Archive for the ‘ Marketing websites ’ Category

Top 10 Tips To Make Your Business Website Unique

Friday, August 19th, 2016

Tags:
Posted in Marketing websites |

Business websiteThe rise in the number of businesses seeking an audience online and the increasing competition on the internet has made it progressively difficult for small and medium businesses to attract customers to their business websites. If you are just establishing your online presence at the moment, you are up against this number; 963,405,672. That is the number of websites on the internet worldwide as at Jan, 2016. There are millions of websites out there competing with you for viewership and search rankings.

But before you give up and resign to internet anonymity, take another look. The number of websites and the internet in general is growing because demand is growing. Your customer base is huge. This means that getting your business website noticed doesn’t have to be a struggle, you just have to align yourself a little. Today, we will be talking about marketing strategies that will get your business website stand out from the crowd and get noticed.

Have a look;

1. Be Specific About Who You Are

Sticking out in a sea of competitors means offering your customers something they can remember. To achieve this, be very specific about who you are. You could be the local restaurant that only uses native spices. Or you offer a special recipe that nobody else has. Who are you in business? This identity creates a marketing story that can be easily worked into your marketing strategy. Most businesses lose customers simply because they cannot define their business and what makes them different from their competitors. Know what is unique about your business and talk about it, a lot.

2. Do you know your competitors?

Identify and research about your competitors, their products and their marketing strategies. Visit their online store, download their brochures, check on their pricing points, etc. What are their weaknesses? What are their strengths? Find out what your competitors are offering that you can’t, and how you can leverage your strength to place your business website a notch higher. Keep your eyes open, (wide open) for opportunities that your competitors are missing.

3. Claim the authority

Do you have an authoritative voice in your niche of specialization? We all know you can’t claim to be a one-stop solution to all your visitors’ problems. What this means is you need to decide what niche you would like to specialize in, narrow down to provide nothing but the best and establish yourself as an authority. The best way to do this is by showcasing your best achievements as a business, and sharing your best content. Your content needs to be compelling and real value, no SEO junk, no fluff; the kind of content that grabs your visitors by their eyeballs and keeps them engaged long enough for you to pass your sales information across.

4. Keep it simple

Always keep in mind that when it comes to online business, less is always more. These can be done by making your products and services easy to understand. Your visitors should be able to understand what you are offering at a glance. If your landing page fails to do this within the first 10 seconds, chances are you are losing your customers. Secondly, work around your site’s navigation and user experience so that customers don’t have to go through several clicks to make a purchase or take an action.

5. Offer a solution

The whole idea of business and entrepreneurship is conceived on the basis of identifying a problem and offering a solution. So, does your business provide the much needed solution to your customers? Is it spelled out clearly to your customers? Your services and products need to solve your visitors’ problem and simplify their lives. State the pain points in your niche using emotion evoking questions, then place your service or product as the ‘go-to’ solution.

6. Capitalize on both your ups and downs

Documenting your success and achievements is as important as tracking your failures. But the latter is far much challenging. Documenting your success motivates you and helps your business identify what works for your platform. On the other hand, keeping a record of your failures lets you learn from your previous mistakes and know exactly where to place your foot in the landmine.

7. Does you business stand out?

The trick about rising above your competition and getting noticed is having a unique selling preposition (USP). If you have noticed, most brands and websites on your bookmark and ‘follow’ list present themselves very differently from the rest of their competitors. As previously mentioned, take a close look at your business in comparison with your immediate competitors and identify that one unique product, service, package or way of doing things that sets you apart from the rest, and capitalize on it.

8. Plough back the profits

Most of online business owners, especially budding entrepreneurs often get excited by profits and forget to give their business the boost it requires to grow. So always re-invest some of your profits back into your business to ensure sustainability and growth. It could be upgrading your website’s design, improving on product packaging, anything that will ensure your brand is financially protected and your business stays competitive.

9. Put new ideas to test.

How often do you test your new ideas before implementing? Notable business entrepreneurs are always testing news ideas and innovations to set themselves apart. Allow your visitors to give feedback about your new website feature, product or service to help you get useful insights that can improve user experience and boost your sales.

10. Design with your audience in mind

Too many websites are not audience-centric. In other words, the website designers did not consider who the audience is and what the visitors really need. Take time to study your audience and find out about their interest, behaviour, needs and how you can set yourself apart from your competitors.

Bottom line

The trick with internet marketing is to be honest with your beginnings, grow consistently and listen to your customers. Interact with the wider internet community in your niche and offer real value to your users. With these and the above tips, you should be able to see an increase in traffic, conversion and sales on your business website.

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Why is Online Marketing So Essential to Local Business?

