White Knight

Lately, the catch phrases and buzzwords in the ecommerce design and custom web design world centre on search engine optimisation and social media optimisation. Self-proclaimed experts lurk within the ether and are perfectly willing to give advice on how your Web site can be ranked higher than the competition by using their foolproof SEO and SMO techniques. Of course, all of this is for a price.

Different SEO and SMO techniques are valid, but there is no magic bullet that will catapult your Web site into the heavens. Frankly, it requires dedication and work, but the results will be well worth the effort. Following are some social media implementation techniques that will help raise the visibility of your Web site among your target audience.

Links Generate Higher Search Engine Rankings

Within your e-commerce website you should be creating links to and from different pages within your own site and also linking to relevant content outside of your site. One of the most important aspects of link generation is using social networks to create linkbacks. Facebook, Digg, Twitter, mySpace and other sites are a perfect venue for placing your links within a group that you’ve created. Another way to generate links is to ask different Web site owners that have similar content on their sites to link back to your site when you link to theirs.

Tagging and Bookmarking

One of the easiest ways to generate new and return traffic to your custom designed website is through the use of highly visible tag or bookmark buttons. Within your site, make sure that all content has a very visible tag button or bookmark button. At the end of articles or content pages, be sure to encourage your audience to bookmark your material. Social media sites pick up on these tags and bookmarks and generate tag clouds of meta-data and content from your site that users can click on.

Be Involved and Interact With Your Audience

Discussion boards, wikis, Facebook and mySpace groups are all excellent ways to engage your target audience. By continually interacting with your users, you’ll ensure that they are up to date on your site’s latest content and at the same time generate buzz about your site.

Reward Your Users

Everyone likes a bit of recognition now and then. Whenever someone visits your site and leaves a message or a helpful bit of information on your discussion board or wiki, be sure to thank that person for their effort and knowledge. By doing this, they’ll be sure to return and contribute to your site.

Understand Target Audience Demographics

This seems pretty basic. It’s one of the most important aspects of any marketing campaign, yet so many people who are building ecommerce and social media sites overlook it. MySpace users are generally teens and early twenty-something’s. If your product or service is targeted at an audience that is over thirty, it’s probably a waste of time to advertise or form a group on MySpace. By understanding who your target audience is, you can implement a strategy that incorporates the social media outlets that are most suited for your business.

Content is Still King

One of the final keys to implementing a social media strategy is remembering that your Web site’s content needs to be current, relevant and interesting. It’s up to you to make sure that you’re keeping your content updated. Also keep in mind that today’s world is about up-to-the-second information. If your Web site has content that is outdated and irrelevant, you can utilise social media to try
and find users until you’re blue in the face. However, it won’t work. People realise very quickly when a Web site doesn’t live up to its own advertising.

Following these principals requires a certain amount of discipline and hard work, but the benefits of applying them are undeniable. Social media can be a powerful ally in your quest to generate new and return Web traffic.

Companies requiring basic websites or custom web design solutions have quickly learned the importance for their Web sites to have social media marketing capabilities. One need look no further than the explosive growth of social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to recognise the potential for marketing that lies within this emerging area of technology. The question, however, which is on the tip of every business owner’s tongue is, “What are the benefits of a social media strategy?”

The Benefits

Individually Targeted Advertising - When you purchase advertising on a social media site such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, you’re not just purchasing a standard pay-per-click advertisement that no one will ever look at. Social media sites special in that the users of these sites entrust their personal information to the databases that sit behind the sites. What this means for you is that your advertisement is matched up with the key words that each user places within their profile. For instance, if a user is male and has a birth date of 1971, ads that are specific to his gender and age group will be placed on his profile each and every time he logs in. In terms of targeted marketing, this is an incredibly powerful tool because the ads that appear on an individual’s profile page are specifically relevant to that person.

