Here is a list of some useful tools that may come in handy with your online marketing, all are either free or very low cost.  There is an additional list available on a previous blog post – Some great free online tools for you to try

Sweet Captcha - ever wondered what the security code that you have to fill in when sending in a request via an online enquiry for is called? Well it’s a captcha. This means that only real humans can fill out the form and will stop spammers sending in dozens of enquiries. Sweet Captcha is a fun alternative to the usual numbers and letters.  Try it yourself on www.sweetcaptcha.com

This captcha is asking the user to drag the flower to the bouquet

RSS Include – Want to add an RSS feed to your website and don’t know how to do it, well this tool is really easy.  Simply add the feed url, customise the look and feel and bingo, it generates the code. You can use it to create a box for everything from a blog, Facebook box to a simple ticker box.  There is a Premium account which costs only $36.50 a year so very affordable.  Have a go https://www.rssinclude.com/my_rssboxes/create_new_box 

SEOmoz – Have access to all the tools you need to optimise your website, their research tools include Inbound link reporting and analysis (great to see where your competitors are getting their inbound links), a SEO toolbar,  SEO reports – generate regular reports that will detail where you appear for your target search terms and identify any issues like duplicate titles, errors seen etc I highly recommend upgrading to the pro account – starts at $99 a month.  www.seomoz.org

Yola – need a website and dont have a massive budget. Yola online CMS is a great option for you to be able to set up your own starter website and its very easy to use. Choose from loads of different templates. Includes everything you need from editable meta data, blog, widgets, editable CSS (for the more advanced user) and much more.  There are free options but I recommend upgrading to the Silver account from only $90 a year, this will allow you to point in an existing domain and gives you access to more advanced templates.  Give it a go now on www.yola.com  

Blueface – ever wondered how you can track phone calls that come from website visitors without having to ask each and every person  where they heard about you?  Well look no further, with Blueface you can rent you a new phone number for a very low cost.  Use this number on your website or on a specific campaign and every time a call is made you can see the details in the handy online reports. Costs start at a low €9.99 per month. The good news is that you can rent a number with the area code for where you are located so if you are in Cork city you can have a 021 number or in Bantry you can get an 027 number.   More information on www.blueface.ie

I hope you find these useful, if you want to achieve something online and don’t know of a tool to help, contact me now and I am sure I have the ideal tool for the task.

Sometimes it is difficult to recognise that you need professional search engine optimisation services.    You may think that you have enough visitors to your website but if everyone is finding you through your name and nothing else there is definitely work needed. Some questions to ask yourself:

- Am I being found in search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo for key search terms that will drive traffic to my website (other than your business name)?   Review your analytics to answer this one, if you don’t have website analytics rush out and get them installed now. Google analytics is the most popular and the data is very easy to analyse.

- Do you know how your actions can impact your search engine position?  If not you should at least get some SEO training so you understand how you can help your position in search engines

- Are you getting quality traffic to your wbesite?  SEO should focus on targeting the right traffic to your website

- Are your competitors getting the position you would like?  The only way to boost your position is to work on your search engine optimisation whether you manage this inhouse or contract this out

- are you thinking of redesigning your website or doing major work? Website design and SEO go hand in hand so please speak to an expert at the very early stages to ensure your site is search engine friendly

Now, whats the answer?  Need SEO services?  More information available on http://www.dynamicwebmarketing.ie/search-engine-optimisation-page.html

Even in these hard times we are investing in new websites and online marketing because it’s where our customers are , we all want to be better than our competitors and having a website that looks out of date just won’t cut it.  Here are the top 5 things you should do if you are considering redevoping your website:

1. Content and design - as your business strategy changes so should your website’s. It is important that your website is a true reflection of your business.  It should reflect the products/services as well as the ethos and personality of the business.  If you can afford it, try get customised design for your website as this will ensure it reflects your business in a true light.  Templates are a good stop gap but customised design is the way forward.

If you are considering rebranding or are creating your brand, read our previous blog post on how to create a strong impactful brand.