Friday, October 10th, 2014

Tags:
Posted in Marketing websites |

 

Each day presents new and smart ways for marketing. For example, online is the best and surest way to spread word about your products to potential clients these days, which in turn helps your business to flourish. To gain what this marketing strategy has offer, the objectives and aims you want to achieve should be your starting point.

What's Your Online Marketing Strategy?Online Marketing Summary

Although online marketing and the traditional marketing seem to have no major differences, online marketing provides cheaper and effective ways to reach your audience. In other words, the internet has provided new and better ways for businesses to market their products.

Why is the internet such as ineffective way for marketing? Below are some examples

Website

Your website is open and available to your audience all the time day and night, and you do not require employees to market your products.

Blog

Blogs provide essential information about your activities to your customers and help you know how your customers view your products through their comments

Email

You can use email to reach your targeted audience and provide them with notifications such as special offers and important news.

Social networks

Social networks provide you with efficient ways of connecting directly with the clients interested in your products. Using online marketing will help increase your online visibility, which will not only help you reach potential clients, but your clients will start searching for you

Reasons Online Marketing is a good choice for your Business

Its efficiency

Online marketing provides an effective way you can use to reach massive customers since people spend a lot of their time online especially on a social media.

It is affordable

Small businesses can utilize this affordable marketing tool to market products to their audience nationally and internationally. Traditional marketing is much  more costly and unaffordable to most of these businesses.

It is personal

Small businesses can use personal media such as podcasting and Blogs to gain credibility and provide them with a competitive advantage over their large business competitors.

Specific Reasons Online Marketing is a good choice for your Business

It is an effective tool to send information

Online marketing is such an easy way of spending the news about what you have to offer. You can provide targeted customers with news about promotion, products, services, and special offers with less effort.

It is cost effective and low in risk

Targeted advertising comes free of charge or with minimal costs. It targets the online customers who are also searching for products they require. You will only need some time to run an online marketing campaign, or you can use marketing experts to speed up this process. In addition, there are no major risks associated with social media, provided you follow the rules and regulations.

Marketing Research

Marketing research strategies like social media are useful tools you can use to get feedback from customers on your services and products. Your interaction and the consumers of what you offer will much improve your business performance through knowing your areas of weaknesses and where you have to rectify.

Increases traffic to your website

Online marketing is a sure way of attracting visitors to your site The more the number of visitors to your site (traffic), the more the sales will be.

An effective way for connecting with your clients

Online marketing strategies like social media will make you and your business more visible to both your usual customers who you trade with and other new customers. This action means you will be increasing the number of customers each day, which will in turn increase your sales, productivity and of course profit margins.

Effective in building databases for you targets

This strategy utilizes social media like emailing where you subtly persuade internet users to sign up and be among the members in your mailing list.

An easy way of building trust and confidence

It is a common phenomenon for customers to trade with sellers they know and trust. Online marketing is the surest way for your customer to know you.

Facilitates a-two way communication

Effective communication (dialogue) between you and your customers is the main factor separating traditional marketing from online marketing. Traditional marketing provides only a-one way communication, making it an ineffective marketing strategy.

Creates value

Value creation involves actions that aim at increasing the worth of your business’s products and services. Creating resources to target your audience is the best way to become loyal to your customers. This action makes them want to continue buying from you and also attracts a new audience.

Community Building

It is best to consider your targeted markets and customers as a community. This perception will increase customer trust, confidence, and loyalty.

Nothing is comparable to the benefits of online marketing when it comes to reducing business risks, utilizing available resources, efficiency, productivity, making profits, and avoiding losses.

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The Benefits of Using Visual Content

Tuesday, May 20th, 2014

Posted in Marketing websites, Social Media, Web Site Design |

The old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” is extremely true, especially when it comes to visual content. So whether it’s a blog post, marketing campaign or social media posting, visual elements can go a long way toward conveying a particular idea or concept, while also creating memorability.

Visual Content Captures Your Attention

The Benefits of Using Visual Content

When you land on a webpage, flip to an advertisement in a magazine, or watch a television commercial, what’s the first thing you notice? It’s probably not the text or the sounds. It’s usually the images, graphics, typography elements and other visuals. That’s because humans are innately visual creatures. In fact, vision is the human’s single most powerful sense, so it makes sense that these visual elements that resonate with us on a more primal level.

The Power of Infographics in Branding and Conveying Info

Infographics are a great example of a visual element that serves to convey information and ideas in a visual manner. An infographic blends graphics, images and typography to create a visual that has a much greater impact and more meaning than an ordinary paragraph of text.  An infographic is just one example of a powerful form of visual content, ideal for a range of different applications, including marketing and advertising, blogging and conveying information, brand development, social media and beyond. In addition to infographics, other forms of visual content include:

  • illustrations and graphics
  • videos and animations
  • presentations

Visual Content for Branding and Marketing

Visual content also serves to enhance brand recognition because it gives the audience something to remember. For instance, a page of text doesn’t provide any real memorable visual content. Quite simply, there’s nothing to remember from a visual perspective. But if you add an image, graphic or other visual content, then you’re giving the viewer’s memory something to sink its teeth onto, so to speak.

