New Jersey Web Design & Internet Marketing Company - 4M Web Design

Everyone always asks how they can make their website more effective. Here are some key points that you should focus on in order to be more successful on the Internet and with your website.

1. Find A Role For Your Website

The single most important tip is to decide on what role of your website should play in your marketing program before you order it.  Do you want to educate the market about your products? Provide a 24-hour information resource for current customers? Showcase your products? Generate requests for literature and leads? If you set objectives and stick to them, your website will be a success.

2. Offer The Reader A Compelling Reason To Contact You

Turning a website visitor into a customer is the most-overlooked aspect of web-based marketing, even on the biggest commercial sites. You want those who visit your website to buy. The easiest way to accomplish this is to engage them in a two way dialog, so you can market to them on your own terms. Get them to volunteer their name so that you can inform them of specials, product upgrades, events, and new products via e-mail or regular mail. How do you get them to volunteer their name? Offer them something! A free catalog, a free quote, a free analysis, a free reprint of an editorial article — anything your buyers might find of value. Other methods might include weekly drawings for free gifts (T-shirts, free product, etc.), or other promotional giveaways.

3. Get Right To The Point

People are not patient. Studies have proven that people will read long ads and marketing materials, but only if it’s clear there’s “something in it” for them. Be concise. Be quick. Be interesting. Don’t beat around the bush with long introductions or unrelated information. Tell your customer what they want to know and they’ll stick around for more!

4. Focus On Your Audience

Remember, your website should appeal to the interests of your audience, no one else matters! Focus on your target audience and put yourself in their shoes. If they’re interested in your product because it saves them time, then focus on convenience; don’t start your pitch with a laundry list of less-important features. Focus on the key benefits of your product and leave the details for later.

5. Market Your Website

Would you open a sales office in a distant city and then not tell your clients in the area that it had opened? Of course not. Think of your website as an automated sales or service office on the Internet and let your “universe” of potential buyers know that it’s available to them. Put your web address on your stationery, business cards, ads, brochures, and other sales materials, use a rubber stamp if necessary.  Be creative! For example, send out an “birth” announcement on a postcard. You should also remember to keep your domain name easy to remember. There shouldn’t be any dashes or numbers if it isn’t necessary. The general rule of thumb is the name should either be the company name or something that will be so easy to remember that if you gave your business card to someone and they lost it, they should still be able to find the website.

6. Make Your Website Useful

Make sure the information your prospects or customers want is available. For example, websites are ideal ways to disseminate the latest information about your product. You can include specifications, case studies, success stories, white papers, or testimonials. And don’t forget to include important contact information like your toll-free ordering line, customer service number, or how to get technical support. Make people want to come back to your website, make it “sticky”. It should be updated continuously, with events and news. Your site should also give them the incentive of coming back (e-mailed newsletter, product specials, contests, etc.).

7. Make It Easy For Viewers To Respond

You’d think this was obvious, but it’s overlooked far too often. You absolutely must make it easy for a reader to express their interest in your website. Plaster your 1-800 number across it, make sure there’s a link to your e-mail system, and treat visitors with the care you show any other prospective buyer. I have seen sales-oriented websites that never once listed a phone number or a “click to send e-mail” button.

Development & distribution costs are extremely low

When you compare the cost of establishing a website to what it costs to promote your business in print or on the air, you’ll see that a website is the cheapest form of marketing. A radio campaign featuring several 30-second spots per week for three months could run you $10,000 – $15,000. That gets you five minutes per week of exposure for three months in the local area only. Newspaper and magazine ads are similarly highly priced, and they only last for the life span of that particular publication. A website has virtually limitless space.

You could put up a brochure website with dozens of photographs and several thousand words for under $5,000 for the first year, and keep it up and running for a few hundred dollars per year after that. What would it cost to run a newspaper ad of this size for a year? Imagine how much it would cost to produce a catalog for 200 different products, and keep it in consumers’ hands for an entire year. You can accomplish this with a website very easily, with low development cost and almost no distribution cost. Websites are in full color – a palette of 16.7 million colors for your photographs alone.