2. SEO – your search engine optimisation needs to be planned from the very begining.  Plan the structure of your website, once you have identified your website structure, do your keyword research to ensure that, where possible, you are using target search terms in your page names.   Never have a page called Products or Services.  This means nothing to users or search engines, your pages should be broken down into main categories of products/services and named accordingly.

3. Interactive elements – include interactive elements like video, social media feeds, blogs, customer feedback or reviews etc.  Users trust peer recommendations and allowing people to review your products or services will build trust.  If you are allowing users to interact on your website by leaving comments or reviews it is important that this is monitored and managed carefully.  

4. 301 redirects - this is extremely important. If you have an existing website you MUST request that a 301 redirect is put in place for ALL pages so that the old pages redirect to the new page.  This will also allow your ranking to be transferred to the new page.

5. Review your analytics – do not change anything until you have analysed your existing website traffic, where were they entering the site, what pages were converting the most trafic etc.  Knowing this will help you make informed decisions about where changes are needed to the layout and content.

I hope you find this information useful, if you are in the process of or are considering redeveloping your website and are unsure where to start, why not call us for a free over the phone consultation 062 67054

Having a website is now as important as having a phone number. But why have a website that is not promoting action.  You need to tell the visitor what you want them to do, don’t assume they know where to go next. Here are some tips on helping you strengthen your call to actions:

1. Do the groundwork

Look at each page of your website and identify the goal for the page – where do you want the visitors to go or what do you want them to do.  Every page is a potential entry point via links and search engine listings so ensure that EVERY page of your website includes clear call to actions.

2. Benefits

Before a user is willing to click they need to know what they will get out of it.  What is the benefit of them making the next move?

Coca Cola do it well. Their feature clearly states that  you should “Join My Coke Rewards and pick up gifts that are sure to entertain”.  I little bit of mystery but you know what you have to do and what you will get.

3. Incentives

Sometimes asking them to do something is just not enough, include an incentive. Free gift, access to information people that others wont get etc.  I do not recommend however that you add an incentive to Surveys or Market Research Questionnaires, if you do this it may influence their answers.

4. Three click rule

Ensure visitors can get to where they need to be within 3 clicks, 5-6 clicks if it includes e-commerce.  If there are too many clicks people will drop out before completing and you do not want this.  Also try not collect too much information – people will shy away from enquiry forms that are too long and ask too many questions.

5. Keep amount of call to actions low

You do not want to bombard visitors to your website with loads of different call to actions take each page individually and decide what the call to action(s) will be and include them in key areas on the page, that are above the fold (they should not have to scroll to see or action the call to actions). 

6. Capturing data

If you are capturing data e.g. name, email, phone number etc,  take the opportunity to ask permission to send e- newsletters, text marketing etc.  This should be an opt-in tick box NOT, click here if you do not want to receive.

7. Create urgency

Use words that create a sence of urgency

Call Now

Buy Now

Offer only available until …

Order now to receive free gift

8. Make it stand out

To ensure visitors see your call to actions you need to make sure that they can easily see it.  Keep it above the fold (as mentioned above). Images stand out more.  Use colours that work with the website look and feel but stand out from the other content on the page.

Carphone Warehouse do this well – you can clearly see the Online Exclusive offer on their home page.

9. And finally – Test

If you are not getting the return you expected test out different imagery, wording,  position on the page and even the offering. 

and finally….

It is extremely important to ensure that you have clear actionable call to actions on your website, if done well it can generate real measurable return on investment and isn’t that what we all want from our website.

I spent an hour with a building contractor last week; they wanted help getting business from their website.  I always ask the same 2 opening questions when I meet a new client:

1. Who is your target market?
2. What is your USP, what sets you apart from all your competitors?

I found this client particularly interesting- his answers were:

Q: Who is your target market?

A: Provide the service nationally but would like to do more work locally.  Can get work in the wilds of Cork or Donegal but not on his own door step.

Q: What is your USP, what sets you apart from all your competitors? 

A: Don’t know. Nothing.  

