Successful Web Design and Internet Marketing Strategies from Desiree Scales, CEO--Bella Web Design, Inc.

Does Your Website Educate or Frustrate?

There are many types of sites out there: ecommerce, web brochure, informational, data. The ones that bring business to their owners are ultimately the sites that educate their audience.

So ask yourself, are you educating your audience? Five signs of a good educational website:

1. Articles that are updated weekly about recent developments in your industry and/or business


2. A list of links or resources which are updated regularly which help your customers understand your/their business


3. Link to your blog or some other pages which discuss new techniques, news, inventions or anything that can help your customers gain knowledge about your/their business


4. Informational whitepapers or essays of how you helped other customers and have good testimony of how you came up with solutions to common problems for your customers

If you're not doing any of these, start on at least one this month, then slowly move into the others. Customers can get frustrated with a lot of fluff. They don't have time for it.

Education is information which is currency in today's business market. Enpowering customers enpowers your business.

Ready for Social Media?

Our friends (and fellow web developers) at Flyte Media in Maine were interviewed and posted a great video about "social media." Social media means taking the news to the people from the people. "We" create the media and spread the information ourselves. This has great possibilities for business use because it gives businesses another platform to become "experts in their field" and share knowledge easily with others. Take a look at the video of Rich Brooks being interviewed and talking about social media. Click here.

Watch for our Social Media Webinar coming in 2008! Click here for more information about how to make webinars part of your company's online marketing success plan.

Does Your "Long Tail" Wag Your Business?

I'm having so much fun with my guest bloggers, I thought I'd invite Barbara Moss to join us this week!

Barbara Moss, Senior Account Manager at What a Concept!

For the past few decades, Barbara Moss has been a technical evangelist connecting people with the tools that enhance collaboration efforts and streamline processes (starting with dual floppy PCs in the early 1980s!). Her roles have spanned across the spectrum from developer, trainer and recruiter to manager/director, project manager, and sales. Her industry experience includes insurance, banking, software, retail and health care/bio tech.  As a Sr. Account Manager with What a Concept!, she currently helps organizations understand how to implement Web 2.0 interactive technologies into their business practices.

“The Long Tail” and Small Business

I have been reading The Long Tail, Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine.  The basic premise of the book is that businesses with strong distribution power (i.e., online stores) can sell a greater total volume of otherwise hard-to-find items in small amounts than they can sell of popular items in large amounts (see graph below).  This situation has evolved because traditional brick and mortar stores don’t have the physical space to carry the depth of inventory that online retailers can carry, especially when the inventory is electronic or can be produced on-demand, such as publishing on-demand.  Unfortunately, the book restricts long tail theory to large businesses.

The yellow area under this graph represents the Long Tail

So, does the long tail theory apply to small, niche online stores?   If so, how can online retailers apply the theory? 

The answer to the first question is YES.  Thanks to the Long Tail economics made possible by major online retailers, a large number of online consumers now expects and searches for an ever increasing array of “obscure,” niche products.  Smaller online retailers who are also smart can reap the benefits of the path their larger counterparts have laid.

Here are several simple things small online retailers can do to expand their reach to online consumers:

1. Search Engine Optimization: a lot has been said about this subject because it can’t be stressed enough.  Ensure that your website is designed with SEO in mind and revise it as necessary to keep current.  Did you know that the more you talk and are talked about on the web, the higher your SEO rating?  The recommendations below are other ways to increase SEO ratings.
2. Blog: get out there and talk about your passion as it relates to your product.  Have your own blog and comment on other people’s blogs.  Be willing to share ideas and help others.   Don’t make your blog an advertisement - people want to hear about you and your expertise, not be sold to.
3. Post videos on YouTube and pictures on Flickr:  Again, share information, don’t sell.
4. Participate in online communities: Almost all niche markets have at least one community.  Get involved!  Communities like FaceBook and MySpace have all kinds of niche groups – join these as well.
5. Meta Tags: Tagging is a way to categorize web pages and blog posts.  Since any entry can have multiple tags, use as many tags as needed to reach your relevant audience.  Tagging is another way to increase SEO.

Don’t forget, your customers are your best advertising.  Solicit and use satisfied customer comments wherever possible.  Find out if they’re hanging out on the web in places that relate to your business and join them there. 

It’s time to let your long tail WAG THE DOG!

