-SEO: The right search engine optimization techniques will give you the chance to create the ideal amount and type of traffic that you want for no cost. You can use specific keywords to get noticed on search engines, driving traffic to your site.
-Updates: If you update, they will come back. People don’t like to visit a website and find the same information all the time. Update regularly for better traffic.
-Social Bookmarking: Digg, Delicious, and other bookmarking sites can help you generate traffic with ease. You have to learn how to use them accordingly, but that’s generally a simple task.
-Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites are going to drive a lot of traffic to your website. People use these sites regularly, and when they see businesses on here, they feel more personally connected to them.
-Links: Use backlinking to put your links on other sites, but make sure that you have quality links, regardless of the quantity. Having 5 top-quality links is better than having 500 mediocre ones according to any search engine.
-Free Promotion: classified ads, directory submissions, and other free promotional tools will help increase interest and traffic for your site. You can pay for listings and ads, but you should always take advantage of the free ones first.
-Free Stuff: If you give people something that they can use, they will come back. Articles, tips, and information are great, but people really love free stuff. Give them a free service or product and they will likely visit more often and check out the rest of your site.
-Viral Content: Anything that is so interesting that it catches like wildfire will definitely get you visitors quickly. When people see content they like, they send it on and it travels like a virus. You want content like this.
-Offline Tools: Yes, you can promote your website offline for free. You can have the URL put on your business cards, post your business website on community boards, and more.
-Signature URLs: When you create a signature in your forums and emails, you should have your URL in it. That way, people can click through to your site to learn more about you.
To schedule a free consultation with Connecticut’s leading online marketing firm, please visit www.allaccessunlimited.com or call our Stamford, CT headquarters directly at: 203-276-9812
]]>These tips should help increase traffic, but the one thing to always keep in mind is that you’re trying to impress people and get them interested in what you have to say / offer.
To schedule a free consultation with Connecticut’s leading online marketing firm, please visit www.allaccessunlimited.com or call our Stamford, CT headquarters directly at: 203-276-9812
]]>Mistake #1: Targeting the wrong keywords. Make sure that you have keywords that users actually search for, not just ones that sound good.
Mistake #2: Ignoring Title tags. So many people leave their website title tag empty, which is NOT effective at all. It helps with optimization, but ultimately makes your page look complete with a title.
Mistake #3: Limiting accessibility. Having a Flash website is great. They’re fun, interactive, and they look pretty. However, not having an HTML alternative turns off search engines and visitors who have slower connections.
Mistake #4: Menus with JavaScript. Search engines don’t read JavaScript, so you should consider having links elsewhere or doing them in HTML so search engines can read them.
Mistake #5: Lack of maintenance. You can’t just put your site up and leave it forever. Just like a physical business, it needs to be updated, maintained, cleaned, and changed over time to be most effective.
Mistake #6: Meta tag overload. While meta tags are effective, spending too much focus on them will waste your time. They’re not as important as they once were, and will be much less critical than other parts of your site.
Mistake #7: Image-only headings. Images do make your site look good, but headlines will do much more for SEO than any graphic. Try putting images under headlines instead, to get the best of both worlds.
Mistake #8: Forgetting the URL. Your URL matters. You need to make sure that your URL speaks to your page content so that it can add to your SEO success. Consider something like www.dantheSEOprofessoinal.com instead of just www.danjenkins.com, for example.
Mistake #9: Spam via backlinks. So many people assume that more backlinks are better than less, but that spells trouble right away. Quality is far more important for your backlinks than quantity, and over-linking will rule you a spammer and get you kicked out of search engines.
Mistake #10: Lack of keywords. Just like having too many keywords, not having enough will kill your website’s SEO success. Focus on adding keywords wherever you can, with a standard of 1-2 keywords per 100 words. More will border on the line of spamming and less will not do your website justice.
These are the top 10 mistakes that we see Connecticut businesses—and indeed businesses throughout the U.S.—making when it comes to SEO. In order to keep yourself from making these mistakes, keep them in mind when doing your SEO for your or your client’s website.
To schedule a free consultation with Connecticut’s leading Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm, please visit www.AllAccessUnlimited.com or call our Stamford, CT headquarters directly at: 203-276-9812
]]>He owns a local Stamford, Connecticut website design company.
He was referred to us from a friend, one of our SEO clients.
Bill works mainly for start-up mom and pop shops, businesses just getting started that need a simple site.
Bill asked us point blank, “Hey, can you guys help me dominate my competition?”
We thought it was funny how he used that word “dominate” because our Marketing Manager, Richard Cagney, gave a speech at a Manhattan SEO conference last year about how to “dominate” your online competition.
So we pulled out the speech and read him the highlights right over the phone. Kind of goofy, but we had fun and he enjoyed the free consultation too.
