• you’ll have squandered money creating a useless site;
• you’ll have wasted valuable time;
• you’ll have scared away or failed to attract potential clients;
• and now you’ll be saddled with hosting fees.

So, with that out of the way, let’s get down to business. What makes a website effective?

First of all, is your contact information on every page? This is an absolute must, so don’t forget about it.

Secondly, you have to identify what it is that you want visitors to your website to do. Do you want to have them fill out a form for a sales lead? Do you want them to buy something? Join your mailing list? Download your white paper?

Once you figure out what you want your visitors do to on your site, it’s time to look at your current site design. Is there a clear call-to-action that is easy to locate? That is, are there elements on every single page of your website that clearly incite visitors to take an action that you want them to take?

If you have both contact information and a call-to-action on each page, that is fantastic. But if not, now’s the time for a redesign.

Now that your contact information and your call-to-action are both in place, it’s time to make your website more user-friendly. If you have a lot of extra money to spare, you can pay a company to run tests on your website. Or, you can just call a few of your closest friends and family members and ask them to do a walkthrough of your site with you. During this process, stay on the phone with them, and ask them to take your desired call-to-action. Take notes on any troubles they may have. If you do this with at least five people, and several of them have trouble with your call-to-action, then you know it’s time to fix the problem. If they don’t have trouble, great!

Once that’s out of the way, it’s time to look into the SEO-friendliness of your site. By “SEO,” I mean Search Engine Optimization, which basically refers to a set of tools that website designers use to elevate their sites in search engine rankings. It’s an important part of any Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategy.

Just in the last few years, there have been countless books released on SEO and SEM, but for now you’ll do fine with the basics. Keep these things in mind:

• Is your targeted keyword included in the title of the page on the title bar of the browser window? The answer should be yes.
• Are there tons of graphics on your site, or did you use graphics in place of text? If so, there’s a good chance your site is not SEO-friendly and needs a few minor fixes.
• Is there a lot of flash on your site? If so, you may be missing out on valuable traffic, because the search engines can’t index your text.
• If/when you hired someone to design your site, did he or she do so with SEO in mind?
• If you did the design yourself, were you aware of the best SEO practices at the time? At least make sure you have meta and alt tags.
• If someone wrote your copy for you, did he or she do keyword research first?

Another point to keep in mind.. Content is still king. As long as you provide regular content that is VERY relevant to your target market, you are creating a site that will draw in your ideal clients.

[Article by Jennifer Davey- Business Coach and Marketing Strategist www.jjscoaching.com]

Your online strategy and endeavors start and end, live and die with your CUSTOMER. Many strategies fail because business owners do not take the time to separate what they think their customers want from what their customers really want.

I believe that you need to tap into your customers mind, explore their expectations and fulfill their dreams in your marketing strategy.

Find out who your customer is and why they buy. And then make a promise the client wants to hear and deliver on that promise better, faster, louder than anyone else on the block.

[Adapted from October Succeed Newsletter] Now is the perfect time to start planning your new website.  A good website can boost sales. If you create a solid plan and hire a good website development company, then you can have a website that goes live early in the New Year.

There are three steps to creating a successful plan: Scout, Sketch and Discuss…

Step 1: SCOUT

The Internet is full of examples of good and bad websites. Before deciding what you want for your own website, spend some time surfing and discovering new websites. Then make notes of good ideas. You can even create screen shots to remind you of how a website did something.

Tip: A great way to get introduced to a wide variety is to subscribe to Stumbleupon.com. This free service allows you to be directed towards websites with a theme of your choice.

Step 2: SKETCH

Start with the home page (the page you first see). Look at what you want to achieve with the site and make sure you have a way to do it on the home page. For example, if you want more sales, then have a great product description and a buy now button or a link to your catalogue.Once you have done the home page, look at what other pages and information your site might need, like contact details or a profile of the company.

Once you know what you want in terms of design and functionality create a diagram of how you would like the process to work as well as a mock layout. This will help you to visualize how your website will work and look and help you to give the website developers a good template to work with. Think of it this way, website developers are like architects – they need a good idea to start with and solid plans in order to give you the best product for you.

Tip: Never buy a cheap website which you cannot add content to without the help of a developer. These sites are built using basic code and are not very search engine friendly. It also becomes a problem when you need to change details.

Step 3:  DISCUSS

It is possible to create your own website, but you will get the most for your efforts and investment by using a professional developer.

When discussing your website needs with the developer or designer always ensure that they have a clear understanding of what your goals are to ensure that you have the functionality that you need.

Tip: Sign a contract stating exactly what you will be getting and what the payment and delivery terms are. Also include a three month period of error fixing. This is very important.