How to Write Good Web Content

This week I'd like to introduce another member of our team, our writer in residence--Sallie Boyles! Sallie has been assisting us with writing our client's web copy for 2 years. Clients love when she steps in to help. We hired her because we saw that most people froze up when asked to send us their copy for their site and caused some serious delays in the progress of their projects. Sallie has now cut the project times in half and has become a very important part of the Bella Web Design team. She is this week's guest blogger. Enjoy her article on "STOP-Wise Words for the Web."

STOP—Wise Words for the Web
By Sallie W. Boyles 

What happened to the days of “build a website and they will come”? It seems that era ended when “we don’t have a website” was no longer quaint. Today, your Web business must not only look highly professional, but it must also communicate effectively. If you want to attract prospects as well as convert them to clients, remember: Good looks will take you only so far. 

Rapidly changing technology, savvy Internet users, and stiff competition demand that our online verbal communications evolve as well. Therefore, as we race to keep pace, let’s consider the acronym STOP:

1. Search Engine Optimization: In order for your prospects to find you, your website better be a headliner among countless competitors. Using the right keywords and phrases in your content is a starting point.

  Does your language accurately define your reason for being?

2. Target the Market: You cannot be all things to all people. The longtime reminder is worth repeating when we see the world and want it all.

Can you effectively appeal to people in Toronto, Tennessee and Timbuktu?

3. One -Two Punch: Get to your point quickly in as few as words as possible.

  How hard are prospects willing to search for the punch line?

4. Point of Difference: Hook them by sharing your unique benefits. Your staff photographer speaks six languages. Your auto mechanic services race cars. 

What extra advantages will customers gain when they choose to do business with your company? 

Though not rocket science, effective Web writing is a skill. If you’re going to take your presence online, make every word count... 

Getting your Blog in Google

On a whim last weekend, I put the words "Successful Web Designers" into Google and found my blog on page one! That made me pretty happy and warm inside. Its almost as if I had the Google stamp of approval. Then I thought, "Does this really mean I'm successful or was did I know what I was doing subconsciously when I titled my blog 'Successful Web Design and Internet Marketing Strategies from Desiree Scales, CEO--Bella Web Design, Inc'?" (Whew!) I think it might be a little of both.

When naming your blog and giving it a title, make sure that you use keywords for the particular phrase you would like to be found for. This also goes for the titles in your blog posts. Another example from my blog is when you put in "web design plagiarism" into Google, my recent post about plagiarism comes up because the words in the title tag match that query or search.

These are just a few things to keep in mind when you design your blog and title your posts in the future to give you an edge in the search engines.

Yes, we are one of the most successful web design companies in Atlanta. (Maybe the Google-bots are smarter than we think after all? Heh heh!) We just celebrated our 9th birthday October 3rd (Google's 9th birthday was last week!) and our company has grown every year since we put up our virtual sign on the web.  With that experience comes a lot of knowledge which allows me to know how to optimize my blog and posts. This is experience which I'm proud and excited to share with you, my readers. Please continue to post comments and ask questions in order to help us make this blog even more "successful" in the future!

Top Online Advertising Strategies in 2006

I just got my latest issue (June 2007) of Entrepreneur Magazine and saw a poll from U.S. marketing gurus who were asked their best and worst performing strategies in 2006. Here are the results:

Best:
1. Paid Search Ads  49%
2. Email-House List  47%
3. Search Engine Optimization  45%

Worst:
1. Email--rented list 56%
2. Pop-up and pop-under ads  45%
3. Ads in email newsletters 47%

What's interesting about this list is how predominant search engines are, both in paid and organic listings. I have a feeling that Search Engine Optimization would be number 1 on the list if there were more companies who could actually do a good job at it. This would then push paid listings down the list a bit. A combination of the two might be more of an accurate picture of what's really going on.

Email marketing comes in second which is no surprise. What better customers to sell to than people that are already buying your products and/or services?

I don't think any of us are shocked that pop-up ads, pop-under ads and rented lists are part of the "worst" category. These are all very annoying for us all and should be banned along with banner ads and other advertising junk.

I'm still surprised at the majority of my clients who aren't taking advantage of both email marketing and search engine submission. I really don't understand how you can compete without doing at least one or the other. If any of them know a secret I'm not privvy to about marketing offline, let me know. I'll be the first to try it out!

Why Your Email Address is a Powerful Marketing Tool

"A new study finds that electronic resumes linked to job candidates with quirky and “unprofessional” e-mail names are rated lower by potential employers than those with professional names."  --article here.

Did you know the same thing applies for your business email as well? Let's see, would you put more trust in a business who's CEO has an @gmail, @yahoo or @aol address or one with @acmecompany.com address? On the other hand, would you sincerely open an email from an address like rockinceo@acmecompany.com? I highly doubt it.