The speech basically said that anyone can make millions starting and running their own successful business, online or offline, if they knew one simple trick.
Actually, online or offline isn’t really a determining factor because they are both just communication mediums. It’s really more in the marketing angle that you take which will determine whether you are successful or not. And that’s the trick.
The marketing angle we’re talking about is, first and foremost, you have to learn how to sell yourself. This is of the utmost importance because if you do it properly, then you will attract customers to you automatically.
Everyone wants to work with the best—-plain and simple.
Everyone would rather work with Stamford, Connecticut’s best realtor or doctor.
Everyone wants to go to the city’s best marketing firm or plastic surgeon.
Everyone wants to invest their money with the best financial planner in CT.
Everyone wants to eat at the best restaurants, and have the best fitness trainers.
You see, when you’re looked upon as “the best,” your prices are no longer relevant. You can charge twice as much as your competition.
Do you think Donald Trump regularly slashes his prices to compete with the mainstream market in order to make the deal? Does Mercedes? Of course they don’t!
Now, if you think you’re good, even VERY good, but perhaps not “the best,” then in fact that doesn’t matter as much as you might think it does.
You don’t really need to be “the absolute best,” because that is just relative and stems from opinion—whether it’s the opinion of your customers, or your opinion of yourself!
One way to “sell yourself,” and position yourself as “the best,” is to give without want. This simply means giving away valuable high-quality information to your target market.
When you do this, you are positioning yourself in your industry.
So, with this in mind, we told Bill that he should start writing articles describing “tips” on how to build a good website for cheap or perhaps explain the “top mistakes” people make when selecting an affordable Stamford, CT website design company.
We then suggested he optimize these articles with the right keywords (“Stamford, CT website design company” and “Connecticut web design company,” for example) and then submit them to all of the web article submission resource sites.
Now, when someone searches using Bill’s keywords, his articles rank high, providing readers with valuable information and suggestions.
Bill then mentioned he wanted to send potential clients a physical ad in the mail. He wanted advice on that.
We told him that if we were planning to do something like that we would not promote our prices or rates as the lead-in to the piece.
We might mention these in the ad (as many people may be interested in purchasing that day and would want to know the prices) but they wouldn’t be the primary focus.
Rather, we would promote our online Newsletter or perhaps some kind of FREE “Ten Top Tips For Small Businesses Who Need A Good Website For Cheap” Report.
The key is to sell “insider information” on the front end, which puts your company into the “sphere of influence” of your prospects. Doing so, you position yourself as the “go-to team.” Eventually you can sell your product or service on the backend.
We know that local small business owners are always looking for good information on a local Stamford, CT web design company that will keep them abreast of technology and help them make the best decision they can.
If Bill becomes the author of this information and links his articles to his website, then he automatically positions himself as the local expert in the arena. This will land him the calls.
Now, you may notice that we gave Bill this 100% free lead generation strategy right over the phone. Lots of marketing firms charge high fees for a consultation like this—but we gave it to Bill for free.
Make no mistake about it, he was grateful to us for all the free information we gave him. So grateful that he wanted to pay us to perform keyword research, write optimized content-rich articles for him, and post them online for him for the next 3 months. Bill also wanted 3 Press Releases.
Even better, he said that many of his clients—local Stamford, Connecticut business owners—wanted SEO services, and have asked him recently if he knows anybody he might recommend.
We told Bill we would provide him with top references from half-a-dozen SEO clients we are working with right now, all local, if he wanted to recommend us. He said absolutely.
See the value that giving away free information holds in business?
]]>That’s when visitors come but don’t stay, browse but don’t buy.
Once they leave, you never hear back from them again.
For a conversion-savvy web design company like ours, this is totally unacceptable.
To begin with, it’s easy to find out how many visitors your website is getting, as well as other important info like how long they are staying, what pages they are visiting, and much more, through even the simplest Analytics tools.
Now, if your site is not being measured by analytics—and most local businesses with a website aren’t, according to a recent (unofficial) poll we conducted—then how are you gauging your website’s effectiveness?
As more website users get increasingly savvy, they are consciously spending less time perusing sites they come across.
The average person stays on a site for 6 seconds before deciding to click away (which is the more popular choice).
Studies show that often only one in every 400 – 500 visitors takes action—which is completely unacceptable to a web company that promises results (like we do).
Imagine if you had a brick and mortar clothing shop and only one in every 400 people who walked through the door bought anything, without really even paying too much attention to your clothing! Wow!
It wouldn’t be long before you went out of business, right?
So what steps can you take right now…today…to stop the “Revolving Door Syndrome” on your website?
One way is by giving your visitors a reason to interact with you—and I’m not talking about a “Contact” form either.
Actually, thinking that your “Contact” form covers a whole lot is one of the biggest mistakes small business owners make.
In fact, the “Contact” page is one of the least visited pages, according to most analytics measurements. And this is true for just about every industry.
