When I learned that I had an opportunity for a summer internship at Magro International, I was very excited about all the the new skills and experiences I could acquire, and after one month into the internship, I haven’t been disappointed.

One of the tasks that I have spent a lot of time on in the last month is using the DotNetNuke content management system to edit existing websites, and to create new ones. I hadn’t had any experience with this CMS prior to the internship, but I must say I have found it surprisingly easy to get used to. Layout of the pages is based on the placement of separate modules; each having a specific function, such as displaying text, media, or a shopping cart system. Organizing these modules in a way that is both appealing to the eye and functional for visitors is something that I’m sure will always be a learning process.

Another task Read the rest of this entry »

We get calls all the time from people who want a website and would like a quote.  We always give them a fair price based on what we think it will cost to develop them a marketable website.  The keyword in the previous sentence is marketable.  A marketable website is different from just a website.  Anyone can develop a website, heck you can even get one for free at Google, Yahoo, or GoDaddy.  For 95% of businesses, developing a website without a marketing plan is a complete waste of time and money.  I completely understand getting competitive bids, however, the problem is that many businesses make their decision based on cost alone, forgetting that they are not making an apples-to-apples comparison.  A marketable website costs more money because a specific plan is developed to solve the most common web design money-wasting problems:

• How are you going to get a return on your investment?
• How are you going to get people to come to your website?
• What content do your website visitors expect/want to see?
• Does the website’s infrastructure support growth?
• Will the infrastructure be search engine friendly?

Let me give you an example, recently I looked at my son and thought to myself “this boy needs a haircut, his head looks like a mop.”  I was too lazy to make an appointment and take him to the hairdresser so I decided to do it myself.  “How hard could it be?” I asked myself.  So I got out my scissors and started snipping away.  I had seen how the hairdresser cut my husband’s hair…pull the hair between my fingers vertically and snip, snip snip.  About 100 snips later my son came out looking like “a monk” as my husband put it.  Two days later we made the trek to the hairdresser where he got a professional haircut that could land him a job modeling for Baby Gap   In that respect, the hairdressing industry is similar to that of web development.  Everyone can cut their hair or get a website for free, but the training and experience a professional provides will make you more marketable, changing the way others think, feel, and interact with you.

We are moving offices, so I was just updating our “Contact Us” page with our new address. I went to Google Maps to get a map to link to from our page, when I discovered that you can create personalized maps in Google now.

Why I think you should create a personalized Google map.

1. When people click your web site’s “map” link, they will be taken to the Google Map homepage where you can reinforce your brand with custom messages and information about your business. Your personalized map can include information like your phone number, URL, a description of your business, even photos and videos – provided they are already hosted online.

2. When people click the “print” button on Google to print the maps, there is an area for them to write down notes. Having your phone number and address on the Google page so they only have to copy it from there helps your customers.

3. Personalized maps are searchable by the public (you can make it a private map if you want) and we don’t know exactly how Google will use these maps in their algorithms – but it definitely can’t hurt.

How to create a Personalized Google Map:

1. Type your address into: http://www.google.com/maps

2. Choose “Save to My Maps”

3. Put in your desired information and choose Save.

The right-hand box allows you format your text, upload pictures (pictures will already need to be hosted online), upload video, and add your hyperlink, but all of this text will only show to users if they click on Title of of the address.

The left-hand box is a text only box, but you can still list your phone number, URL, and any marketing message you want to include. The benefit of this box is that it will always show all of the text, no one will have to click on anything to get your phone number from your map.

And that’s it you’re done!

Saw this free tool on the Grokdotcom website that allows you to test how well a page on your website is customer focused vs. me me me focused. Visit the We We Calculator to test your website.

I saw a posting on Reasons Why You Should Have a Website on another blog that I read.  I think the author has come up with some pretty general ideas about why you need a website, but the one thing that must be noted to small businesses considering a website is that none of his reasons to have a website will work for your business if people can’t find your website.  All the benefits are great, but without an effective Internet marketing strategy and implementation, your website will not reach its full potential.

I wrote this for my husband’s BNI newsletter, but I wanted to post it here too…Read the research below and then read why I think this is important for businesses.

Yahoo Says Searchers are Better Patients

New research from Yahoo tells us that the majority of people who searched for health information subsequently visited their doctor (61%) and that 71% of these folks went equipped with pointed, action oriented questions. Searchers also use twice as many resources to learn about health issues than the average consumer.