A website is accessible worldwide.

There are no physical limitations to broadcast areas as in radio and no circulation region restrictions as in newspapers or magazines. You can keep your website more current more affordably than any other media; you can update a website immediately, and as often as you like. Imagine you sell products whose prices fluctuate. With a website, you can change these prices every time they go up or down, so your marketing materials are always accurate.

Websites are economical and not limited by size.

This means a small business can present as large or creative of an image on the Internet as a bigger company – with the right design team. A website also allows easy and safe communication between the consumer and you so that anyone who visits your site can contact you at any time by sending an email. Unlike communications that originate from other forms of advertising, consumers who send emails don’t have to deal with many problems of everyday business: pushy salesmen, remembering to call during business hours, having to battle crowds to get to your stores, spending time waiting on voice mail or getting the wrong information. It’s convenient, easy, and safe for the consumer. Email is also convenient for you.

You can respond to all your customer inquiries at the same time, and do it when you have a free moment – not in the middle of rush hour when someone calls up to ask for product information or directions to your location. You can save money on tech support and answering questions. If your employees spend a lot of time answering the same questions and sending out the same material, you can reduce that labor cost significantly by providing the information on the website. For instance, a client can avoid having to mail or fax information for over 1,000 phone call solicitations in a one-year period simply by providing the information on their site. Your website can also take orders while you sleep as people can place orders on a website at any time, day or night. Read more »

Here are some things to think about when planning your web site:

Planning:

• What advantages would you like to gain from your web site?
• What disadvantages do you think you may encounter?
• How do you plan to overcome those disadvantages?

Target Market:

• Who is your primary target market?
• Who are the main customers you wish to reach?
• Who is your secondary target market? (If any)
• To whom do you sell or want to reach primarily? Other businesses or to the general public?
• How will your web site compare to the way your business / organization currently operates?
• Are you planning an online brochure to enhance your marketing or showcase your product / service?
• Would you like to receive orders and sell merchandise over the internet?

Setup:

• Have you selected a domain name for your web site? Is it currently registered?
• Will your site need a security certificate?
• Will you be processing credit card transactions?

Advertising and Promotion:

• How will you generate demand for your product or service?
• Will you offer banner ad space?
• Will you offer referrer bonuses?
• Will you offer contest-based promotions?
• Will you offer coupons for using the web site?
• Will you be participating in email marketing?
• On what other media will you be advertising your business?
• Will you be adding your web site information to that media?

Customer Service:

• Who will be answering email generated by the web site?
• Will your customers have a phone number at which you can be reached on the web site?

Functionality:

Which functional features should your web site offer?

• blog
• e-commerce/shopping cart
• site search
• customer service/support
• tech support
• discussion forums
• newsletter
• catalog/information
• order forms
• feedback form
• member logon
• password protected areas
• SSL-encrypted areas

Information:

Which informational elements should your site contain?

• about us page
• contact us page
• copyright notice
• privacy statement
• disclaimer
• sitemap

Go to any website and you’re guaranteed to find one thing: a navigation menu. The navigation menu is possibly a website’s single most important component; it allows visitors to, well, navigate your website.

With anything you should start with a plan. We use a Navigation Tree Diagram to easily layout our navigation. It helps you decide what pages go together, which pages are top level, sub-level and/or secondary. While there are no rules for laying out your navigation, I use one rule of thumb. Visitors should be able to get where they want in no more than 2 clicks.

Below is an example of a site navigation tree. Your main page to your website is where “Home Page” is written on the top box. In the boxes below write the pages that your website will contain. Each box shows a single page from your website. If this is a redesign of a website, you can place the pages you currently have on your existing website, then cross out the pages that you would like removed and add any additional pages.

To properly layout your navigation we designed a blank Navigation Tree Diagram you can download. Enjoy!

Read more »

Some things to think about, before you begin.

The following questions are designed to help you determine your purpose and direction on the web before you build a single page.

What is the point of your site?

Simply being on the web is not enough. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish. Do you want to attract business, make money online, provide a public service, share information? Determine the goals of your site, and write them down — this will help keep you on track!