Why? Because when visitors are first evaluating your company, they’re not interested in contacting you yet.
They’re reading your copy and looking at your overall site.
Contacting you is the last thing they’re going to do. What, then, is a good way to get these potential customers/clients to interact with you and your company?
The answer is, by offering a FREE GIVEAWAY that has high-perceived value.
That’s right, even though the word “FREE” has been abused to the point of hysteria these days, it’s still the most effective word in marketing.
Give your website visitors something free—something of value; something they came to your website looking for in the first place.
Think about it. What “Top Ten” list would your target audience find interesting? What tips, insights, resources would help them achieve their goals successfully?
Whatever the answer write the article or create a one or two page PDF Report, and offer it as a free download on your website.
Make sure you ask for an email address so you know where to send it.
By creating a platform that will allow you to email to your prospects, you are going a long way in jumpstarting interaction, creating leads, and laying the ground work for a future between you and your website visitors.
This can cut your 1-in-400 contact ratio way down, and put you on the right road to increasing your leads, sales and profits.
We offer these and many other profit-building techniques at All Access Unlimited, because when we build you a website we care more about just color, content, and design—we care about building your business.
Contact us today and let us help you stop Revolving Door Syndrome on your website: 203-276-9812
]]>The answer is, we can provide anything and everything you need—a vast wealth of PR and online marketing services at affordable prices. (We do offline marketing also).
Many of our clients are amazed at the wide range of PR and online marketing services we provide.
Here is a small sample. This is by no means an exhaustive list:
COPYWRITING
DIRECT MAIL
E-BOOKS
EDITING
EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
FACT CHECKING
LINK BUILDING
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
PAY PER CLICK ADVERTISING
PRESS RELEASES
PROOFREADING
RESUME & COVER LETTER WRITING
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SPEECH WRITING
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
COPYWRITING
SELL YOUR PRODUCTS AND BRING CREATIVITY TO DIRECT MAIL, ADS, BROCHURES, WEBSITES AND OTHER MARKETING
Sometimes, you don’t have the time to provide the content for advertisement. A copywriting service will offer you a professionally trained service that can provide content for your website, mail, brochures, and other marketing tools that will assure you the advertising you desire. You will improve your return on marketing investment with ease when you let trained professionals tell others about the services or products that you provide.
DIRECT MAIL (FROM CONCEPT TO COMPLETION)
PINPOINT YOUR SPECIAL OFFER AND SEND YOUR MESSAGE HOME
Direct mail campaigns can be time consuming, and it may be hard to determine a layout for your direct mail. Hiring a service to determine your layout can save you time and hassle, with trained individuals showcasing your special offers, products, and services in an attractive layout. Don’t waste time collecting supplies and trying to build a design – let a hired service drive home your message with quality design.
E-BOOK CREATION & PROMOTION
POSITION YOURSELF AS THE RECOGNIZED LEADER IN YOUR FIELD
One of the most popular marketing tools these days is an E-book. An E-book can provide information on you and your business in an attractive manner, right on the web. No longer is it necessary to email brochures to explain the history of the business or the proucts and services provided. With a service taking the time to build your E-book for you, clients can easily access and download the information they want to know about you and your business.
EDITING
POLISH YOUR FINAL DRAFT FOR ACCURACY AND STYLE, ENSURING YOU GET RESULTS
Never worry again about grammar, capitalization, punctuation, or any other problems you may have with the written English language. Build your draft, and let trained editors review your work, making the necessary corrections so that your materials, website, speeches, and all other written documents appear and sound professional.
EMAIL CAMPAIGNS
DELIVER TARGETED INFORMATION TO TARGETED MARKETS
Let our service set up your next email campaign, advertising and informing the customers most likely to purchase or use your products and services with targeted information. Don’t use your valuable time to collect email addresses and set up the automatic emails; invest in a professional service that has experience building email campaign templates that get the job done and increase your return on investment.
FACT CHECKING
ENSURE YOUR WRITING IS ACCURATE AND PREVENT EMBARASSING MISTAKES
Before publishing information that could be faulty or include inaccuracies, especially when dealing with specific facts or statistics, why not enlist the help of professionals to verify your information? If you provide inaccurate information to potential clients, they are not likely to trust your brand. This is easily prevented, insuring that you do not waste time publishing inaccurate information that could be detrimental to your profits.
LINK BUILDING SERVICES
BRING IN TARGETED TRAFFIC, INCREASE YOUR SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS AND MULTIPLY YOUR SALES & REVENUE
Creating links that can be displayed on alternate related sites can help increase conversion rates, guaranteeing that the potential customer is already interested in a similar topic prior to entering your site. This will also place information about your site on other sites, multiplying your exposure so and assuring that your site is more prominently and frequently brought up by search engines. The more often your site is seen by searchers, the more likely you are to make a sale, meaning that revenue and overall profit are sure to increase.
