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Web design Sunshine Coast
Often I am asked to look at Sunshine Coast business websites and tell the owners why they're not getting the results they want. Some of these sites are straightforward brochures, others are e-commerce catalogs, and some are those direct-mail-style pitches reminiscent of old mail-order magazine subscription schemes ported-over to the Web. Some have benefited from professional Sunshine Coast web design, some have incorporated do-it-yourself audio and video and some even had this media professionally produced by graphic artists; and for some the results could be better. More on visual web design.
Certainly part of the problem stems from a very narrow definition of what a website is: by casting your site in terms of a brochure, catalog, e-commerce-site, blog, or portal, you are falling into the trap of concentrating on 'The What'rather than on 'The Why'.
This focus on 'The What' is exacerbated by some search engine optimisation techniques intended to drive traffic, not to brand product, sell services, or convert traffic into customers. At 12website.com (web design Sunshine Coast) we tend to look at the "big picture". Don't get me wrong, traffic is important, but converting that traffic into paying customers is more important. Even the best and brightest search engine optimisers will tell you that their job is to deliver traffic not orders - closing the deal is your job, and anybody who tells you that closing can be done by means of some automatic never-touched-by-human-hands method is just plain nuts.
What you want to be careful of is search engine tactics and
second rate media that actually gets in the way of effectively
delivering your marketing message, of telling your business
story, of creating a memorable brand image, and above all of
generating profitable business clients.
Web-Video is a Presentation Marketing Strategy
If you pay any attention to what's going on, you must be aware
of the shift in Web-thinking and the acceptance of Web-video as
a fundamental Web-marketing tool. But like most things, there is
a right way and a whole bunch of wrong ways to do it.
Web-video is a presentation marketing strategy thats strength
and power comes from its ability to overcome the Web's natural
sterile, isolationist environment, by incorporating verbal and
non-verbal human elements that effectively deliver bold,
well-crafted memorable messages. Can a Web-video campaign cure
everything that's wrong with your company, or even your sales
departments deficiencies? Of course not, but the right message
based on 'The Why' using appropriate cost effective
presentation techniques can position your business, brand your
product, and generate sales leads. More on web marketing from May 2003.
Don't fool yourself: you and your sales staff have to close the sale. Do not expect to sit back and count your profits while your website runs your business by default. Automatic pilot may work for sites that sell commodity items and nationally branded merchandise backed by millions of dollars of advertising, but unless you fall into that category, it's time to get real.
A New Web Paradigm
Here's a new way of looking at your website and if you 'get it' you will be able to refashion your site and reinvent your business in a way that gets you remembered and initiates action by your target market:
Start thinking of your website as a stage and all the content on it as players you direct in order to deliver your message and tell your story in a memorable manner to a relevant audience.
So let's breakdown this Web-presentation model and analyse how it meets your marketing needs. More on web design research here.
Your Website Is a Stage
Businesses who want to use their websites as a marketing vehicle have to get past thinking of them in terms of merely digital print media.
Just as damaging is the over-reliance on search optimisation or IT technical solutions that have little or no relationship to marketing's primary goal of delivering a memorable message that initiates action on the part of the audience.
Knowing the age, sex and hat size of the last ten thousand visitors to your site may impress some, but reams of statistical information on your visitors doesn't necessarily mean you know what that data means or how to use it effectively. In the same vein, tons of traffic generated by the latest SEO manipulation doesn't necessarily translate into business.
Start thinking of your website as a stage, a presentation and performance platform that allows your company to present your message to your audience in an entertaining, informative, and memorable manner. More on web design trust here.
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