Basics of Small Business Websites in 2010
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http://www.newtricks.com presentation for SCORE Atlanta on the Basics of Web Design from getting a domain to choosing the right type of platform. WordPress is recommended for small businesses who need to use them as the hub of the social media marketing to grow their businesses.
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Basics of Small Business Websites in 2010
- 1. The Basics of Creating a Great Business Website
- 2. In 2010, Your Website Should be the Hub of all of Your Marketing Efforts
- 3. The Internet Levels the Playing Field
- 4. Where Do I Begin? Domain Name Your unique address on the web that you type in a web browser address bar to go visit a Web Site..
- 5. How to Choose a Domain Name • Choose a name easy to write and remember. • Don’t use hyphens or underscores. • Don’t use unusual spellings. • Keep them short as possible. • Choose name the same or similar to your business.
- 6. How to Choose a Domain Name Which to choose .com, .org, .biz, .info, .me? Just because you have the .com doesn’t mean someone else can’t take the .net or other extensions.
- 7. Where Do I Begin? Domain Name You are not buying the domain name you are purchasing the right to register it and use it for as long as you continue to pay for it. Auto-billing is your friend.
- 8. Domain Name Registration • You can register a domain name with any domain registration company. • BlueHost.com will give you a free domain name when you buy web hosting for as long as you have hosting with them.
- 9. Finding a Home for Your Site • Your site ( a group of files) needs to have a home ( web-server). • This home base is called a web-host. • A Web Host is a Business or Individual that has a server that rents space to you to house your web files and serve them up on the Internet when someone types your address.
- 10. Web-hosting 101 • What will I need to get hosting? • What will it cost? • How do I choose a webhost?
- 11. Web-hosting 101 • http://bluehost.com • http://hostgator.com
- 12. 3 Major Types of Websites • Brochure Style Sites • Flash Animation Sites • Content Management Sites
- 13. You are in Luck! Out with the Old Brochure and Flash Style Websites • Must mock up completely before beginning to code in html and css. • Once coded they hard to change the style. • The content remains, once someone visits they don’t come back. • And search engines do see or come back. • There are templates out there easy to set up – They look like it. • Even web designers don’t go back to their static sites to update. www.newtricks.me 13
- 14. In with the New…… We WordPress! Content Management Style Websites • Built on a Data Base. • Iterative Design Process. • Once completed easy to change. • The content changes, people come back and even subscribe. • Search engines love the visits and linking. • There are templates out there, easy to set up – They look like it. • You need a professional to set it up then YOU maintain it. www.newtricks.me 14
- 15. Content Management Websites – Static vs Dynamic – Web 2.0 – Built on a database – Text & images are filed – Archives older content – Interactive –Allows 2 way
- 16. Static Brochure Style Websites Header Text goes here More Text goes here Themes Footer Categorized for the Archive www.newtricks.me 16
- 17. Static Brochure Websites Header Text goes here NO ARCHIVE More Text goes here Footer www.newtricks.me 17
- 18. Content Management Sites SEO Easy to build Easy to update
- 19. Content Management WordPress Site Header Text goes here More Text goes here Themes Footer Categorized for the Archive www.newtricks.me 19
- 21. Content Management Websites -Social Media -Catalog content -Search content -Subscribe to site -Comments
- 22. Content Management Websites Static Front Pages or …
- 23. Content Management Websites Blog Front Page
- 24. Content Management Websites Front Page: sticky above the fold/blog below http:www.standupguys.biz
- 25. Five Elements of a Great Website 1.Design 2.Structure 3.Content 4.Optimization 5.Maintenance
- 26. Five Elements of a Great Website 1.Design Looks matter. First impressions. The halo effect. If it looks good we broaden the scope to other characteristics deciding it is good.
- 27. Five Elements of a Great Website 2. Structure Don’t make them think. Too many choices stop action. Guide them to take action.
- 28. Five Elements of a Great Website 3. Content is King • Educate prospects and builds expertise. • Blogs/Articles, Videos, Podcasts • Lifeblood of search engines
- 29. Five Elements of a Great Website 3. Optimization • Internally with valid code. • Making sure search engines read your site and read it right for the results you want.
- 30. Five Elements of a Great Website 3. Maintenance • You can’t just let it sit there. • Like having a store you never update or freshen up. • You must add content.
- 31. ACT Method for On-line Marketing 1. Attract 2. Convert, 3. Transform 4. Measure
- 32. ACT Method: A is Attraction To attract means to get attention or stand out. Practically, this means attracting traffic to your website—your main online marketing tool.