Word-of-Mouth - Another benefit of advertising on a social media site is word-of-mouth advertising from the people ordering and using your products. In March of 2009 the average number of friends per Facebook user was 120. Consider that users post their likes and dislikes to their profile on a daily basis. If they’re posting about your product and how amazing it is, there are potentially 120 pairs of eyes that see the virtues of your product. When you take into account that 120 pairs of eyes look at each of the original 120, you can see that the numbers begin to grow exponentially. Another component to the idea of word-of-mouth advertising is the amount of social influence that some people have within their network of friends. Those who have deep influence on their peers can have a tremendous effect upon the popularity of your product or service.

Web Traffic, Brand Awareness and Global Reach - The final three benefits to you as an advertiser on a social media site are increases to your web traffic, growth in your brand awareness and broad customer reach. The first point is that when you have a web advertisement that is matched up to an individual person’s profile, that person will be more likely to actually click on your ad. Positive brand awareness is based on the quality of your product plus the word-of-mouth advertising you’ll receive. When users of social networks like your products they’ll talk about them. Remember, they’re broadcasting, on average, to a group of 120 people or more when they do this. Finally, a basic issue that many people forget is that the web is a global phenomenon. You will reach more people through social media than you could ever reach through other standard forms of advertising and because of the individually targeted nature of the advertising these ads are more likely to work.

Advertising within the context of a social media Web site is more than just a pay-per-click issue. Your Web site, which you’ve so carefully crafted with its amazing ecommerce design, quality user interface and relevant content will sit out on the Internet and pull in a few visitors now and then. However, if you choose to harness the power of advertising within a social network, you’ll find that the return on investment will be greater than you could have ever imagined. So much so, that you’ll find yourself laughing all the way to the bank.

One of the most important aspects in the development of a Web site is the long-term care and maintenance associated with it. There are many options available to businesses that either have an existing site or are in the process of having a custom web design built by a professional web design firm.

Some of these options however, do not always ensure the long-term viability and integrity of your site. It is of the utmost importance to remember that your Web site is a 24-hour per day, 7-day per week advertisement available to millions of viewers around the globe. It is for this reason that you should ensure that your site is hosted by professionals who not only understand how your site functions, but who can also provide the maximum amount of guaranteed uptime of their servers and long-term support of your site.

Familiarity Breeds Benefits

Many people have heard the old saying that familiarity breeds contempt. However, in the world of web development, this is certainly not the case. In fact, it is incredibly important for a hosting company to be intimately familiar with the design of your Web site, its content management system and the associated functions. This is why it is essential that you consider having your site hosted by the company that provides the design and development.

If your ecommerce design company is familiar with your site, they can ensure that the hosting platform is sufficient and any required updates that you need can be handled quickly and efficiently. You might be thinking that you can get what you need from any number of companies out there that offer cheap hosting plans. Please keep in mind that you get what you pay for.

In most cases, companies that offer the so-called “benefits” of a $5 per month hosting plan will not be responsible for any updates to your site. The general assumption is that you are going to take care of any updates or fixes that are necessary. In short, they offer only a basic hosting platform, which may or may not be able to support a small Web site effectively.

These low-pay plans also offer no real help in maintaining your site. If you have to add in a designer and programmer along with your hosting plan, you’ve added three points of contact, three potential areas for mistakes and more than three times the cost. If you’re using the same company that helped you develop your site in the first place, you’ll receive the benefit of one point of contact and less opportunity for errors to occur.

But I can save money with entry level hosting plans…

On the surface, these entry level hosting plans appear to be a cheap alternative to using a full-service hosting company. When you investigate further than the price, though, you may find that this isn’t really the case. With a full service hosting plan through a reputable company, the first thing you receive is experience. Providing long-term care for your Web site requires the knowledge that only years of development experience can provide. Using a full service company also provides you with designers who know the structure of your Web site - this alone is invaluable. For instance, if you try calling up an entry level only hosting service and asking them to update a particular area of your site you may run into strive as most likely they will not even have a listed contact number.

This leads us to the third point: support. Companies providing entry level hosting services generally do not offer any form of customer support. When you add in the time and money it takes to hire a designer to update your site and provide maintenance and support, your entry level monthly hosting plan has just turned into a much higher priced service. The bottom line is that working with a web development and hosting service providing one point of contact may have initial costs that are a bit higher, but over time, those costs are defrayed by the high level of service and experience that you just can’t find in the pay-by-the-month plans.