The Role of Visual Content

Visual elements can play several different roles. They can:

  • Capture the viewer’s attention;
  • Provide the viewer with something memorable;
  • Convey an idea or message;
  • Tell a story;
  • Create a mood or elicit an emotion; and
  • Provide an at-a-glance overview of an article or other information.

Visual Content in the Social Media World

Visual content marketing is especially prominent in the world of social media, where space and time is at a premium, thereby making the concise, clear and powerful nature of visual content extremely effective. Plus, social media marketing is all about capturing the audience members’ attention and nothing is more effective at this than visual content!   So next time your crafting a blog post, webpage, presentation, advertisement or social media post, remember the power of visual content. And keep that old saying in mind: a picture really is worth a thousand words!

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The Value of Repurposing Content

Thursday, March 20th, 2014

Posted in Marketing websites, Search engine optimization (SEO) |

The value of repurposing content
There is a lot of buzz about recycling today; remaking what is old into something new and hip. Content is no different! You can repurpose your content in a variety of ways. For example, you may re-write a Blog for an article on the same topic for an online magazine. Or, perhaps the information is updated on your topic. This would be an excellent opportunity to compare previous information with the new one, and create new or updated conclusions based on taking a look at the new and old research.

Advantages of Repurposing Content

You can target customers using different mediums, such as infographics, videos, articles, and presentations. This will help you to appeal to a wider audience, which will increase your traffic, retention, and perception from readers. As a bonus, this is also good for SEO.

 

Tips for Repurposing Content

Repurpose your content so it can be shared across many forms of media for an extended period of time. Be sure to modify the content so it is appropriate for the medium. As you are repurposing your content, be sure to build upon what you have done and add value with each new medium you use.

Infographics

Infographics are excellent for social media. You can take blog content and put it into small bites of interesting facts and statistics with graphs and relevant graphics. You can then blast this out to Facebook, Linkedin and Google Plus, through tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite.

Videos

Producing a quality video can be a challenge, but well worth the effort. Audio, visual, and content are all important aspects of creating a memorable- and shareable video. Narrating a scene is a simpler way to product content without having a face on screen. Animated videos are also fun, easy, and effective. You can use Camtasia, Screenr, Mindflash, or Knoodle to create video content from presentations or other files. Remember to add music!

Presentations

Developing slide shows based around the main ideas of your content is an effective way to share your ideas with a variety of people. Using PowerPoint, Prezi, or Slideshare and adding graphics and music is a fun and effective way to get your point across to people who don’t have time or to visual learners.

Podcasts

For auditory learners, or people with long commutes, podcasts are a great way to keep up with interesting industry related information. Creating a podcast from a Blog can be as easy as recording a voice over using programs such as Audacity. You can add commentary from others, address questions or comments that were added at the end of your original article or blog post, or even create a fun character to be the “mascot” of your brand.

Whether you are starting from one core article and creating new content based on aspects of that article, or repurposing Blog posts for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (hands on) learners, there are many opportunities. Experiment with what feels right for your brand. And most importantly, be creative and have fun with it!

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Drive Traffic To Your Site With YouTube

Thursday, November 15th, 2012

Posted in Marketing websites |

Let’s face it: we could all use a few (thousand) more visitors to our websites, right? Well today I want to show you how to use YouTube videos to increase traffic to your website, effectively and affordably. So let’s get started.

Why YouTube Videos?

YouTube is very popular among a wide range of Internet users. It gets three billion daily views off its videos and is the 3rd most highly visited website online. Not only that, but it is considered only second to Google as a search engine.

How Do You Do It Right?

#1. Make Your Videos Engaging – They need to be professionally done, with plenty of good, detailed information that people are searching for.

#2. Make Them Searchable – You will want to put the right keywords in your titles, descriptions and tags to make sure that your target market can find them.

#3. Have A Strong And Clear Call To Action – People need to be told what to do next. Be sure to include your web address, what to do, and why to do it at the end of your video. Free giveaways are a great way to get people interested enough to visit your site.

For example, I might say: Want to learn to make a great website that works for you? Go to http://www.interdream-designs.com and click on “Free Stuff” to get my FREE e-Book: Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Website now!

I hope that gets you started on your way to more traffic and leads!

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Do you use Facebook? Here are 7 Reasons Why You Should

Monday, February 11th, 2008

Posted in Facebook, Marketing websites, Social Networking |

Facebook is THE hot company in the tech world that came from out of nowhere to rule the social networking landscape. Facebook’s roots wind back 3 years when Harvard student/hacker, Mark Zuckerberg started the service to give fellow students easier ways to stay in touch with one another.

