Archive for the ‘Website’ Category

Choosing the Best Website Design for Your Small Business

Thursday, July 8th, 2010 by Nikolas Severidt

puzzleIf you’re the owner of a small business, hopefully you understand the value of getting seen by people looking for what you have to offer them, whether it’s a product or a service. If no one knows that you’re there, how can you help them? Now that the internet plays a more prominent role in our lives than ever before, it’s important that you have a presence online, as well as access to all the social media channels. That’s where small business website design comes in. By doing business with professionals just like yourself who are experts in getting you the branding and awareness online that you deserve, you will be fortifying your business.

When you think about the current trends, you will realize that most people go to the internet to find what they are looking for more than anything else. They are much more likely to go online to find a product or service than they are to look in the phone book or newspaper. Since that is the case, it is more important than ever before to have a website where they can see what your company is about and what you have to offer. By getting a small business website design firm to take care of this, you will be able to help all those people looking for you now.

One nice thing is that a lot of your competitors have probably not started trying to build a presence online. That should give you enough time to find the best small business website design and start getting found by people that need your service or product. Of course, even though your competitors might not have any presence right now, they will eventually. If they already do have a website, then your company desperately needs one, because they’re probably getting the lion’s share of the business that you could be sharing.

So while it may seem like a large expense, finding and doing business with a good small business website design company could really make a difference in how well you do this year. It’s about getting visibility for your company and showing them how you can help people with your product or service.

Effective Small Business Advertising

Friday, July 2nd, 2010 by Nikolas Severidt

Marketing and strategyIn the past, advertising for small business was basically pricing the product and promoting it by placing it in the proper establishments. Today we must include the Web 2.0 strategies as part of the marketing and advertising.

Many business owners have discovered the benefits of online media and the web publishing community. The success stories show the results of using social medias and analyzing code activity data. It pays for any business owner to at least have a basic understanding of these tools as hey are now the most commonly used method for advertising. Using a web campaign as advertising for small business will help in brand awareness. Email marketing will send the information that you want to share with your customers quickly and effortlessly. They always look professional and easy to keep up to date. It’s a great way to gather customer feedback and promote your events with little cost to you.

You will get more responses from your target market when advertising for small business by using these emails and social places such as Facebook or Twitter. You will begin to see results right away. You will be happy to see the trends quicker and get a pattern on what is selling and what is trending. It does take some time as you are developing friendships when doing your social networking. You will need to create your own profile probably on several of the sites mentioned. Plan on posting comments often and be polite. Keep the conversations relevant to the topic and don’t only talk about your product or business. Another suggestion is to start your own blog which is sort of like writing in your own private diary except everyone online can read it! This will give people an inside look into you business and help build credibility in your industry.

When advertising for small business using online and mobile web advertising will measure quickly the success of your campaign. You will be able to analyze the results quickly and optimize on the campaign faster. You can make better informed business decisions in less time than you used to leaving you to concentrate on building your business. This has been a proven, effective way to reach a larger audience affordability.

How to Add a Facebook “Like” Button to Your Website

Saturday, June 19th, 2010 by Nikolas Severidt

screen-shot-2010-06-19-at-113440-amAs Facebook continues to grow and more and more people continue to visit Facebook, you want to make sure your businesses website is encouraging people to join you on Facebook and engage with you on a continued basis.  One way to encourage your website visitors to check you out on Facebook is with a “Like” button right on your website.  This button will encourage visitors to share your content with the people they are friends with on Facebook.

In the video below from John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing, he explains the different types of Facebook “like” buttons, and boxes that you can add to your website.  If you are unable to view the embedded video, click here.

For more information on the Facebook “Like” button, visit developers.facebook.com.

The Enhancement of Web 2.0 Accessibility

Sunday, June 6th, 2010 by Justin Severidt

web-20-graphicWeb 2.0 refers to services on the Internet that allow users to share information with each other on the Internet. Popular examples of web 2.0 applications are Wikis, blogs, and social networking sites such as Facebook. What is great about these are that users don’t just retrieve information from the Internet that fully involved in participating in it.Web 2.0 is great, but there still needs to be some work done on enhancing web 20 accessibility.

The process of enhancing web 2.0 accessibility has developed over time. It started out with web 1.0 which was just pages on the Internet with information on it. Then it evolved to web 1.5 which allowed users to change some information on a web page. Now we have web 2.0 which allows user to share information across the network on a fully responsive web application. Even Though Web 2.0 is a great application it does have some issues.

Ajax has caused a few problems in enhancing web 2.0 accessibility. One of the problems can be when users create content that then is not readable. Another problem that can occur is when users are not alert when there is a problem with the information they are inputting. Yet another problem that can occur is not having a keyboard option when there is inaccessibility on interfaces. Another thing that can frustrating is when screen readers are not alerted when the content of page changes. Essentially what this means is that readers cannot get the new information on a page without refreshing it.

While there might not be any clear solutions on enhancing web 2.0 accessibility, there are a few things that can be done to make it a little more user friendly. One thing that can be done to make it a little more user friendly is to alert the users when information is updated. Another thing that can be down to help users it to create a java script that is unobtrusive. This is were a java script would be stored in a separate file. While these ideas won’t make the application perfect they could make web 2.0 a little more accessible.

Giving Your Small Business an Internet Presence

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 by Nikolas Severidt

small-business-website-constructionAll of today’s successful small business owners have websites because they understand that web presence counts in the modern internet economy. With a website your business can reach out to hundreds, if not thousands, or users a day. You can also use your website to give your business personality. The colors you use to design your website, as well as the graphics you incorporate and the format in which your information is provided all create a look or personality for your business. In this article you will learn how to go about developing your company’s internet presence, as well some useful tips for getting the most potential out of internet based marketing.

A great way to get your small business started off on the right footing is to hire an internet specialist who knows what sells and what doesn’t. This specialist will listen to your requests and needs. He or she will tune into the message you want to send to your clients and will design the website around your company’s mission. Make sure that you communicate often with your internet specialist. Look at the different templates he or she might show you. Visit the websites of businesses similar to yours and see what kind of colors and slogans they use. Just remember that you want your website to be unique.

Chances are that if your specialist has been in the field for some time, then he or she will want to add video to your website. If you haven’t considered this new technology before, then now is a great time to start. Your specialist understands that adding a video feature to your website is a great way to make your small business come alive. The clients will be more interested in what your company has to offer. They will also understand that your company is current and relevant. All consumers want to know that the people they do business with are up-to-date.

Finally, make sure you website contains an option for your clients to join your email list. You might even want to add a login option. This will allow your dedicated clients to receive special offers and follow your small business as it grows into a success. There is no better way to keep up with your clients than to send periodic email newsletters. The best way to collect email addresses is on your website. Let your internet specialist know that this a strategy you’re willing to try, and he or she will certainly agree that this is a great, even essential idea.