Currently there are over 106 million domain names, worldwide. To put this into context, as a potential website owner you will have to compete for the spotlight with thousands of other sites of similar nature to yours. For this reason, whether you are in the market for a basic website or a custom web design, it is important that an appropriate domain name is selected.

What is a Domain Name?

Simply put, a domain name is the actual name of the website that is input across the text field of a web browser (For example is www.wkwd.com.au). In essence, the domain name becomes the website name that all of your customers and potential customers will come to know you by.

How Do I Choose a Domain Name?

A professional web design orecommerce design company can help you choose an appropriate domain name. The actual process is quite simple however, there are a few things that you should consider when selecting the best name for your website.

Shorter is Easier to Remember

Even though you want your business name as your domain, you want to make sure that you keep the name as short as possible without losing your brand’s recognition. If you have a business such as “No Worries” then it’s pretty easy to choose a name, like www.noworries.com.au. However, if your name is “The No Worries Bottle Shop” you may still want to consider something along the lines of www.noworries.com.au, or www.bottleshop.com.au.

Keywords Rule

You might be asking, “If you own ‘The No Worries Bottle Shop’, why would you compromise your brand by shortening it to bottleshop.com.au?” The fact of the matter is that keywords in your domain name will help your search engine ranking. You might even consider purchasing several domain names that have the key words of the items you sell and point those domain names toward your website. Your web design firm or a Search Engine Optimisation specialist will be able to assist you with this process.

Hyphens Are Not Your Mate

You should never us a hyphen in your domain name. This topic could be left at that, but it’s important to understand why. First of all, nearly everyone who uses the Internet understands that most names within domain names are all one word. This means that it has become the standard. Many people use this theory when searching for a business on the web. They’ll place their cursor in the text field on their browser and start typing away “www.businessnamehere.com” and see if it works. If you decide to go against the standard, then you risk people having problems finding your website. Hyphens are not standard therefore you simply should avoid using them.

Numbers Are 2, Two, Too, To Hard Work With

Another thing to avoid in your domain name is numbers. As you can see in the sub-title, a good example of this is the number two. When someone verbally gives out your domain name, you want the person hearing the information to be able to go home, type in the domain and come to your website. This can be rather tough if you have a business named “Got To Be a Good Business” and you decided that it’d look cool if you set up your domain name to be “www.got2bgood.com.au”. This same rule applies to shortening words like “be” to “b”. Keep it simple and people will find your website.

A Unique Name is a Memorable Name

When you choose your domain name, be sure that it’s unique. This doesn’t mean, one of a kind, strange or so far out there that no one gets it. It just means that you should avoid a domain name that is similar to others because people might mistype it and end up at someone else’s site.

Creating a domain name can be simple and fun. Just stick to these little bits of advice and you’ll have a great domain name for you site in no time at all.

When it comes to the development of your Web site, you might think that you can hire a design firm, tell them you want a great site, then sit back and let the development commence. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The process of developing a quality Web site that will be relevant to your target audience is as much your responsibility as it is the design firm’s.

Having a vision of the end result

When you approach a design firm to build your site, you should have a clear vision of what you want. The more details you give, the better the project will be. This means three things. First, do some research and find web sites that you believe are both visually appealing and functional. Share these sites with your design firm. Secondly, give them as much information as you can about your target audience.

A professional web design firm will be able to take this information and produce a product that looks good visually and meets your target audience’s needs. The third thing is a site map. This is an outline of the content that you need to have in your Web site.

Assistance is always available

The domain name of your site needs to be chosen by you. Your design firm can certainly assist you with direction, but when it comes right down to it, the final decision is yours. The same can be said of proofing and copyediting. A good design firm should have this service available, but ultimately, what goes out on your web site is your responsibility.

Considering logos and graphics for your new site

New graphics and logos are also different matters. In the event your company doesn’t have a logo or brand identity, this will need to be approached as a separate project. If you do request additional graphic design and logo development, be prepared to pay additional fees for this service.