Who is your audience?

Try to get a mental picture of your site’s potential users. Maybe your typical users will be college students, or housewives, or small business owners. Use this mental image to guide you as you plan your site. Also, this is a good time to speculate on the technical level of users. Would they have the latest browser? Be willing to wait 30 seconds for your nifty animation to load? Give this some thought, and plan your site with your users in mind.

How should your information be organized and presented?

The web has come a long way from the early days when having a web presence meant reproducing your company brochure on the Internet. Today web sites hold more information, and the type of information you want to offer should drive the architecture of your site.

What overall image do you want to build?

The web can be a powerful image builder and this power can work for or against your business. Your combination of colors, imagery, information, and tone of “voice” will be your representatives online, so make sure they accurately portray you.

Why should your users use your site?

You are not alone. Your competitors have web sites too. You know why your products and services are better but potential customers may not. Figure out what makes your business the best and highlight that element on your web site.

Once they’re there, what do they want to do?

Having a site where your users can’t find what they want is worse than having no site at all. Many users will form an opinion about your company based on the feeling they get from your site. And a frustrated user is not likely to be a happy customer. Give some thought to the user’s experience. What are the top few things they want to do at your site? Figure these out and make them very easy to find your users will appreciate it.

He can use scissors too; does he cut your hair?

We do find that this is one of the most common scenarios we are presented with. Your web site speaks volumes about how you carry your business. Second rate sites do not instill confidence in your customers. Amateurs just don’t have the know how to get the most of the web. It is no good having an attractive site if it does not attract visitors.

So what should I look for in a web site development firm?

Selecting an organization to design and develop your company’s website can be a very difficult choice. There are hundreds of web designers out there offering websites and online solutions. You need to find the company that is right for your business!

When there is such a difference in price, the most general way to look at it is that cheapest is not always the best. Make sure you sit down and see what they are offering, and check out their portfolio, and any additional costs you might be responsible for in the near future.

Here are a few tips on what you might like to assess:

1. Experience – This might encompass their knowledge of your industry, the skills they have developed, or the number of previous web sites they have developed.

2. Ability – Has the developer demonstrated an ability to complete the complexity of your site? Remember, the best indicator of future performance is past performance.

3. Accessibility – Is the developer accessible to you to discuss strategy, plan the site, or even answer questions? Physical closeness often provides a sense of increased accessibility.

4. ‘Fit’ - Do you feel comfortable with the developer and do they have the same sort of values in business as you?

5. Referrals – If there is any hesitation or delay in getting the names and numbers of happy customers, then that’s a red flag.

6. Assess the input – Aside from what you identify what you require, does the developer provide some suggestion based on his/her previous experience and expertise?

7. Price – There is such a range of variables that come into play here that it would be pointless to even start a list. Compare the various quotes you receive and make a judgment call on the best value for money. Suggest a guarantee to your developer. What’s the reaction?

A final recommendation is to be very careful of any unrealistic results that your web development company may promise. This is of particular importance when it comes to online marketing, sales and search engine optimization.

INTRODUCTION

You need a Website!

It’s that simple. If you work in any type of business today, your Website is literally a 24/7 representative to a worldwide audience.

This article illustrates 10 Common Mistakes that Plague Most Web Sites! I’m sure they’re hundreds more, but based on my experience, here are the 10 most common problems that I’ve found.

1. Ignoring Web Standards and Accessibility

Web standards are basically following the best technical practices to ensure your site is accessible to the most people. Your web site will be lighter (less code), load faster, easier to manage and maintain, and be accessible by everyone.

Using Web Standards means every web user will have a better experience on your web site because:

• Visitors with browsers other than Internet Explorer on a Windows operating systems will be able to use the site.
• Visitors that have CSS disabled or do not support it will get an unstyled well-structured fully usable page.
• Visitors that do not support JavaScript will still be able to use the site.
• Your site will be usable in mobile and handheld devices.

Imagine never having to see “Best viewed with Internet Explorer at 800×600.”

2. Not Updating Content

If you’re web site is not updated on a regular basis (atleast once or twice a month) you will loose serious search engine points, PERIOD!!