MAGAZINE ARTICLE WRITING & SUBMISSION
CAPTIVATE READERS AND BECOME THE RECOGNIZED VOICE OF CURRENT EVENTS IN YOUR INDUSTRY
Collect the facts and data needed to produce an informative article and enlist the help of writers to add the finesse you need to wow your readers. Magazine articles are a great way to get your name out there so you can be recognized within your industry as the source of knowledge and events. With assistance in writing, editing, and laying out your articles, you’ll see the difference in reader reaction and level of satisfaction, as well as increased trust in your facts as well as your opinions.
NEWSLETTERS
CREATE INFORMATIVE REMINDERS TO CUSTOMERS ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS
While you may not have time to contact your customers without a specific purpose, hiring a service to provide a newsletter to your clients will let them know that you haven’t forgotten about them. It will also assure that they do not forget about your business. Newsletters can be used to inform clients about new services or products, as well as changes to your website or other information that can attract them back for another look. Newsletters are a great way to increase customer loyalty.
PAY PER CLICK
BE SEEN WHERE & WHEN YOUR MOST ELIGIBLE PROSPECTS ARE LOOKING
Pay per click advertisement allows you to choose what keywords will be associated with your site, guaranteeing you the client base and interest that you desire. It will also help minimize advertisement costs, since your website will be pulled up on search engines based solely on the keywords determined by you and never show up in searches that are unrelated to your site. Then, once your site is prominently displayed, you only pay a predetermined amount if the searcher clicks onto your site. Pay nothing if the searcher doesn’t enter your site.
PRESS RELEASE CREATION & SUBMISSION
GET YOUR COMPANY, PRODUCT OR SERVICES INTO THE HEADLINES COST-FREE
A professional press release is the cost-free way to let the world know about your business and its products or services. Hiring a company that has experience in writing these releases will allow you to increase exposure of your business at a low cost, increasing the chances for conversion and high profitability by leaps and bounds.
PROOFREADING
MAKE SURE YOUR WRITING SKILLS APPEAR PROFESSIONAL
Don’t be embarrassed by careless errors in your print, like a missed comma or reversed letters in a word. Proofreading services carefully dissect your writing, looking for the smallest mistype or clerical error so that your final copy comes out professionally perfect. This will leave a lasting impression on the customer as to your level of detail orientation, giving them a warm, fuzzy feeling about how well they will be accommodated by your service or product.
RESUME & COVER LETTER WRITING
ELOQUENTLY SHOWCASE YOUR EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE, AND HIGHLIGHT THE RESULTS YOUR EFFORTS GENERATE
Though individuals can find templates all over the web for resumes and cover letters, hiring a professional to provide these important documents allows you to add finesse and eloquence. Resumes and cover letters should showcase your history and talents, but at the same time, the attractiveness of the presentation and the speech used within the document can sell your labors just as well as your experience. Having these documents generated for you increases your chance of hire, as well as the possibility of higher pay!
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
IMPROVE YOUR RANK IN SEARCH RESULTS, INCREASES YOUR LEADS, AND GET FREE TRAFFIC
Search engine optimization has become the quickest way to advertise your site on the internet. With SEO, searches for keywords will bring your site to the top of the search return list and deliver free traffic to your site. This service will not only increase the exposure of your business, but also increase visits to your site by creating leads and offer the opportunity for higher sales and profitability.
SPEECHWRITING
RALLY TEAM MEMBERS AND BRING AUDIENCES TO THEIR FEET
Writing a speech isn’t always fun and games, and getting your point across while engaging the audience can be difficult. Hiring a trained professional to put together a speech offers the experience necessary to not only keep your audience from nodding off, but also to energize and enthuse them, making sure that your speech is not easily forgotten and that your points are well taken.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
CREAT BUZZ THAT CAN HAVE RAMIFICATIONS ACROSS THE WORLD
We know how to use social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. Some of the common social networking sites we use are Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and Youtube. For example, we can create buzz by producing and marketing a video and posting it on some of the video sharing sites like YouTube.
For more information on our professional Stamford, CT online marketing and offline marketing services, please don’t hesitate to email us or call us at 203-276-9812
]]>The answer is, we can provide anything and everything you need—a vast wealth of web design services and even software development at affordable prices.
Many of our clients are amazed at the wide range of websites and web design services we provide.
Here is a small sample. This is by no means an exhaustive list:
If you live in greater New York City, Manhattan, Westchester or Connecticut (or anywhere in the U.S. or the world for that matter) here is a simple list of most of the professional web site design services we provide, along with some information you may find helpful:
ASP.NET
A SIMPLE WAY TO CREATE A WEBSITE WITH LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF CODE
ASP.net allows you to quickly and easily build your web applications utilizing a simple text editor, even something like notepad. You’ll be able to build your site in an html-style setup with very little knowledge of code required compared to PHP or JSP applications. ASP.net also offers tutorials and ‘getting started’ kits to help first-time users set up their web sites with templates and best practice guidelines.