Content for your new website

As the business owner, you know your business better than anyone. For this reason alone you are the best person at making the decision of what content and forms need to be placed on your Web site. Secondly, you will need to consider whether updating the site’s content is something that you would like the web firm to complete on your behalf, or whether this is a task that will be completed in-house.

If you are considering an eCommerce design for your new site, then you will also need to let your web company know what secure processes, such as a shopping cart system or transactions to a secure server or PayPal, need to be implemented into the site. You should also provide photos and copy; however, the design firm can also assist you in providing copy and sourcing photos, if necessary. One thing to keep in mind, when using photos for the web, you need to have the appropriate rights to those photos.

The development of your new site

Once your design firm has this information, they can begin. They should provide a brief and a mock-up of the overall design of the site. As the client, you can either approve or reject these ideas, but keep this in mind: once you’ve approved the brief and chosen a design, any changes to the design or overall Web site will incur extra fees.

Moving forward

When your web firm begins working with you, their account manager can help you with a lot of these processes. However, much of what needs to be provided for the web site is your responsibility. You should also be aware of what is not provided with the web site such as monthly hosting. Hosting, if handled by the design firm, is billed separately and is much like the monthly fee you pay for your mobile phone. The web site is like the phone; the hosting is like the service plan. Both are necessary, but separately priced.

If you go into the site development process knowing what is needed and what your part is, it will result in a great product that makes both you and your customers very happy.

The most compelling recent news amongst the professional web design and online commerce/development audience pertains to the merger or adoption of technologies between Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Essentially the 2nd and 3rd leading search engine platforms (#1 being Google) have combined not technologies, but audiences in hopes to gain more of the market share, and refine search engine specifications through user experience.

Google vs. The World

Google controls approximately 65%-75 % of the market share in the U.S. and even more on an international basis. This leaves the combined available share, now dominated by Yahoo/Microsoft, around 28%. Yahoo will adopt Bing’s search technology, but retain autonomy over their interface, thus providing the features that have cemented Yahoo’s audience, while implementing functions that have up started Microsoft’s’ foray into the search engine market. The move will have some influence on search users and advertisers, affecting their experiences and initiatives in different ways. However, the larger impact will be by affecting web developers and advertisers, as their options and audience capabilities have been instantly impacted.

For consumers, the merger will likely be beneficial. As this move creates a direct competition between Google and Yahoo/MS, the quality of search engine optimization and results will likely improve. Because the two engines are now explicitly comparable, stress on continual search efficiency will now be more key than ever. Additionally SEO ‘s and site owners will likely fall victim to a higher filtering standard, translating into better search results for users. Advertisers will also benefit from the merger as the dynamic condenses the overall traffic, and reduces the need for multiple ad placement.

The Real Impact

As the merge relates to not only audiences, but also the inclusion and abandonment of total search indexes, web developers are prone to experience the most major resulting effect. For instance, BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) developers rely on the Yahoo search index, with it being replaced, many developers will have to seek for a new index and application programming interface in order to continue their aspirations. According to Vanessa Fox, an organic search expert and web columnist, this transition will prove to be complicated. She explains that “If BOSS’s future is left up to Microsoft, I have no doubt that future will involve migrating BOSS users to the Bing search API (application programming interface}. In order to continue to support BOSS, Microsoft would have to completely recreate it to work with the Bing search infrastructure.”

BOSS developers could potentially turn to Google’s Custom Search API.  However, this interface is viewed as more limiting than Microsoft’s rendition. Also Google’s API doesn’t serve to be a conducive basis for web programming. Many other companies, such as CommonCrawl and Alexa, provide web indices as well. Therefore this merge may open the door to a new leader regarding the self-development industry, as BOSS will most likely become defunct.

What the future of search engines holds

While analysis and predictions regarding the effect on various aspects of custom web design and development may prove to be useful, the major concern elicited by this monumental deal relates simply to web traffic. Will this move really change which search engine users decide to work with? Prior to the merge, site owners referred to Yahoo and Google’s indexes chiefly as the barometer for success based on ratings and traffic. Now, a portion of that audience has immediately transferred to Bing, meaning that a major player has been removed, and a new more multifaceted variable has now been introduced. Time will tell how much of a factor the merge will play out to be. However, one piece of knowledge that both the companies and developers share is the fact that Microsoft has now multiplied its force in yet another area of consumer based technology.