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN have certain standards, one of which is fresh content. Basically, your site will slowly descend in the search engine results.

I’m not concerned with search engine rankings, why should I update my web site?

Simple! Your current visitors and customers will not return! Returning visitors expect to see fresh and updated content. If you visit a web site and nothing has changed in 6 months, would you return next week?

3. Complicated Navigation

Your navigation needs to be extremely simple and easy to, well, navigate.

The 2 common places are at the top and left of the page. Wherever you place your navigation make sure it is clear and loads quick. NEVER use flash for your navigation, I would also steer away from using images. If at all possible use plain text. There are a ton of great CSS (cascading style sheet) menus available and they load quick and anyone can view them.

4. Obey the “8 second rule”

If your web page does not load within 8 seconds, most visitors get frustrated, and move on to other pages or sites.

Think about how long you wait for a page to load. Count the next time, I bet it’s not more than 5 or 6 seconds and that’s if you really want to see what’s on the page.

5. Web Counters

No more web counters! Stop putting those little mileage-readout type thing’s on your web site. They were cool in 1996, but counters actually make the web site look unprofessional. Also, if the numbers are low a visitor may think your web site is not good enough to attract many visitors.

Almost every single web hosting company provides detailed statistical information that you can use. You may also open a Google Analytics Account.

6. Bad Color Choices

Black is probably the worst color to use as a background for text. There’s a reason newspapers and books use white backgrounds with black lettering!

Having a dark background behind your text makes your pages hard to read. I have trouble reading white text on a black background and I’m definitely not alone and don’t even think about red text!

Dark text on a light colored background will insure that everyone can read your pages with ease. You can use colors to accent words or headings, but avoid using bright colors for the entire content.

7. Uncommon Fonts

There are only a few safe web fonts that all visitors can see: Arial, Arial Black, Comic Sans, Courier, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS and Verdana. This means you’re probably the only one that can see the cool spray paint font you just used. Also, choose a font size that is at least 10pt.

Make it something that you can easily read yourself.

8. Flash Intros

No, no, no!!! Although they may be cool to look at once, Flash Intros get really old if you have to see them every time that you visit that particular site. Plus, most people don’t have broad bandwidth and can’t even enjoy the flash because it takes so long to load! The same can be said for Java Applets and Animations.

Don’t do it! You’ll loose current visitors and potential customers!

A little flash header or side accent is ok, but NEVER use flash for your navigation. I cannot stand when I go to a site just to find the address and have to wait for the navigation to load. I just leave and forget about the site!

Flash also makes it impossible for the search engines to find your Website because they just see the code for the flash movie instead of actual text.

9. Entry / Splash Pages

Like flash intros, Entry pages are equally counter-productive. An entry page is a huge graphic which takes 3 minutes to load only to cleverly offer you to “click here to enter.” Most visitors will leave before it loads and as a result, will never have the ability to enter your site to learn about you and your products. I know I most certainly leave when I see one of these monstrosities loading! It’s almost frightening!

Entries are for buildings, not Websites.

10. Use SPELL CHECK

Everyone is guilty of disregarding the use of SPELL CHECK from time to time, but it is an integral factor that can not be overlooked! It shouldn’t stop at spell checking either. Proof read the content of your web pages to make sure that you don’t miss the little things. I am guilty of this a lot. For example, using “You” instead of “Your.” Little things like this can be very damaging and will display a grossly low level of professionalism to your current and potential customers.

Conclusion

Basically, it all comes back to usability. Make sure your web site as user friendly as possible. Creating a great looking, easy to navigate Website is a necessity for anyone who is serious about making money the internet.

Remember: You must create reasons for your visitors to return to your web site!

As I took a break from writing this top 10 list, I unfortunately came across another massive and extremely annoying mistake; Automatic Music!

Remember you never know where a visitor of your web site is located. They might be at work, or it may be 1am in the morning while the kids are sleeping. Having music screaming from the computer is usually frowned upon and quite terrifying.

I know there are a few web site owners that are going to get a bill from me for new boxers.