• Last year, online retail sales surpassed the R1 billion mark for the first time, says internet researcher Arthur Goldstuck, who predicts that it will grow a further 20% this year despite the recession. It’s still a fraction of total retail sales, but is becoming increasingly difficult to sneeze at.
• The total number of internet users in South Africa grew a 12,5% last year to a total of 4,6 million people. The rate at which South Africans are ditching dial-up for ADSL or other broadband connections grew a whopping 50%, says Goldstuck.
• The arrival of Neotel’s Seacom submarine fibre-optic cable in June this year will increase South African broadband access a staggering 40 times, making internet access cheaper and internet shopping more comfortable.

But more telling than any of these statistics is the experience of Charles Meyer, the Centurion-based owner of www.pokerathome.co.za, a straight-forward ecommerce website that sells poker and bingo sets in South Africa.

Perhaps it is significant that Meyer was only 15 years old when the dot-com crash struck. Not having been in business at the time, he wasn’t allergic to the idea of starting an online shop after he and his brother were playing a game of black-jack last year and struggled to find an automatic card-shuffling machine online. He promptly identified a limited range of playing-card related products, bought five of each, set up a simple ecommerce website and eight months later, much to his surprise, he is doing R25 000 to R30 000 turnover a month.

Search engine optimisation makes a “huge difference – it works”, says Meyer. He finds that regularly adding new content to his site keeps it from falling in the search result rankings. Meyer’s biggest expense for Poker At Home is on Google Ad campaigns, through which he “buys” search terms, for example the words “poker sets”, from Google. When someone in South Africa types in that term, his website comes up as a paid-for link. If the internet searcher clicks on his ad, he pays between 60c and R1,10 to Google. He budgets for about 200 clicks per day.

But the ultimate success of ecommerce has little to do with the emergence of Google or the evolution of websites. As so many businesses learnt through the dotcom crash, it is the readiness of the online shopper that determines the viability of ecommerce business. Goldstuck says it takes roughly five years for a South African internet user to get comfortable enough with the internet to buy something online. Therefore, only a part of South Africa’s 4.6 million internet users are currently active online shoppers. But if the figures are accurate, many more will soon join what could become – dare we say it? – a dotcom boom.

Adapted from an article in BigNews for the Business Owner:

The Internet is a great leveler – both LARGE and small businesses can shine – because it is the cheapest (to my knowledge) marketing medium on the planet. The real winners on the Internet are people and companies which apply creativity and sustained effort to promote themselves, and be where people are looking for answers. With this in mind, and to answer the question, the three things every business can do RIGHT NOW to get noticed online are: 

1. Turn your e-mail into a marketing tool. Most people don’t realise that e-mail is an online system. Most times when you send or receive e-mail, then you are on the Internet. Because of this any links you put into an e-mail will automatically direct the reader (when clicked) to another place online – In our case, your home page or a special promotions page on your website or a social media page where they can connect with you.

2. Brand your e-mail. As well as using your e-mail to direct potential customers to your website, it can also be a powerful tool for reinforcing your brand in their minds. I hear all the time that people need to be exposed at least 5 or 6 times to something before their minds actively engage with it. Think like Vodacom (in Joburg that logo is everywhere you look!) and stick your branding in the one place where it will cost you virtually nothing, but guarantee you eyeballs!

3. Make sure that your site content sells. Content is what makes the Internet world go round. The primary reason that people go online is to find answers and solutions not vision statements or your staff’s job descriptions. Your number one goal with each page on your website should be to sell your company (build credibility), or product or service. If a page does not do this, I would scrap it. Even Google agrees with me..

That’s my list. Take it to your web designer NOW! Or contact me! Oh, and feel free to agree/disagree or add more by commenting below.

One rule though hasn’t changed all that much… Exposure. The more people are exposed to you, your company or brand the more they are likely to do business (or at least think about doing business) with you. Its the celebrity effect… Barack Obama, Oprah, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, JZ (Zuma!)… If you wanna hang out with the big boys, you’re gonna have to get yourself some Exposure with a capital E!

This is where my respected colleague’s statement began to rattle me. Traditionally, to make a big noise, get capital E, required a lot of $$$! However, the Internet being the great leveler it is, has changed that.  The price of good Exposure online is time, creativity and well, some Web skills.

One of the biggest names in online celeb-mania is the ever- ranting and raving Perez Hilton. Vitually unknown ten years ago, he has risen to Oprah-like status online. Just Google-ing the two reveals a major diff in results (over 5 mil more for Perez) and online activity (e.g. compare their Twitter stats). He has become the self proclaimed “Queen of the Media” (www.perezhilton.com), a mini-Media Mogul, with almost similar offline status.

My point is… Well, that the Internet makes all businesses equal. It is a cost-effective medium that has allowed many businesses in many industries to capture the attention of old markets and create new ones. Together with traditional marketing channels such as telemarketing and direct mail, having a well-organised online strategy can catapult your lead generation, sales, and customer relationship systems to new heights.

