This episode looks at the major problem facing most small business websites-lack of traffic and why this occurs regularly.
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Filed under Videocast (Videos Podcast) 
Twenty six years ago, at a tender age, I learned my first, real world lesson about the psychology of selling. I was working on the till in my first shop and learned a valuable and profitable lesson, one which nobody had touched upon in a Commerce degree in UCD.
I noticed that when I was dealing with a customer at the till that the slower I dispensed their change the more likely they were to make an impulse purchase in the meantime.
Even though the till had a feature which told you how much change was due back to the customer I turned it off. Staff didn’t like this decision but impulse purchases increased significantly.
The placement of confectionery stands, chewing gum and other impulse purchases near the till makes a lot of sense and for small retailers sales of impulse, high margin products such as confectionery is critical.
Website Design for your business
The fundamental principles of doing business, which influence strangers to become customers or clients of our business, don’t really change all that much when you take your business online.
You can view your site as some existential, detached add on to your business marketing which is necessary because..well, everybody has one. Your website can be a collection of pages and/or posts with no targeted outcome for each visitor to your site.
Or you can ensure that each and every page on your site acts like a slippery slope to maximize the chances of persuading your visitor to take the one action you want.
Your one preferred outcome will not always be a sale. But you should have an objective or goal.
A growing combination of these pages will soon become a great website and a true asset to your business.
Filed under Web Design Ireland
If you are in business in Ireland, or anywhere else for that matter, or starting up your own business you need a website.
A good website, not an electronic billboard.
Good business website
A good website
- attracts traffic organically from the search engines
- projects a professional image for your business
- allows you to position yourself as an authority in your industry
- facilitates the building of a relationship with your visitors
- leads to increased clients and sales for your business
- ensures great lifetime value from each customer through relationship building.
People nowadays don’t look in the phone book or Golden pages when they are looking for a product or service-they “Google” it.
If you are not on the web you can be sure of one thing-your competitors are.
The amount of goods and services being sold online today has grown exponentially in the last decade with sites such as Amazon.com seeing remarkable growth.
The prediction for the future is that this growth will continue apace with quite a large number of people in Ireland never having used the internet and an even bigger number never having bought anything on the net.
Professional small business web design
Web Design Dublin creates well structured, well researched, professional and smart websites for Irish businesses.
Our web design package involves
- seo optimized websites
- complete website design with a wide range of options available with the WordPress content management system
- integration of social media campaigns
- initial launch and promotion with social bookmarking and video promotion on YouTube and other video sharing sites
- contact forms
- XML sitemaps for Google and the other search engines
- Google analytics set up to gather important data about your visitors
- Google webmaster tools feedback and data
- Email capture marketing options
- Keyword research and advice as to the best way to tackle your market
- Expert internet marketing advice
- Ongoing support.
Our authority type website is created after speaking to you and listening to your requirements.
An authority type site is a more extensive and comprehensive type of site and would grow over time as more content would be added and would be capable of generating natural search traffic which in turn would lead to enquiries for more information.
The modus operandi of this type of site is to position yourself as an authority in your particular market, for example for small businesses, sole traders, partnerships or whatever and provide useful, unique information which addresses the problems of your target market.
This type of site would be divided up into logical categories along the lines of the services you provide with useful information/content for visitors with problems that they encounter and which you provide solutions for.
This site would be capable of generating free traffic and which would increase over time as you add new content and become an authority in your areas of practice.
It would also be a great asset to your business and if you think about the number of new clients needed to pay for this type of site you will probably find that a couple of clients would do it, depending on your industry.
After that it is really a free lead generator..
We would also discuss who will maintain the site over time, monitor traffic and publish new content on the site to ensure steady, incremental growth in rankings and search (free traffic).
We would also discuss how the content will be added into the future, how to monitor traffic figures and how to promote the site.
To get started, please use the Contact form and we will be in touch with you within 24 hours to organise a first consultation to start building your online business.
Filed under Web Design Ireland
If you are a small business owner trying to take advantage of the internet to promote your offline business, you are in danger of getting screwed.
Web design mistake
A web designer is essentially a graphic designer who may well be very talented at graphic design. They can create great looking graphics, drop dead headers, pictures/slideshows on autopilot and lots of other gimmicks.
And a web designer can cost you a lot of money..money that you could be spending in a much smarter way for your business.
I have nothing whatsoever against web design “artists”. They probably do a great job in designing stuff.
I just don’t want them designing my small business site. Because I don’t want fancy design or graphics, I want traffic.
As a small business owner you need an online presence-no controversy there.
But a good website for a small business owner who wants to get a great return on his investment should be concerned with two things (and one only follows after the other).
You need
1) Traffic
2) Conversions.
A site that delivers traffic to your business-lots of it and targeted traffic-can be a significant asset to you and your business.
A site that looks great but does not deliver traffic is simply useless.
You should not be concerned with
- fancy graphics or
- complex web design features or
- the latest social media buttons
- Or any other fancy, trendy gadgets or wheezes.
Picasso or Bauhaus?
As a small business owner your choice is between art or traffic..between Picasso and Bauhaus.
Or put simply between ineffectiveness and functionality.
Art and traffic are not mutually exclusive-sure you can have both.
Eventually.
But your primary focus in promoting your business on the internet should be in generating targeted traffic leading to leads to clients to sales.
Art or traffic? You choose.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Filed under How To Build a Website, How to Win New Clients
Website design for small business owners should be about 3 things-
1) Growing traffic to your site
2) Converting that traffic into leads
3) Converting those leads into sales.
Web designers understand web design but very few understand the needs and requirements of small business owners who recognise the need for a website to promote their business and want to get on with what they do best-running their business.
So, here are 3 common mistakes we have seen in websites created for small businesses in Ireland.(See web design Dublin also)
1) Assuming the web designer knows your business
He doesn’t.
You do.
This erroneous assumption will have you going to a web designer who has an impressive looking portfolio and leave the creation of a website to him/her.
This can easily lead to a site that is as useful as tits on a bull.
2) Social media buttons
Social media is a new buzzword on the internet nowadays and sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and others have the potential to assist your business.
But not on your website.
When a visitor visits your site he/she should be encouraged to carry out the one action which is your desired outcome. This may be to purchase a product, sign up for a free sample, pick up the phone to call you, email you or make an enquiry of your business.
Nothing should get in the way or impede the visitor from the preferred outcome you desire and telling the visitor that you are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other sites is not what you want.
So, lose the buttons and let the visitor do what you need them to do, and don’t send them to another site for some online socializing.
3) Its not about you
We see many sites that have very lengthy biographies detailing the achievements of the directors and other company officers.
Who cares?
The visitor, when landing on your site, will want to know “whats in it for me?”
You need to communicate the benefit and value of doing business with your company pretty quickly.
And you won’t do this by telling them where you went to school or college 20 years ago and that you play bridge in your spare time when not going to church with your wife of 35 years and adorable kids.
Answer the visitors question, tell them pretty sharply what is in it for them, and convert your visitor into a lead or sale.
If you want a website that is a genuine asset to your business and will show you a serious and significant return on your investment in the medium to long haul.
Filed under Small Business Web Design
