored made page specific to the particular piece of marketing? You could even include a special offer or freebie to encourage even more conversion.
9. Embrace multimedia. Using multimedia should only be done to enhance great content and not used instead of it. Spicing up your words with the odd video can really help entice your visitors.
10. Add a blog. I am sure you knew that would be on the list somewhere! As a avid blog fan I just can’t rate it enough. I believe that there is a blogger in every business owner – you don’t have to post daily. But I am sure that you have case studies, examples and top tips that would be useful to your clients? The great thing about blogs is that they can be recycled into guest blogs, articles, training sessions and newsletters.

If you would like some help with planning your website revamp we are currently offering FREE face to face consults at our new offices.  We only have a limited number of free sessions available so please book soon.  email me at zoe@bwebsites.co.uk for more information.

Digital Marketing | 4.05.2010 12:50 | No Comments

4 top tips for selling online

Have you heard the news?  We are getting some brand new offices! Therefore I have been spending a fair amount of time this week hunting around on ecommerce sites. 

Shopping is great, shopping online not so great and shopping for office desks only just passes as fun.  However on my travels I visited lots and lots of ecommerce websites and some of them really bugged me.   So here are my top 4 tips for a successful store… 
 
1) Be familiar
Most people shop online from the same stores and become familiar with the processes.  People do not like having to “work out” a new store. The key for the designer is to make sure that everything conforms and works in a familiar and usual way.  Shopping baskets in odd places or a strange navigation system can be very off-putting and unfortunately visitors just will not stay on a poorly designed site.
 
2) Make it easy for clients to buy
Do not put lots of hurdles in the way like extra fields on forms and convoluted sign up processes.  The “buy now” button must be clear and in a place where the visitor does not have to scroll.  The M&S website used to frustrate me as it would always ask for a quantity before I could add an item to my basket – why not just assume 1 and let me decide if I want more? (Why would I really want more than 1 pair of size 6 shoes in the same colour and style anyway?)
 
3) Easy to find details
Some information is essential for many visitors: delivery prices, returns, time scales, ordering procedures as well as the compulsory legal terms and info. In addition a phone number and physical address will help to ease any concerns that a first time shopper may have.
 
4) Photos and descriptions
In the real world we may study an item before buying, we may even visit the item for a number of days/weeks before we make a decision to purchase.  We are very tactile beings.  The online experience will never be quite the same but using great photos, accurate descriptions and product reviews all go some way to filling the void. 
 
If only all on-line shops followed these simple rules, we would all find shopping online so much easier!

Digital Marketing | 22.04.2010 19:51 | No Comments

Why you should target your website

So many times when I talk to business owners I am told that their website should target “everyone”.  This is not easy to do! Trying to please all your visitors with the same website is likely to create a mixed muddle of messages that do not really work for any single group.  As with all marketing your website needs to be targeted. Look closely at some of the marketing campaigns of the larger companies and you will see they will break down their target market into groups and target each individually  (think Aviva ads on the telly – broken down by region!)

With a website you only get a few moments to explain what you do and who you do it for. So be brave, include a prominent section on your website which describes your ideal client. This will not only filter out those visitors who are not well suited to your products and services but will really reinforce your message to the right kind of client.
 
For many the fear would be that they could be putting off potential customers. The flip side is that you will waste less time trying to convert unsuitable prospects into paying clients.

The great thing about a website is that you can try it and see. If you have an update system then simply update your website and test out the new changes for 4-6 weeks. If it works then you can build on it!

Digital Marketing | 22.04.2010 9:35 | No Comments

Photography – DIY guide

One of my biggest gripes is poor photography on websites. Especially important for ecommerce websites.

As with all things, it’s often tempting to do it yourself. But poor photography can let down an otherwise fantastic website, put people off buying your products and essentially cost more in lost opportunity than you would have saved.

Here are my top tips for decent website images.

1. Buy a decent camera, a mobile phone will not do! Professional photographers can spend thousands on their cameras, but you can get a decent midrange DLSR camera for around £500.
2. Read the manual. Spend some time reading the manual and checking forums etc for top tips on getting shots.
3. Practice. A professional might be able to get the perfect shot in moments, but for us amatuers quantity is the key! Take lots of shots and experiment.
4. Consistency is super important for product shots. Have a look at any successful ecommerce website and you will spot that all the products are shot in a similar way, same background and same angle. Try to ensure that your images also find their own style.
5. Once you have your images you will need to do some editing. Delete all the rubbish images. Keep the good shots and organise them into product categories (for easy location later). You will always want to keep the original image on file, but the version for the website will usually need to be cropped and resized.
6. Always be consistent with image sizes. Nothing looks more unprofessional than a website selling products and using different sized images on each page – or worse still – different sizes on the same page.

If your website images are still poor after investing your own time and money – consider hiring a professional once your budget allows. Good images really can make all the difference.

Digital Marketing | 9.04.2010 9:52 | No Comments

Why you should know your customers

I was talking to Rachel Miller from Marketing Doughnut yesterday regarding some research she was doing into branding for small businesses.  During the interview I did get into a bit of a rant about how some small businesses really overlook some of the most important aspects of running a business.

When drawing up our clients initial website brief we ask lots of tough questions about their business and customers.  Ideally we need to understand your business inside out before we can create a single unit of digital marketing material (it’s not just a website…!).  And building a great website takes a bit of time and understanding.

Recently we have been working on a website for a restaurant.  One of the questions we asked was “Who is your target market?”. And we received the answer that we always dread – “Everyone“.

Now whilst it’s true to say that everyone does need to eat and that no sane restaurant would turn customers away – it’s not feasible for the small business market everyone.  Deciding on a target customer is integral to running a business.  For a restaurant the following factors all need to be focused on your target customer: the prices, quality of food, menu choices, drinks, decor, table layout, location, service, uniform, marketing – (can you tell that I am a big Gordon Ramsey fan?!). 

Knowing your target customer, for me, is one of the most important aspect of running a business.  If you know the answer to this questions then all other area’s of your business will benefit.  Some companies simply struggle with putting their target market into words, some go on instinct and some just have not really thought about it at all.

So from now on instead of asking “Who is your target market?” we are going to ask “What type of customers do you have?” and “What type of customer would you like more of?”.  The answers to both these should help us in understanding how to market the business on line. 

If you have not really thought about who your target customer is – then find some time today. Write a list of all the attributes that your perfect customers has (and it’s fine for the list to change over time).  Keep the list safe, it will help you when making business choices.

Digital Marketing | 25.03.2010 11:54 | No Comments