The reluctance of some SMEs to deliver their message effectively can lead to confusion and low conversions from their target audience.  Marketing professionals regularly refer to the importance of ‘message’ but what does it actually mean and why is the impact for getting it wrong so serious?

The message should be the first thing any business writes down when they start their marketing plan. In fact, it should almost be a requirement for a small business plan. Because if you don’t know what your message is, how are your customers supposed to?

One of the most famous marketing phrases coined nearly fifty years ago was the timeless ‘WIIFM?’ or what’s in it for me? In order to fully convince a target customer that you have something to offer you need to directly state what the benefits are.  Whether you are developing a multi million euro ad campaign or a flyer for a local handyman, the message remains a constant. It is said the best and most effective messages can be picked up even after a quick look.

Never before has this issue been more important than on your website.  Customers are making their mind up at first glance.  Everything we do online now is done with great speed.  New applications and faster broadband are making things faster and as a result customers want things faster.  They need to know what you do and what’s in it for them as soon as they land on your website.  If your message is not clearly delivered, they will simply move on to the next website.

Use clear CTA’s (call to actions) throughout your website that lead customers to the next stage in the goal, whether that is to buy something, sign up to a social media account or to submit their email for email marketing purposes. You need to know what your goals are and you MUST ensure that they can be easily seen and actioned by your website visitor.

Rely on headings to get your points across and use media like video and podcasts where appropriate. Media on a website must add value and contribute to efficient delivery of the overall message.

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because it’s where our customers are , we all want to be better than our competitors and having a website that looks out of date just won’t cut it.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

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.

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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.

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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.