AUTO RESPONDERS
PROVIDE INSTANT FOLLOW-UP
You have more valuable things to do with your time than monitor email, but at the same time, your clients deserve a quick response. A fast response shows dedication and customer service, making the client feel more comfortable working with your company. An auto responder program will allow you to quickly and efficiently get back to clients and let them know that they will not be ignored without keeping you tied to your email all day.
BANNER ADS
TARGET CUSTOMERS & DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE CONVERSION RATES
A banner ad can catch the attention of potential customers and redirect them to your site. The creation of banner ads will assist in improving conversion rates, meaning more business for you. A banner ad can be catchy and creative, utilizing bright colors to grab attention, then speak directly to the needs of the potential customer. Phrases can be short and to the point with little detail involved, and yet the banner ad will interest new customers with little effort.
BLOG TEMPLATES
SHOW YOUR OWN PERSONAL STYLE
A blog is just a blog without style. Personalize your blog with templates that show everyone your own personal style and image. A personalized blog will pull more attention to your site, and more traffic means more potential sales. Blog templates will improve the appearance of your blog site, making it appear more professional while catering to your personality and letting your true self shine through.
BROWSER TESTING
ENSURES YOUR SITE LOOKS RIGHT IN ALL WEB BROWSERS
Sometimes, the format in which you build your website will not appear as you wish in all web browsers. To make sure that your formatting appears correctly in every browser that the web page will be pulled up in, browser testing can be done. If you assure in advance that your site will look its best, clients are more likely to feel that you are a professional, and your site will be taken seriously. Browser testing is a major key to making your web site the best it can be and increasing profitability.
CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
GET A WEBSITE WITH EASY ACCESS TO UPDATE
YOUR CONTENT & PHOTOS
With a CMS, you don’t have to buy pricey additional software like PageFive or Dreamweaver. You simply log on to the site’s “back end,” add photos, change content and hit the “submit” button. Then go to your site and see your changes. Presto!
CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
ACCEPT PAYMENTS WORLDWIDE
With the invention of the internet, the information superhighway has made it a breeze for people to go online and complete a transaction without ever stepping away from their computer. By having the ability to accept and process credit cards straight from your website, you will increase your rate of conversion exponentially. No longer do customers want to be burdened with telephone calls, checks, or snail mail. Adding credit card processing to your site will make life easier for clients, meaning they’ll be more willing to spend their bucks on your bang
E-COMMERCE
ESTABLISH YOUR INDEPENDENT WEB STOREFRONT
Regardless of the product or service you are selling, you can’t expect to have a high sales rate if you don’t have a professional looking storefront. A professional, attractive appearance is one of the most important facets of E-commerce, intriguing clients and letting them know that your goods and services, based on the look of your website, will be carefully arranged and beautifully delivered.
EXTRANETS
ALLOW EASY 24/7 ACCESS TO INFORMATION FOR PRE-DETERMINED CLIENTS AND USERS
An extranet allows you to share information and data directly from your private network and intranet with customers, vendors, and other users in a secure manner. Set up this area of your site with a firewall and other security programs and allow access to large volumes of information that cannot easily be emailed or sent quickly and needs to be frequently updated. At the same time, limit the traffic to which your extranet is available so that only those you choose can view and utilize your private information.
FLASH DEMOS
DEMONSTRATE YOUR FULL-FUNCTION FEATURES
Flash demos are an excellent tool for demonstrating exactly what services you provide to clients. With a flash demo, a client can experience an example of the tools they can use, the services they’ll receive, and the attention they can expect from your company, so they know exactly what they can expect to receive for their money. A flash demo is a simple and yet professionally dazzling way to give your potential customers a taste of what you have to offer.
FLASH DESIGN
PUT YOUR IDEAS IN MOTION
Flash adds animation and interactivity to web pages, and provides full design control to maximize creativity, resulting in a consistent end-user experience. All Access Unlimited created the “Flash” design—the animated photo presentation—for TourItalyNow.com
FLASH GAMES
ENGAGE YOUR VISITORS, AND EXCITE THEM TO TELL THEIR FRIENDS
Add entertainment to your site with flash games. Visitors to your site will increase your exposure and advertisement for free through word of mouth after enjoying intriguing flash games on your site. The graphics and pleasant experience will stick in the minds of visitors to your site, causing them to come back again and again, as well as to refer their friends.