In this age of technology and spam, people are judging you based on your email address every time you send an email. Your email address and your domain name say a lot about your company and how its run. Cutting corners with a freebie email address isn't a way to impress future customers. It also isn't a way to get people to your site. (Did you know that most people who receive an email from a company they haven't heard of or aren't very familiar with will go to that company's website based on the address in the email? For good sakes people, FREE ADVERTISING!)

We recommend to all of our customers they use their company email address for correspondence and not to just forward their email to their Yahoo or AOL account. They forget that when they forward their email and then hit reply. The return email will have the @aol.com address and not the company address.

If you have company website addresses, USE THEM! Learn how to set them up in Outlook, Outlook Express or your web hosting company webmail program. After all, people are judging you and your company every time you write an email.

By the way, you can always email me here at desiree@bellawebdesign.com  Ahhhh, see how nice that sounds? Now go check out my website!

Your Business Resolution List for 2007

Happy New Year! Sorry its been awhile, but I had to take some time off to regroup for what promises to be our best year yet. (I say that every year and every year we blow the doors off the previous year so I'm just going to keep on saying it EVERY YEAR!)

I was thinking about those New Year's resolutions and I thought I'd turn the tables on my audience and post what I think should be YOUR Business Resolution List for 2007 from an Internet marketing prospective. Here goes:

1. Upgrade/Update Your Old Site (or get one if you don't have one already people--geez, its 2007 after all!): Time to take a good look at your site and really look at your Return On Investment (ROI). Did you get what you paid for all those years ago? Is it performing and bringing business through the door? Does it really represent your company's image in a clear, concise manner? Do visitors know what you do immediately from the home (first) page? If you answered no to any of these questions, its time to call a web designer (us!) right away. I'm just as guilty as the next business owner for site neglection. My own resolution this year is to get our new site launched by March 1 so keep checking back for our progress.


2. Hire a Reputable Search Engine Specialist: I had a guy today tell me he could find his company at the top of Google under his company's name "ACME Real Estate" (names have been changed to protect the innocent). I said, "Great! Now, can you find it under the keywords which represent what you actually do like 'commercial real estate'?" He stuttered a bit and then meekly answered, "no..." I told him that most companies can find themselves listed under the company name (although there are many who can't even find themselves that way!). What you need to do is put yourself in the shoes of someone who doesn't know who you are from Adam and is searching for a company who provides the products or services you actually provide like "web design" or "high heeled shoes." If you can't, do something about it because you're losing out on a lot of potential clients out there who use Google, Yahoo and MSN which are the top three search engines.


3. Start a Solid Email Marketing Campaign: If the last time you emailed your customers about your company's product or services was more than 6 months ago, its time for you to start an email campaign. Let's face it, people have short attention spans and smaller memories. You need to start an email campaign at least once every other month to remind people you're still around and kicking. Tell them about new products and services, spread good news about your success and ask for referrals. Ahhh, that's the big one. I never understood why business owners are so afraid to ask customers for referrals. I do it all the time and it pays off BIG! I have 2 or 3 clients who sent about 3 clients to me in 2006. I have one in 2007 that's already hooked me up with 2 really big clients and for that I'm grateful. The reason for all of those referrals is because I make sure Bella Web Design, Inc. is always on my client's radar.


4. Exercise your Right to Blog: I can't say enough about how this blog changed my business in 2006. Its only been around since October, but in the last three months, my leads soared to record levels. The reason for this is I've used my blog to educate and have created a resource people enjoy reading. (I have the comments to prove it!) My blog has helped me establish myself as a leader in my field of expertise. If you can write or hire someone to help you write, you can do the same thing for your business in less than 2 hours a week. More on that later...
   


5. Add Video to Your Site: Last year, Google bought YouTube. YouTube was listed in Time Magazine as the hottest application of the year. Why? Because of streaming video! Now that more folks out there have the bandwidth, its time to set your site apart with some cool video. Take a look at what we did for Lillie Glass. When I visited their workshop, I thought, "How cool would it be to see Thom Lillie in action creating his beautiful sculptures?" From that thought came the video people are talking about. This is actually another resolution I've made, add a sales video with yours truly on camera. Watch for it at our site www.bellawebdesign.com.

Whatever your resolutions are this year, I hope 2007 is a big one for you as well and I hope that we here at Bella Web Design, Inc. can help you make them a reality.  Thank you to all of you who continue to work with us and especially those who have referred us to other business owners. Our gratitude cup runneth over and we raise a tall glass to all of you in 2007!