Have you noticed how often people are replacing the term “I looked it up on the internet” with “I Googled it”? Today Google has become one of the world’s most recognised trademarks to the extent where the term ‘Googled’ is referenced in online resources including Dictionary.com as a commonly used verb.

This recognition is largely attributed to the explosive and continuing growth of Google as the World’s most used Search Engine. In January 2009, Nielsen Online Research reported that Google experienced a 40% year on year growth and today holds over 62% of the Global market share.

Google’s mission is “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”

Google aims at creating a better internet experience for the end user and as such are consistently looking at ways to provide their users with the most relevant content.

To achieve this goal, Google follows a series of processes which determine whether your website is contributing towards their mission statement for all types of websites including  custom web design. These processes aim to identify what Google considers to be ‘Good Quality Websites’.

So what does this mean to the average website owner?

To put it simply - as Google continues to expand, website owners must adapt to Google’s philosophies and guidelines. In particular, there are two key factors the search engine considers when adding a website - the first is Quality.

A series of  Quality Guidelines have been developed that determine whether your site will be added to their search engine. By following these guidelines, you are ensuring that your website is complying with Google’s basic principles and provide the end users with a better internet experience.

Some key factors which lessen the quality of your website include:

Content that tricks Search Engines

This includes various forms of ‘Cloaking’ techniques (different content is presented to the search engines than to users) or tricks intended to improve your search rankings. This may include use of hidden text, hidden links and use of duplicate websites designed only for the Search Engines.

Instead, your website should be transparent. In Google’s eyes, the sole purpose of a website is to offer accurate and worthy information to its users.

Link schemes designed to promote your websites ranking

These include schemes designed to manipulate the PageRank such as: linking to ‘Bad Neighbourhoods’ or to web spammers, trading links that bypass PageRanks, the use of excessive reciprocal links and participating in excessive link exchanging.

Instead, ensure that your website only contains relevant and quality links. This can be achieved through the use of unique, relevant and accurate content. The number of links pointing to your website is as equally important as the quality and relevance of those links. The more informative your website is, the more likely other sites of relevance will want to link with you.

Excessive keyword stuffing

Some forms of keyword stuffing may include: Content or hidden text containing lists and paragraphs of keywords or keywords excessively placed throughout the site. Use of irrelevant keywords can be detrimental to your website as it creates a poor user experience and as such is frowned upon by Google.

Becoming an Authority

The second key factor of a ‘Good Quality Website’ is Authority. When applying the techniques mentioned above, combined with quality content you are creating a website that is an Authority within your industry.

With this in mind it is important to use and implement whatever information is available to ensure you are building what is considered to be ‘Quality Content’. The result (in combination with the use of several other factors) is the difference between the search engines embracing you as an authority or ignoring your site.

Any professional web design company should be aware of Google’s Quality Guidelines and be able to explain how these are used within their methodology of building websites. In other words, they must build sites that are ‘Search Engine Friendly’. This will ensure they’re setting up a solid foundation on which your site can be built
upon.

Current trends indicate Search Engines and Directories will continue to develop new technologies and stricter guidelines with the end user in mind. Google leads the way in Search Engines and will continue to do so for some time to come.

By getting the quality component of your websites right, you will not only be on your way to achieving higher sales of your products and services, but also give Google what they want.

The Australian government has acknowledged the importance of students to be equipped with outstanding computing skills to secure their future. Some time ago Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was quoted saying, “I want to turn every secondary school in Australia into a digital school’. Since numerous schemes and stimulus packages have been introduced to support the statement.

As our society accepts technology as an integral part of our everyday lives, it is quite common to hear Gen Y’s and X’s discussing how they or their mates have built their website. But should we be tapping into these evolving skills and asking our mates to build our new business website? The simple answer is … Why Not? - providing your mate can satisfy the following three points once your new site is built:

1. Will your site be easily found on the internet?

2. What proven online sales process will the site use to convert visitors to
sales?

3. How will you update the sites content?

Although most self taught ‘mates’ may have worked out how to build a website, in reality the majority have never considered what makes a website an effective business tool.