FLASH INTROS
BUILD EXCITEMENT & ANTICIPATION
When customers enter your website, a flash intro may be the tool to attract the most attention and cause the most anticipation. A flash intro will be inviting to the clients visiting your site and entertaining to those who may come across it even by accident, exciting them into curiosity. Flash intros will introduce your company and appear professional to visitors, increasing the possibility of a sale based on first impressions.
JAVASCRIPT
ENGAGE CUSTOMERS WITH GAMES, QUIZZES, CALCULATORS & MORE
What can entice visitors to a website better than fun activities? Javascript can provide you with the tools that your clients and web visitors crave, such as games, quizzes, and more. The more impressed and engaged a customer is with your site, the more likely that customer is to recommend that friends visit and use your site. Javascript provides entertainment for clients that encourages word-of-mouth advertisement for your site.
LANDING PAGES
FACILITATE YOUR MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
First impressions stick with customers and upon entering your website, the landing page is the first thing that viewers will see. This page has the power to create a very positive first impression that will stay fresh in people’s minds, making them want to come back to your site again and again. Let a trained professional assist in creating a landing page that will attract potential customers and encourage them to continue delving deeper into your site.
LOADING PAGES
MAKE AN EXCELLENT FIRST IMPRESSION
While your pages load, don’t leave customers hanging. A small graphic or flash message announcing that the page requested is loading will decrease impatience and frustration, helping to retain customers who are in the process of ordering products or services, as well as letting potential customers know that your page is functioning properly and has not become stuck. Loading pages will increase customer retention and conversion rate, ultimately increasing you level of profit.
MESSAGE BOARDS
PROVIDE YOUR VISITORS WITH AN ONLINE MEETING PLACE
Having a message board on your site will allow visitors to contact each other, share information, and learn about your business through mutual experience. Often, site members and visitors can answer each other’s questions without contacting you, meaning that you have more time to run the business without interruption to answer generic questions.
MICROSITES
SUPPLEMENT YOUR MAIN WEBSITE BY ADDING SPECIALIZED OR CURRENT INFORMATION
A community organization may have a main site with all of the organization’s basic information, but create a separate, temporary microsite to inform about a particular activity or event. Businesses use microsites to add editorial value. For instance, a retailer of party goods may create a microsite describing the history of Halloween. Beyond driving product sales, microsites add value to the site’s visitors for branding purposes and also provide editorial content and keywords allowing for greater chances of search engine inclusion.
ONLINE FORMS
COLLECT IMPORTANT MARKETING DATA
Of course, you could always spend the time and money to send out surveys or make phone calls in order to collect information regarding how clients are faring on your site. However, the best way to get people to complete a form is to make it available online. This saves you money, as well as offering a simple way for visitors to your site to provide feedback on their experience with your web page. This information will help you better your site and ultimately provide more turnover and profitability for you.
RSS FEEDS
SYNDICATE YOUR CONTENT
With an RSS feed, you can advertise your website’s latest developments and allow customers to track information with short “blog”-like pitches and a link to your site. This will keep clients and potential customers informed of the latest updates to your site and related activity, giving them reason to return for future patronage. Improve customer loyalty and conversion rate. All you have to do is allow other sites access to syndicate your material for greater exposure.
SHOPPING CARTS
ACCEPT ONLINE ORDERS
In today’s web-crazed society, it doesn’t matter how creative or attractive your site is; if you can’t accept orders online, then you won’t get as much business. A shopping cart allows your customers to collect all the items they wish to purchase from your site and pay for it all in one transaction, without ever leaving their computers. A shopping cart is the only way to truly do web business and is an essential part of your website!
STATIC WEBSITES
SHOW YOUR BUSINESS TO THE WORLD
Static websites are easy-to-maintain and can net you more customers by professionally showcasing your business, products and services. Many small and even mid-size companies simply set their static website and then forget it.
3-D FLASH
EXPLODE YOUR ANIMATION & CONVEY THE ESSENCE OF YOUR IDEA
If flash intros and presentations are great attention grabbers, imagine what having 3-D flash animation can do for your website. 3-D flash appears high-tech and impressive to potential clients, letting them know that you mean business. It can also provide high quality demos showcasing your services and/or products so that visitors to your site will know exactly what to expect from your company.
3-D GRAPHICS
BRING FLAT ARTWORK INTO THE THIRD DIMENSION
Graphics are always a great sales tool, but 3-D graphics will impress your audience to a greater degree, appearing more complex and professional than flat graphics. Improve the appearance of your site and watch your customer base grow as word of mouth spreads regarding your high-tech website!
CBTs
OFFER TRAINING TOOLS CONVENIENTLY TO THE DESKTOP
Computer based training is an easy, convenient way for people to learn a new skill. Offering CBT’s on your site will entice patrons to spend time and money on your endeavors, increasing your profit margins without any hassle on your part. Keep customers happy, offering them the opportunity to learn from home on their own desktop computer, never even having to leave the house to receive the training they need in your field.