We all wanna play with the big boys… so get ready, its time to juice up your website and your e-mail, connect where people are congregating and automate your marketing. Let’s show the moguls who’s boss!

Up until a couple of years ago, marketing almost exclusively referred to the practice of using traditional advertising — Outbound or interruption marketing — broadcasting messages to consumers via direct mail, magazine adverts, TV slots and so on. Inbound marketing is the softer side of advertising or marketing where marketers attract consumers based on their interest and wait for the consumer to interact first, not just blindly broadcasting.

Hold on, does this buzz mean that traditional (Outbound) Marketing is history? Well no, see marketing requires multiple mediums, numerous testing, research into prospects’ and customers’ minds and the willingness to test, fail and test again. Inbound marketing is not a replacement for Outbound marketing, it compliments it.

Some of you might wonder how you can implement Inbound marketing ? It’s actually very easy to do “Inbound Marketing” with your website or blog. You can insert a Web Form into your website, and have it capture the details of an interested prospect so you can send a follow up email related to their interest. The trend seems to be using email marketing software, and connecting that with a blog or content management system so your Website is dynamic and fresh, and draws people in.

Additionally, you can offer a valuable report, allow the prospect to opt-in and download it and use that as the starting point of conversation with a prospect.

I hope I made it clear that companies can market better by implementing Inbound marketing solutions into their outbound marketing. Results will vary — test, tweak and listen to your customers.

Connecting your Outbound marketing with an Inbound marketing solution and a great marketing strategy is the most effective. So next time you wanna invest in an ad or carry out some telesales, perhaps wait. Instead put those fees into building your website up so that it can help fill up your sales funnel by attracting the people you contact.

To find out more, or ask questions, please send us your details below or contact us.

The results of the survey showed that the most common choice was “introduce new products and services.” Although that might be an intial gut reaction when sales start slowing,  good marketing practice suggests that a tight focus on core products and services helps drive companies forward. Those that branch out too much end up getting distracted from their goals and losing focus.

Another shocker was that the least common choice for those surveyed was to “spend more on advertising/promotion.” Again, cutting marketing costs might be the first reaction to a downturn. But, those that thrive during tough times take advantage of the fact that their competition is cutting back. They actually forge forward and spend more on marketing (only on stuff they know works) in order to eat up market share while others are struggling.

I bring this up because I’m curious about what our blog readers (you) are doing during the recession. What specific actions you’re taking to increase sales during the recession? Please take a moment and share with us how you’re thriving in the recession.

The Right Message… To The Right Market… At The Right Time!

Most businesses miss one, two or all three of these factors, and end up with very ineffective marketing and advertising results. Also, most businesses compound these problems by spending a bunch of money on image advertising, with no direct response offers at all. This could cost companies millions in missed sales every year.

To make the most of your marketing dollars:

1. Never waste money on image advertising, or at least keep it to a minimum.

2. Test simple, inexpensive direct response marketing methods. Offer FREE reports, samples, coupons, or other response devices filled with emotionally compelling copy to find the messages that match the interests of YOUR target markets!

3. Concentrate on your most successful direct response offers, and…Use Multi-Step Direct Mail/Phone/Fax/Email/Voice Broadcasting Follow-Up To Maximize Sales!

It is CRITICAL that you follow up with your leads repeatedly, incorporating a variety of media such as mail, phone, fax, e-mail messages, and voice broadcasting!!!

If you don’t have a computerized system in place to methodically, repetitively and consistently follow up with your leads, you’re either wasting a lot of leads or you’re wasting a lot of man hours doing tedious, manual follow up.

NEED SOME HELP? Give me a call or send your contact details below.

• Build brand and extend reach
• Market and promote new products and services
• Increase website traffic
• Generate new business leads
• Publish success and awards
• Distribute latest PR and news
• Use testimonials to enhance reputation
• Ensure email compliancy

To find out whether E-Mail Branding is critical to your business, you need only ask yourself 3 simple questions.

1. How many emails do I send to clients, prospects, suppliers and acquaintances?
2. How many of these emails do justice to my brand, drives traffic to my website, allows me to intelligently markets my products and services and automatically generate new business leads?
3. With most of our business communication taking place by email can my business afford not make every email we send work for us?

E-Mail Branding allows you to manage and track the success of all your campaigns, and nearly everyone of our clients agree that there is simply no better solution or channel to market available to small business today.

To find out more about e-mail branding, view a 1 minute presentation from our partner, intelligent business e-mail market leader, Rocketseed here >>

Henry Jonker, the business development manager at Rocketseed, recently commented on a design we put together to brand/promote this  site. He notes… “The second example that caught my eye was done by CBD eSolutions (www.cbdesolutions.com), … the “Call to Action” on their banner is bold and eye catching, and I have no doubt will secure a substantial number of click through’s and new leads for their business.”

It is Henry, thanks! Check out our our branded e-mail here >>

To get your e-mail branded NOW, contact me or send your details below.