Now that I had this information I took a look at his site, it looked nice and was quite user friendly but he was reinvesting in a new site with some great interactive elements that ensured the user understood the key elements of what he provided but still no sign of a USP.  So I dug and I dug deep.  And finally after about 30mins of discussions I realised that yes he did build houses, yes they were energy efficient houses just like all his competitors but he also used particular timber frames and materials that immediately gave a home owner a higher rating in a BER cert before they even called a BER assessor out. Bingo.

The moral of this story is that you need a USP (unique selling point); you need to know what sets you aside from your competitors and you need to shout it from the roof tops so potential clients know what it is.

-          Write about the benefits not just the features of what you do/sell.

-          If you provide accommodation what do you do that is different to the hotel down the road?

-          Sell products or services? What is different about your product or service?  – Why would I buy from you over your competitors? And it does not mean that you have to be cheaper, what additional value do you bring?

-          Create key features on your website that showcase your USP – don’t rely on your website visitors digging as deep as I did.  They won’t and as a result you will loose them to your competitor

-          Make sure your USP is timely, attracts people now e.g. got Christmas offerings or USP that would attract the Christmas market, is it on your website now and has it been there for the last few weeks, if not why not?

You MUST stand out from the crowd to succeed online.

Guest blogger: Aileen Cox, Sweet! Graphic & Web Studio

A brand is not just about the name or logo or a company. It is not about the service you give or the products you work so hard to sell. A brand is faith. Faith in all that you do, an expectation that your product or service is going to give the consumer exactly what they have been looking for.

So how do you go about getting your clients to feel ‘the Faith’?

Well, I’m guessing all branding companies work in different ways. Our approach is simple; To make your brand distinctive, we dig and we dig deep. We find out what makes your company tick, the quirks that makes it different to the competitors. How your products work, how and where your customers use the product, what significant benefits your product or service provides to your customer and the environment in which the product appears. Sometimes even the things you may not even think are important can suddenly become something that shapes the way your brand develops.

Branding is much more than logo design. Its about the association with everything single of piece of marketing material you use. The 18 year girl walking past a salon realises ‘hey thats the place I saw online’ because she remembers the colours, logo, imagery. The mother in the supermarket picks up the Fyffes bananas because she saw the ad in the paper saying ‘Bananas are a Superfood’. Its the association with the brand and the actual product. A poster for footwear with a lovely image of shoes and a terrible layout will not drive customers to your business. The same goes for websites, you can have a fantastic layout done, have a poor logo and no SEO and you have to ask, what is the point? They really all do go hand in hand.

You need to look at your brand and ask yourself some questions:

1. Does my brand stand out from my competitors?
Get some samples of your competitors logos, posters or point of sale and make comparisons. How does yours fair out? Is it better/worse. Are the colours strong? Are the images strong? Do the colours stand out? Is the typography strong (the way the type is laid out)?

2. Are there rooms for improvements?
Give an honest review of your brand. Does it have an association with your product? Does it get across that all important ‘Faith Feeling’ in your product or service.

3. Get a great branding company to help you. Make sure you review their portfolio and are happy that they can deliver what you are looking for. Whether that be Sweet! Design Studio or someone completely different be 100% happy and have ‘The Faith’ in them. Great ideas start with big problems. Think of the problems with your brand and make something amazing that your clients will remember always.

_________________________________________________________________

About the author Aileen Cox, Sweet! 01 4416 514

SWEET! get to know your business, how it works, how it ticks as we believe only then, can our graphic and website design work be something we completely believe in. Made to measure with you specifically in mind. We want your business to be consistent, impactful but most of all distinguished from your competition.

_________________________________________________________________

As I rummage around the Internet I find great new tools that can make every day life in my web marketing business easier, here is a list of some great ones that I have been using.  I am sure you can put some of them to use:

• Irfan View: this is a great tool for resizing and cropping images, free and available to download from download.com.  I found this tool quite a few years ago and find that it great for keeping image quality.  If you download it and need help using it, just email me and I will send you on a little tutorial document I put together info@dynamicwebmarketing.ie.  
• Email Encoder: Got problem with spam, this nifty little tool might help reduce it http://www.prioritysubmit.com/seotools-page-size-extractor.html.  Spammers automatically visit websites and scrape information, like your email address of it and then send you spam, using this tool to encode the email address before you put it on your website will mean that the spammers will only see a pile of numbers and letters but the user on the site will see the click-able email address. Nifty eh!
• SurrealCMS: Got a website but cannot update it?  Why not get this brilliant CMS added www.surrealcms.com, its easy to use and allows you to edit the page content, images and meta data.  It can work really well but it will depend on your website, sometimes it may not work that well if your site uses a lot of tables. Talk to your developer before trying to get it implemented.
• RGB to Hex / Hex to RGB Converter:Working in web marketing means setting up websites, blogs, newsletters and personalising social media pages for clients. So it is really important that I replicate the brand colours easily. On occasions I have been given the RGB colours of the brand but on the web everything is done using hex colour strings.  This great little tool enables me to convert the RGB to hex quickly http://www.javascripter.net/faq/hextorgb.htm  without having to annoy the client or their brand company.
• Colorzilla: This is a great Moxilla  ad-on www.colorzilla.com.  Unsure what designer created your logo and do not know how to get hold of the RGB or the hex code of any of your branding colours?  Simply download, click on the dropper in the status bar (bottom left), hover over your website and in the status bar you will see the RGB and hex of any colour on your website. Tip: You have to download it while in Mozilla FireFox browser, do not try to download it while in another browser.  I know because I tried to do it the very first time, granted that was a good many moons ago now.
• Broadband Speed Test: Got broadband, know what you are paying for but unsure what speeds you are actually getting?  www.speedtest.net allows you to test your upload and download speed. If you are experiencing problems, the best thing to do is complete a few speed tests at different times of the day, take a screen shot and email it to your provider.
• HTML & CSS Validation: All websites should have their HTML and CSS validated. Download this Firefox ad-on  and test to see if your CSS and HTML validate. If errors are returned, send them to your web developer and ask them to be corrected,  some errors can effect usability, accessibility and even your search engine performance.  Don’t forget to download it while in your Mozilla FireFox browser.  Once downloaded click on Tools – Web Developer and Tools.

Happy times with your free tools

It’s a problem I come across again and again and it can be extremely frustrating for both parties.  So how do you manage your web designer to ensure that your website is delivered on time and on budget?  Here are some steps that should help.

1. A good brief can be the saving grace for any web design project: Do not start into any website project without having a detailed brief / spec signed off by both parties.  If your designer knows exactly what you want,  what they deliver will be bang on.   If necessary get advice from a third party so that all questions are asked and answered before the project kicks off.  Trust me, this initial preparation will save you money and a few less grey hairs.

2. Create a timetable and stick to it, the timetable should details what is to be delivered, by whom and what date it is to be delivered by.  Make sure that both parties stick to it. While it would be nice if the designer could give you all of their time, they do have other clients and if you loose your place in the queue other projects will be moved up and your project moved down.

3. Communication is key: Make a point to follow up with your web designer regularly, ask them to give you weekly updates on project progress, this way you feel part of the process and you do not get frustrated. Nothing worse than handing over a couple of thousand euro and to be left out of the loop.  It can cause you huge frustration.

4. Snag list: When the first draft of the website is ready for review, send a full list of snags to the designer. This may mean taking a few days to review the site and getting a third party to review it with you to ensure all snags are identified.  Snagging a website means testing all functionality, content, layout, spelling errors etc.  I have been involved in projects where snags are sent in bit by bit – all this does is cause confusion and extends the project.  If a designer received a full list they can set time aside to correct all snags at once.

5. Going live:  Decide the best time for your website to go live, choose a day during the working week (Monday-Friday) this means that if anything goes wrong the web designer can be contacted. Choose the day with the least website traffic and if you are moving your email, ensure that all mailboxes are set up prior to the changeover.

6. Final snag list – review the full website again once it is live and send a final snag list to the designer.  Agree when the site has been completed so designer can sign off on the project.   Remember: any changes that are needed after sign off will most likely cost you money so completing the second snag list if very important. (Ensure that this snagging period is included in the brief/spec)

I hope this helps your website design project run smoother.