Written website content the forgotten business asset
Posted on Fri Feb 08
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
Although written website content is one of the most important factors in online communication, most business website owners are either unaware of, or misunderstand, its potential value.
It's true that many things work together to make a website a commercial success. It's also true that anyone who runs a business has other things to think about besides their website. While taking all that into account, I think there are three basic concepts the general business community needs to grasp
- the web is a medium for written communication
- words have a powerful influence on website performance
- written content is an asset
It's human nature to overlook things to which we're constantly exposed. For example, you probably wouldn't realise how much advertising for fast food or alcohol you see every day unless someone pointed it out to you. Something similar happens to our perceptions when we use the web. The most common activity on the web is reading. We do it so much that we stop being aware of it. We forget that communication on the web depends on the written word.
On a typical business website, those "forgotten" words have got several big tasks to perform, such as
- providing understandable labels on navigation menus
- helping people find you in search engines
- motivating and persuading
- informing and educating
- building trust
With careful planning, execution and management, your website should give you a long-term return on the money you put into it. Although your accountant may not suggest including it on your balance sheet, it's an asset. A long-term investment, a major part of which is words.
Getting it right isn't easy. The irony of course is that if written content is easy to read, it looks as if it was easy to write. It's not. Simply copy-pasting from your brochure or catalogue is never a clever idea, because people read printed material differently to the way they read web content.
Like other assets you own, your website needs maintenance. Remember all those websites that have annoyed you with links that no longer work, ancient news items or outdated product information? Now that's one type of written content that people do notice, for all the wrong reasons.
Circulation
Posted on Mon Dec 07
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
Much like how you and I survive through blood circulating through our bodies, circulation of a blogs feed is something that should be included in your blogging routine. It dosen't matter if you blog once a month of 4 times a day, you should always remember to spend sometime getting your blog out there.
The use of such programs as MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, FaceBook, Virb and Twitter are all ways that you can increase your readership with out actually haveing to spend to much time marketing. These website applications are programs that the basic internet user can learn how to use to his or her advantage.
These types of social networking sites increase your readership. The more people read your blog the more you can charge for marketing, the further your reach is about products and services you now offer.
I personally use all of the above web applications to further the reach of my blogs, and I can honestly say that at least every second day I can see my statistics increase.
Use your blogs RSS feed to your advantage, and thank those websites that publish your posts. On that note I would like to thank James Bull for circulating this blog using our RSS feed.
Another thing that might be of interest to you if you are new to the internet and blogging. You don't personally have to know new visitors. They are coming to your blog just like a new client comes to a business. It is the relationship that you build that counts.
Just a reminder that We are closed from the 17th of December 2007 through till the 14th of January 2008. I will be in Switzerland. I will be available via email, if it is urgent. However I am sure I will post before I leave.
Kevin07 the winner
Posted on Tue Nov 07
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
For my Australian audience you would by now know that Kevin Rudd is the new Prime Minister. For my international readers last weekend Australia had an election, which resulted in the ousting of the Liberal party and John Howard.
What does this have to do with Web Design and more importantly Online Marketing? Well many political bloggers will discuss the pros and cons of each political parties policies, but I have a different view. I believe that the election was won with the advertising campaign.
I believe that the ALP (Australian Labor Party) and Kevin Rudd hired a marketing guru. The marketing guru seized the opportunity to use new marketing technologies like; facebook, myspace, and youtube to appeal to the younger voter.
I mean let's face it the ALP's policies are nothing new. Fix hospitals, education, climate etc... These are all pretty standard policies for a party.
What's even better is the launch of the kevin07 website. It had a current feel about it. It tied in all the technologies mentioned above, allowing the not so Internet savvy to locate videos and pictures along with other stuff like Kevin07 t-shirts.
It is worth mentioning that the kevin07 website is sperate from the ALP website which is nice and well set however it was a wise move to market the kevin07 website as the ALP's site is very corporate.
Now the Liberal Party of Australia's website is terrific. It has the same feel as the kevin07 website yet in my opinion it is highly polished. Yet it was never marketed.
I don't know the full story so the liberal site may have gotten a revamp after the kevin07 site but it missed out on pushing it to the people, which is a pity. The marketing campaign for the Liberals has basically been the same for years and I think it is because of the fresh approach that the ALP took to the problem, that is what got them over the line.
It just goes to show if the new technologies can work for politicians, imagine what it can do for you!
Is my site ever finished
Posted on Tue Nov 07
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
Well the answer is no.
I might have covered this briefly in another post, but I feel this is something very important forr everyone who has a website to understand. It is not safe to be content with building a website and never improving it further every 6 months or so.
Search engines love it, but most importantly so will your users. The truth is everyone gets bored at some point even your website is the latest greatest thing out. Eventually it will become the norm and you will notice this by your statistics dropping.
The best thing I would think would be to stop this from happening before your readership (site visitors) leave for somewhere new.
It can be the slightest change that can make all the difference.
Things like:
- Photo Galleries
- User participation (ie forums, comments, etc...)
- Podcasting & Vlogging
There are many more but I think you are getting the idea now. It is all about engaging your visitor, giving them the opportunity to contribute about a product or service. A real user review is more powerful then I or any other marketing guru can come up with. It is these user reviews and thoughts that people now read before purchasing most things these days.
Another thing to note is that you will see your visitors increase as your site gets referred. So don't be content with what you have. Work with me and the team so we can increase your sites worth.
Is Twitter good for you
Posted on Thu Nov 07
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
With the numerous amounts of social networking sites around is the simple idea of Twitter any good, and can it help your site or brand.
In short that answer is yes!
I am a Twitter newbie since just signing up around 30 minutes ago. The basic idea is you can let your "followers" know what you are upto within 140 characters. That is the same amount as an SMS from your mobile phone. The beauty of it is that you can SMS, Email and IM your short message for all to see.
Once you start off you don't have any followers like the Able Net Deisgn Twitter however it is a matter of working on getting people to want to know what you are doing.
I mentioned that there are some benefits for your business. Well I suppose the first benefit is simply reminding people that you exisit. The second is, it is a quick way to get the word out about products, specials and anything else happening.
With blogs almost everywhere, having turned into a powerful search engine marketing tool, posts are sometimes quite long. That is great, however sometimes it is hard to post a simple few word update in fear of loseing your readership as they want more substance to a post. Not to mention the loss in search engine marketing gains from such a small post.
That is where this Twitter thing comes in handy. I can alert people of a new post on the blog or a quick update to let them know I am out of the office.
I'll be talking more about this little tool in the next few weeks, as I discover more about it's pros and cons.