FLASH PRESENTATIONS
CAPTURE ATTENTION WITH SHORT & HIGHLY-FOCUSED FILMS THAT STAY ON MESSAGE AND NEVER LOSE ENERGY
A flash presentation gets a message across in an entertaining way that also impresses a professional idea of your company on your customers. Not only is it a simple form of advertisement and information, but it can also keep up a momentum that will capture audience attention and not loosen its grasp until it ends. A flash presentation is a quick way to speak to potential clients, staying on topic without interruptions.
INTERACTIVE CD-ROM
IMPROVE RETENTION AND MAINTAINS FOCUS
An interactive CD-Rom is an excellent learning tool that can be applied to almost any project, service, or product that is sold or offered. Interactive CD-Roms can be used just about anywhere, are easily stored, and can travel, as well as be shared between multiple trainees. Interactive CD-Roms engage the student or customer in the learning process and are a proven way of helping users to grasp information more quickly and effectively.
INTERACTIVE TRAINING MODULES
ENGAGE YOUR EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN TRAINING SESSIONS
Engage your current and future employees to be eager participants in training programs with professional, interactive training tools. The more interested and eager an employee, the more likely they are to retain and utilize the information provided by the training session. Interactive courses aid in maintaining alertness and participation of trainees. This means that the trainee is more satisfied with a course that is not boring, and you, as the employer, are more satisfied with the outcome and resulting knowledge of your employees.
POWERPOINT TEMPLATES
COMMAND ATTENTION THAT MATCHES YOUR BRAND
Powerpoint presentations are probably the most frequently used multimedia formats in meetings, and it can be difficult to come up with something new and exciting that will draw the attention of the audience. Rather than trying to build a new Powerpoint presentation from scratch, it’s fast and simple to enlist the help of professionals with fresh templates for Powerpoint that are engaging and attention-grabbing from the start!
WBTs
ALLOW ACCESS TO TRAINING INFORMATION ANYWHERE THE INTERNET CAN BE ACCESSED
Web based training is one of the newest, fastest growing training methods available. Not only can skills and information be gained from home, but clients can access their learning account anywhere that internet access is available, and with wireless access becoming so prevalent, it’s possible to participate in training at any time in any place. Having interactive WBT’s on your site will increase the positive opinion of your web page, and word-of-mouth advertisement can raise your level of profitability.
For more information on our professional web site design and development services, please don’t hesitate to email us or call us at 203-276-9812
]]>One question that often comes up is, how can we do SEO for ourselves for free?
The answer is, there are plenty of ways, including this one particular—often overlooked— opportunity to drive business to your website from the Internet:
“Internet Search Directories”
What are Internet Search Directories?
There exist countless “directory sites” that draw their information from phone book data, and which have now become large suppliers of business information for people (and other businesses) who search for various products / services on the Internet.
Sure, Google is king of search, no one can dispute that… but the results that come up (meaning the links Google provides through “natural” search results) are likely to be these directory sites.
So if you’re thinking that internet search directories are important, you’re right on the money.
You can often go in and actively add information to, edit, update, and expand upon the listings they provide.
This is nothing short of excellent free-advertising.
Plus, there are a number of “paid options” to enhance or upgrade your listings, should you decide to go that route (However, we recommend testing the paid options in small ways first… and tracking all results carefully, in order to determine with certainty if it’s worth continuing or increasing your paid-ad commitments).
For local businesses—local Connecticut businesses—having their companies listed on local internet search directories is a must.
But, even for non-local Connecticut businesses many uses will make sense.
There are even directories that specialize in business-to-business (B2B).
Here are some good Internet Search Directories you can use, for starters:
www.superpages.com
www.yellowbook.com
www.yellowpages.com
www.yellow.com
www.theyellowpages.com
www.b2byellowpages.com
www.anywho.com
www.whitepages.com
www.switchboard.com
www.whowhere.com
www.citysearch.com
www.local.com
As a reputable and powerful Stamford, Connecticut (CT) SEO firm (Search Engine Optimization), we use Internet Search Directories to help our clients rank in the search engines.
It’s really a powerful way to gain rankings, one of many powerful ways that we employ.
For more information on our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services, please don’t hesitate to email us or call us at 203-276-9812
]]>So in case anyone out there has any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re located in the heart of Stamford, Connecticut on Strawberry Hill Avenue.
Money is not everything to us, the appreciation we get when we know we’ve helped out another person or company can be just as rewarding.
For example, today we received a call from a local law firm. They recently got their web site created and up and running. Now they want to climb higher in Google’s rankings.
As we explained to them, this can appear to be a daunting task, especially for a new site. They wanted to know if there were some things that we recommend they should try first before calling a “big guns” company like us (big guns but with the big price tags).
So we came up with this list and emailed it to them:
These are just a few quick tips.