Let’s explore these three vital points in detail:

Finding your new website on the internet

There is completely no point in building a website if your customers cannot find it on the internet. Consider the following example:

Brisbane customers interested in purchasing a ‘Gift Basket’ may search for this item by typing ‘Gift Baskets Brisbane’ into Google. They may not even notice when searching for this term, they are presented with 238 thousand responses. This represents the total number of web pages you are competing with for that particular keyword.

Would you expect website to appear on the first few pages if the site wasn’t built with an understanding of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and include incompatible techniques like Frames or only use flash to build a site?

Professional web design firms understand the importance and benefits of SEO. They design websites using proven SEO techniques and can recommend first-class SEO Specialists for ongoing maintenance.

Building a website with a sales process in mind

Most mates don’t take into consideration the importance of an effective sales process and focus on the look and feel of a site rather than its functionality and navigation.

Websites developed to generate online sales must use a proven sales process. They must quickly capture attention (thus preventing the potential customer from clicking away) and lead them through a process that eventuates with a conversion.

A report released by Marketing Sherpa in 2005 estimates, “up to 50 percent of visitors to landing pages will bail in the first eight seconds.”

Updating and maintaining the websites content

Engaging a mate to update and manage your website can be risky business. For example, friendships don’t always last. Sometimes your mates are too busy, too stressed or are simply unavailable to update your website when required.

A professional web design firm should offer its clients the option of a self managed Content Management System; alternatively offer the service of updating and managing the websites content on behalf of the client.

This is a major point for consideration if you are planning on building a site that runs promotions and incentives. If you opt to go with a self managed Content Management System, after only a few minutes of training you can make as many changes as you want, immediately and free of charge.

A professionally designed website does not have to be expensive

Before asking your mate to design your new website, consider the points we mentioned earlier: Will your customers be able to find your website on the internet? Will they be captured by the site and proceed with the transaction?

And finally, will you be able to manage and maintain your website post the design stage?

With the growth of the Internet over the last decade, affordable web design is now a reality. There’s no need to invest tens of thousands of dollars to gain an effective web presence. Answer this? If you were building a new home, would you call your mate around to design and build it for you because he once helped you build a new desk you bought from IKEA? Unless your mate is a qualified architect, plumber, electrician and builder, you may be surprised at the end result.

Like most people, I find myself using Google for a variety of different tasks.  I reply upon it every day.  According to Nielsens, over 90% of Australian internet users also rely on Google.

The Age (Full article can be found here) surveyed prominent business people to get an idea of their thoughts on Google:

Simon Westaway, manager of corporate communications at Jetstar
“I use it all the time, for business and recreation. I find it is quicker than using Sensis. I used to use the White and Yellow Pages online, but I’ve switched.”

Chris Richardson, director of economic forecasting group Access Economics
“Yes, I use it a lot. I think that for an economist the ease with which you can get information is very important, and with Google you get it cheaply and fast. It`s got the biggest market share at the moment because it has got the better technology and algorithms to sort through and match the search.”

In an interview on Smart Company today with Ansearch CEO David Burden (Full article can be found here), according to their research he indicated the following:

“We see that e-commerce is becoming more important to them [SME's]. Many of them are becoming a lot more aware that search engines are really their lifeblood for being found these days. So search engine optimisation, ensuring the sites appear and rank well in organic search engine listings is vitally important.”

The following graph is from Alexa, it shows the daily traffic rank of Google vs. Yellow Pages:

Google Vs. Yellow Pages

Alexa Rank is a relative measurement on how popular a web site among the Internet community. This above graph indicates that Google is significantly more popular than Yellow pages by almost 10:1. Now I agree that not all the users who conduct a search on Google are looking for a business, but a large number would be. The convenience of Google’s search results are meaning that prospective customers for say.. a plumber, will just type “brisbane plumber” and look through to find the best service provider.

So what does this mean for small business? If you dont have a website yet or haven’t yet considered some type of professional web design, you are not getting found by a large population of prospective customers.