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strategic planning |
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website design |
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content development |
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search engine optimization |
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email marketing |
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database development |
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CMS content management |
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Website Keeps Selling While You Sleep
By Lori Garin
Published in the Albuquerque Journal's Business Outlook, July 2002 and New Mexico Woman Magazine, August 2002
No matter what's been said about the ups and downs of the dot.com world, no business these days is too small to benefit from a good website, and almost any small business can afford one. What a business owner can't afford is to be without a website. A website can help small businesses compete with larger ones, leveling the playing field with a well-aimed slingshot against the Goliaths.
Websites create a national or international presence for a business, and that presence can create a dramatic increase in sales performance. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar store, a website is open 24/7 in all time zones (even when its owner sleeps). A website with a shopping cart service can take orders all day and night. Of course, a business owner still needs to fulfill orders in a timely manner, using the same quality customer service provided to customers who walk into a store. A website allows ample room to talk about the unique qualities of a business, not limited to the confines of a small print ad (or large yearly advertising budget). A small ad in the yellow pages can direct attention to a website, providing potential customers with far more information. Following the initial expense of designing a website, yearly maintenance costs can be kept low. A business that sells one-of-a-kind items should probably stay away from an e-commerce strategy and create a website designed to draw more customers into the store or office.
5 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Website
1. Navigation. Be sure a website is easy to navigate, the content is easy to find, and links are clearly indicated on the navigation bar.
2. Load Times. A website must load quickly. Although more and more people are moving to high-speed DSL, cable, or satellite connections, the majority of potential customers are still viewing a site through phone line modems.
3. Hire A Pro. Although there are many do-it-yourself packages, a professional firm can make copy sing, design an attractive, quick-loading, and engaging site. Designers should be willing to work with clients to incorporate original ideas and optimize artwork for the web.
4. Search Engine Optimization. Put some money aside for marketing. A lovely website with gorgeous graphics and logo won't pull in business if it can't be found. Hire a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company or verify that the site designer also specializes in search engine optimization.
5. Use Traditional Media. Take advantage of traditional advertising media and include the website address on business cards and stationary, all printed materials, and update voice messaging systems to let customers know the website address.
Lori Garin is the owner of Weaving Web Designs, a firm specializing in website design and search engine optimization.
Weaving Web Designs kick starts client publicity in the NM Business Weekly
Exerpts from Solid Trend in the NM Business Weekly. . . Design features built into the Materials Inc. Web site are responsible for the site's increased visibility to potential customers. "I used some search engine optimization techniques to get them closer to the top of the search engines," remarks Lori Garin, owner of Weaving Web Designs LLC, the firm that upgraded the site. "You can have a beautiful Web site but, if you don't design it with the search engines in mind, it might be beautiful but it won't be found." Garin also redesigned the company's previous Web site to make it more functional and attractive. "The look is more enticing and visually stimulating, and I also coordinated it with the look of the catalog they had," she says. read the full article ... NM Business Weekly October 3, 2003 edition
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