It’s always better to hire an expert SEO company, preferably a local company.
There are always lots of changes going on in the SEO industry, and a professional SEO company can help navigate the changes and can also do the most with your budget.
]]>Maybe you are currently in the midst of a redesign yourself.
If so, then make sure the Connecticut Web Design Company you hire knows how to build your new website in a way that’s 100% search engine-friendly.
Also, you need to address a number of additional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tactics before you delve too deeply in your website redesign.
You don’t want to lose your existing ranking, and you want to make sure you gain additional targeted search engine visitors when your new website goes live.
So, with this in mind, here are 5 solid SEO (Search Engine Optimization) redesign tips your web design company may not know:
1. Correctly Coding Navigation Menus
Your website’s navigation links should be coded in a way that’s search engine friendly. For example, be sure all the navigational menus are coded with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). Remember, CSS is visible to, and crawl-able by, the search engines. In addition, you want to make sure to avoid drop-down box links as the main form of navigation (CSS mouse-overs work fine though). Also make sure all of your content is reachable by hard-coded links. In other words, try not to force the user through any kind of search box menus, which are usually not search engine friendly. Remember, some DHTML and Flash menus are invisible to search engines, which may cause the pages linked within them to not receive the internal link popularity necessary to ensure placement.
2. Your Site Architecture Needs To Be SEO Friendly
During your redesign, be careful not to bury any high-ranking pages too deeply within your site. I’m talking about pages that were previously bringing in targeted search engine traffic. You need to ensure that all content containing more competitive keyword phrases (for example, product and service pages) is high up in your site hierarchy. What’s more, all content contained in a specific category should be cross-linked via some sort of sub-navigation within that section. Remember, search engines care deeply about how your pages are linked together. This helps them to determine exactly how significant the different elements of your website actually are. With this in mind, pages that are linked from every other page will be given more weight than those pages that are only linked from only a few others. This is considered a form of “internal link popularity,” or to put it in Google terms, “internal PageRank.”
3. Use Proper Categorization & Make Sure You Avoid Duplicate Content
People use search engines because they have questions about a certain topic, a problem they need to solve or a need for more information on a particular subject. With this in mind, the more ways you can “categorize” your content for the various target markets you serve, the better off you will be in converting traffic into prospects. So be sure that all of your high-level pages answer the potential searcher’s (your potential customers’) questions. Also, make sure that it’s clear that your products and services can solve their problem. This is important. In addition, you want to make sure that, regardless of how a visitor discovered a piece of content on your website, they always land on the same URL. This is to avoid PageRank splitting and duplicate content issues. Let me give you an example. If a certain product or service can be classified as both a product and a service, it makes sense that it might be listed under both categories. However, the page (URL) that the potential customer eventually lands on, regardless of which category they started in, should always be the same.
4. Be Careful When Installing A New CMS (Content Management System) And When Changing URLS
Sometimes, during a website redesign, URLs must be changed due to a new content management system being added or a back-end coding change. In this case, search engines may take some time to index the new URLs and give them the same weight they gave the previous URLs due to URL age factors. If this sounds familiar, then it’s important to “301-redirect” all old URLs to their relative counterpart within the newly designed website. This will pass the link popularity of the old URLs to the new ones quickly, as well as ensure that site visitors don’t receive 404-not-found errors. This is always easier when the new URL name is similar to the old one, because you can use automated methods. If URLs absolutely must change completely (from the old URLs) and hand-redirects are required, then your developer should redirect all the top-level pages, as well as those that you’re sure receive keyword traffic from search engines. But, ideally, every URL should be redirected if at all possible.
5. Custom HTML Elements
It’s critical that your new website’s content management system allows you to create custom descriptions for titles, metas, headers, URLs, and alt attributes for images. So if you’re purchasing a Content Management System like Joomla, then make sure it has fields for custom title tags, meta descriptions, heading tags, etc. Keep in mind there shouldn’t be a limit to the number of characters allowed in these fields, because every page may need a different number of words and characters.
And there you have it.
Now, if you’re already working with a competent and highly-trained Connecticut web design company, the head engineers and/or programmers for your project should already know these quick tips.
If you’re not sure, then please feel free to cut and paste this list and email it over to them.
However, don’t be surprised if your developer isn’t happy to receive some of these tips. Some companies just don’t put as much effort into ensuring a state-of-the-art website as others.
Don’t be afraid to speak up. At the end of the day, it’s your website and you’re paying them to create the site in a way that will make you the most money possible. Let your developer know up-front that these things are non-negotiable. If they tell you that they can’t do any of the above, start looking around for a new Web Design Company.
Keep in mind that even with the pros there will always be a few unexpected bugs to work out when your site goes live. However, you should never be scared of losing your search engine visitors, as long as the Web Design Company you hire knows what they’re doing.
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