* 20% of consumers were driven to search online because they saw an advertisement and wanted more information.

* Searchers are 130% more likely to have seen an online display ad and view it as informational.

* 70% of searchers will question their doctor if they are prescribed a brand different from what they searched for online.

The research was commissioned by Yahoo! in conjunction with Hall & Partners Health care to gain a deeper understanding of health searcher’s attitudes and behaviors, and how this impacts doctor visits and prescriptions. The study surveyed over 5,600 online health seekers with extra focus on those searching for Allergy, Depression and High Cholesterol information. Although demographics differed by condition, attitudes and behavior on search were essentially the same.  

Why this research matters to non-health care businesses

This information is important to businesses that have nothing to do with health care because it gives us some insight into the mind of people using the Internet to search. The four main take-aways from this research are:

* If people are searching for your product or service they are motivated and will most likely contact you if your website fills their need for information.

* Always integrate your website address in ALL other forms of advertising –direct mail, tv, print advertising, etc*

* If people can find your website when searching for terms that are relevant to their search and your business, you have a unique opportunity to educate them on the benefits of your product and service.

* When they call your business they will already be educated enough to tell you exactly what they want. If they call your competitors, they will know to question the absence of a certain benefit they saw listed on your website (as in the case of them questioning the doctor who prescribe a brand different from what they searched for online).

I posted last week on how I had to search Google on how to do something on Windows and the Windows help “feature” didn’t help me at all.

Saturday I encountered a similar problem with HP. When I bought my new laptop (HP Pavilion — Love it!!!), there was a little slip of paper in the box that said I could turn my laptop into a TV. I threw it out without a second thought. Until Saturday, when my husband and I wanted to watch the World Cup on TV. I saw that it was being broadcast in High Def and because we don’t have cable (we don’t watch much TV), I remembered that little slip of paper that came with my laptop. I logged on to hp.com to look for it and couldn’t find it. They gave me all sorts of irrelevant products and services….no TV tuner. So then I go to Google, and once again, in about 2 seconds, I had a whole selection of TV tuners to choose from.

Which brings up a couple of issues. HP should have some type of feedback button. I would have filled it out in a second to tell them that I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Whenever I go shopping in regular stores the first thing they ask me when I am checking out is “did you find everything you were looking for today?” Why not have something like this on your website? Second, why is there search capability so bad? I used to work for an automotive supplier and part of my job was purchasing hardware from HP. They were bad then, we complained, and it seems like they haven’t gotten any better since I left 2 years ago.

I will restate my original proposition – unless companies begin realizing that the search capabilities on their website needs to be as good or better than Google’s they will continue loosing sales because customers will go to Google to find products that they could have found on their own web site.

I knew that I could change the quick launch bar of my computer with programs that I actually wanted there, but I couldn’t remember how I used to do it, so I opened the help menu from Windows and type “change quick launch programs” It only showed me one result under the glossary. So I go to Google and type the same words in and I find the information that I am looking for in position number two…How does Microsoft expect to compete with the likes of Google when their customers have to go to Google to get answers for questions on a Microsoft product?

Do you have a way for your customers to easily find the information they need about your product or service? Don’t make them go elsewhere.

This is a site that we developed for a customer of ours. It is simple, but effective in communicating to Tom’s customers why they need an HSA health plan. The real reason I wanted to post this is because of the audio on the site. Sometimes it is hard to get a good feel of where to go and what to do once you land on a website. An audio introduction gives your customers a clear call to action that tells them what they are supposed to do on your website. In Tom’s case, call him for an HSA health plan quote. Here is the website: http://www.hsasale.com tell me what you think.

Julie

While trying to book my latest trip to Malta, I was on www.Cheaptickets.com (I wish they were cheaper). Every time I searched I was taken to a page before my flight results showed that has a “CheapTickets Tip” The tips were OK, but the problem was that they were labeled Tip #385, Tip #724, Tip #126…now I don’t really think they have up to 700 tips that they randomly show, but I think if they were going to label them so high, they should at least have a higher number of rotating tips so I don’t see Tip #126 every 3rd time.

Which brings up a point for small business owners – make sure your marketing messages are not transparent. If you are advertising online about having great service but don’t respond to emails people send you as a result of that ad – what good is the advertising? If you tell your customers you do something “the best” and then don’t take care of them the way “the best” should – you are not going to grow your businesses.

Transparent marketing messages are a deal killer.