- 33. ACT Method: C is Convert Conversion happens when you turn a stranger into a consumer or customer. And there is a difference between the two! A consumer may take in your information or even sample your product, but he or she may not always buy. Over time, that consumer may become a customer. Consumption of Valuable Content + Time = Client
- 34. ACT Method: T is Transform 1. Do a great job, 2. Use your Success to attract more success. •Testimonials •Case studies •Audio Interviews •Pictures
- 35. ACT Method: M is Measure Google Analytics HubSpot WP Stats Mailing List Conversions
- 36. WordPress Websites WordPress.com •Site up in ten minutes •Free •Limited themes •Limited plugins •Limited Customizabiltiy Business should have full self- hosted version. - your own domain - customizable, - full functionality - all plugins - all themes - e-commerce
Editor's Notes
- YOUR WEBSITE IS A WINDOW into your company. Maybe the only one you have if you don’t have a store or a TV Ad. Often your company’s website is where your prospect makes a buying decision and the sale actually takes place. A nice looking website may not get you clients but an unprofessional one will lose them. Each webpage needs to provide prospects with a compelling reason to do business with you, including calls to action that gently direct the readers ( leads) into becoming clients.
- A great website has impeccable design, structure, content, optimization, and maintenance.
- DESIGN : Looks matter. So much so that scientists have a term for the way looks affect us: the halo effect. The halo effect occurs when we think something looks good on the surface and so we broaden the scope of that positive judgment to include characteristics other than outward appearance. If someone is good looking, we infer that he or she must also have a good disposition. The same concept applies to websites. If a website looks good, we assume that the company behind it must also do good work. First impressions count. Especially online, where a visitor doesn’t have much to go by except your website.
- STRUCTURE : Ever visited a website and were confused about where you should go? Too many choices boggle the mind. And when our mind is boggled, it is easier to say no than yes. The way you structure your website navigation is crucial. The structure must guide visitors through your website and handhold them (virtually) into taking action. And it must do this for visitors at every level—those who may be ready to buy now and those who are first-time visitors.
- CONTENT : Content is king. There is evergreen content but that only goes so far. Been there seen that. What do you have for me today? It is the heart of every good website and serves multiple purposes. The first purpose is to educate prospects and build expertise. This is why blogs are so heralded. A well-written blog can help you stand out from the competition and educate your prospects. Each time you write a post it gets a title, category, tags, and a description and its own address on your server which is then available for anyone on the Internet to Find. When you write the content on YOUR SITE, you then PUSH it out to Google ( automatically since you have sent your site to Google and they are automatically notified when you have new content, It goes on Linked-in, your Facebook Page, and Twitter. You send it to Digg and Stumble upon. You submit the article to a group or two that you belonged to on Linked-In and all of this Drives People and the Search Engine Bots to your site. Make em Laugh, Make em Mad, Make em Think, Be outrageous, Be provocative, in order to: Get Linked to by others. This sends more people to your site and gives you a higher search engine ranking for your key words. You want eyeballs- but then what do you do when you have them. First Impressions. Returning Visitors – Unlikely people act right away. Give them something. Amuse them, Inform them, Comfort them, Offer them a reason to come back. Get their e-mail addresses. Develop “Your Fans”, Seth Godin calls it ”Your Tribe”, “Your Peeps”
- OPTIMIZATION : Optimization has two meanings here. One, your website has to be optimized internally. A website may look beautiful from the outside, but if the inside is poorly built, chances are it will start to show. For example, if it isn’t coded correctly, it can look odd in certain browsers even though it looks fine in others. The World Wide Web Consortium has a tool that allows you to make sure your website is well coded. The tool can be found at jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator . You just put in your website address, and it will tell you what, if anything, needs repair. The second type of optimization relates to search engines and making sure that search engines can “read” your website. This is called search engine optimization, and it is discussed in detail later in the chapter.
- MAINTENANCE : The website of today in many ways is a living, breathing thing. In the past, you could create a website and sit back. Today, you can’t. Passively keeping a website is almost akin to opening a store, stocking the shelves, and then doing nothing. You don’t have to re-create the store every day or even every year, but you do need to tag products, move items around, change displays, and so on. Your website is the same way. Once you have the design and structure in place, you don’t have to keep changing it. However, you do need to maintain it by adding content.
- Anyone can do it with these four principles.
- How to do this in 2010: Brand: “The branding principle “everything communicates” has only been magnified by the rise of social media. The Look and Feel, the Tone and type of the Content all speak Volumns in the nano seconds you have to make your impression on the web Outcome : What’s the outcome you help clients achieve? Not the process you use but the final result. Sum it up in one line: HF Direct provides Data Driven Expertise and Creative Marketing Programs to support Overwhelmed, Understaffed In-house Marketing Departments . Differentiator : What makes you different? Get it out there. Offer: What can you do for me today? People come to a site for more than a phone number or directions. They are searching for information, knowledge, and understanding. They are shopping for something.
- People Buy from People who they KNOW LIKE AND TRUST! You need to offer content that your prospects need and want. You develop a relationship with them. They come back. One day they come and they are ready to do business.
- Do a great job, Use your Success to attract more success. The following are possible tools for transformation. Testimonials from customers and clients Case studies that showcase how a customer found a solution to his or her problem (ideally the solution is your service or product) Video interviews with clients Audio interviews with customers Pictures of smiling clients with your products
- Lots of ways to measure improvement and goal attainment.