Fast forward to today: Facebook now attracts millions of users worldwide. The benefits of using Facebook are tremendous, but here are 7 reasons why you should consider jumping on the bandwagon.

 

1. Network with friends

Your social network is no longer limited to just the people in your immediate area. With Facebook, you can locate acquaintances, and friends of friends easily.

Facebook also alerts you whenever a new friend joins, posts information, updates their profile or adds a new friend. It truly is a wonderful tool for keeping people connected and involved in each other’s lives even when miles or continents separate them.

 

2. Applications and tools

One of Facebook’s unique features is the widgets. Widgets are little applications built by companies and groups to provide extra levels of usability. Widgets are common to most computer users, but are fairly new when it comes to social networking sites. It’s just another testament to the popularity of Facebook that widgets are being designed specifically for them.

 

3. Share Photos easily

Facebook doesn’t put limits on how many photos users can post in their profiles. This makes it ideal for sharing tons of pictures without having to create separate albums or spend hours e-mailing just to make sure everyone gets to see your pics.

 

4. Perfect for creating web traffic

Since Facebook has become a central hub for social networking you can use that hub to drive people to your personal blog or Web site. Simply by putting your links into your profile, you dramatically increase the chances that they’ll get seen and clicked through.

 

5. Form common interest niches

You might have a big network of friends, which is great. But Facebook makes it easy to form smaller groups that revolve around your unique interests. Members are free to form virtually any type of group they want, regardless of how limited the interest might seem. Want to develop a group that loves goldfish? How about a group that’s against blue M&Ms? Whatever it is, there’s a good chance you’ll find others on Facebook who share your passions and interests.

 

6. Toot your own horn

Have you done something worth telling everyone about? Want to get the word out about your band’s next gig? Facebook is the perfect launching pad for getting the word out. You can shout out to everyone in your network, or just a select few — the choice is yours. You can even have guests RSVP on the Facebook event page.

 

7. Privacy

All this talk about friends, networking, notifications and such might make you wonder if you’ll get any privacy at all. Who wants their entire world to be open for anyone to look at? Facebook allows you to limit who can see your profile. You can allow only those in your immediate network access to your profile and even block unwanted users.

Right now Facebook is the end all when it comes to social networking. If your friends are anywhere, they’re on Facebook.

Facebook is not only fun and easy to use, but it gives your business exposure to millions of people worldwide. Networking with friends is simple, no matter where they’re located and friends can even write on your “wall” or send you virtual gifts.

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From Clinton, Obama & Huckabee to Websites & Marketing

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Posted in Marketing websites |

If you’re wondering what Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee have to do with Websites and marketing, check out these articles.

Does your website sound like Hilary Clinton?
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/01/09/hillary-clinton-voice/

How Barack’s Strategy Could Help You Win Customers
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/02/05/barack-obama-communication-style/

Marketing lessons from Huckabee and Obama
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/01/07/marketing-lessons-from-huckabee-and-obama/

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Low Cost Web Site Design: How To Guarantee People Will Remember Your Web Site?

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Posted in Domain names, Marketing websites, Web Site Design |

Ever wonder why some companies go to great lengths to make sure their phone numbers spell out something catchy?

It’s to make sure that people remember the number if they hear it and don’t have a way to write it down.

Think about it. You’re a small business owner wanting to get a web site up and running. You’re driving down the road listening to the radio. A commercial comes on that advertises professional web design and marketing services. The person in the ad hits all the right buttons – fast turnaround time, reasonable rates and easily updated content.

You’re sold. Then comes the number. 1-800-555-2390.

What are the chances you’re going to be able to pull over and write it down or even remember it when you’re ready to order?

Now imagine that the number is 1-800-WEB-SITES.

Easy right?

The same is true when we’re talking about domain names. When you’re marketing your web site and don’t have a physical object to give people with the address on it, you’re depending on their memories.

The problem is that many domain names aren’t easy to remember AND you most likely already have a web site and simply can’t change the URL.

So what can you do?

Get a second domain name. Domain names are inexpensive now and can easily be gotten for as little as $10. You then use this web site to give visitors a good idea of what your business is all about. How it operates, what it offers and of course, a re-direct to your current site.

The trick with the second domain is to make the URL something that’s relevant to your business and easy to remember.

Taking our small business example you might want to try a domain like www.websitedesignforwomen.com, which directly targets a specific market. This way, whenever you market yourself, whether it’s on the radio or speaking directly to someone, you can give them a name that’s going to stick in their brains without them having to write it down.

And even if they forget the rest of your marketing message, they’re going to remember your URL, which will remind them of everything you told them before AND point them to where they can buy your products or service.

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