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Our job is to eliminate false perceptions so that you can spend budget dollars wisely and effectively.

Myth Vs Reality

Myth: My web site will be successful if I get a lot of hits.

Reality: “Hits” is an inadequate metric. To measure the success of your web site you must review and act on your analytics reports, which will tell you how many visitors there were to your site, how they got there and what actions they took while visiting, among many other important statistics. Web analytics can give you valuable insight into how well each page of your site is performing based on how many people access it, how long they spend on it and what further action they take after visiting it. Analytics can also tie into your advertising programs to let you know what kind of return on investment you’re achieving.

Conversions – the number of people who become new leads or customers – are the best measure of success. There’s a good chance you’d rather have 100 visitors and 10 sales, than 1000 visitors and no sales. Analytics can allow you to set up conversion funnels and track how well your site is pulling in new leads or sales.

Myth: I need my site to be #1 in the search engines.

Reality: The number one site in one person’s search results can be completely different than the number one site in another person’s search results. Search engines serve results based on personal search history, preferences and geography. Additionally, search results fluctuate constantly as search engines crawl and index new pages. Results you see right this minute may be different than results you’ll see in a day or an hour.

Measuring your conversions and reviewing site analytics can present a more accurate picture of the effectiveness of your search listings. If traffic to your site is increasing, as well as your leads and sales, it’s a good indication that your search marketing is working.

Myth: Hosting organizations are all the same, so the cheapest option is fine.

Reality: Most hosting companies maximize profits by reducing services and simply providing storage space. Data backup and recovery strategies become your responsibility, and many businesses overlook the need for these important services until a crisis arises and you suddenly realize there is no way to recover your site or data files.

Most hosting services also sell in bulk, which means that your site can reside on a server with hundreds of other sites, even if some of those other sites are spam, phishing or other malicious sites. The downside, beyond the obvious potential security threat, is that search engines actively remove spam sites from their listings and in some cases blacklist entire servers if that server is known to contain such sites. If your site has the bad luck to be on a server with spam sites, your site will be banned from listings too.

A good hosting program should include search engine specific features, disaster recovery plans, adequate security and protection from threats, and be customized around your business needs, just like all of the pieces that support a successful marketing plan.

Myth: I know what I want for my web site, so let’s skip the planning phase and save some time and money.

Reality: Most people have a general idea of what they want their site to accomplish, but that’s not the same as knowing how to do it. You would never buy a couple of 2x4s and a hammer and start building a house without an engineering blueprint to define the technical specifications, layout, materials needed, and budget. The same should be true for your web site. Planning should always precede production.

Well planned projects are less expensive and achieve better results because all of the details – technologies, functionality, features, business rules, layout and other nuances – are worked out and documented before production. Without a good plan, you can easily double your budget as you find out that the pieces don’t fit, aren’t what you thought they’d be or simply don’t work.

Planning ensures that you’re not disappointed by a result that you didn’t expect, or overwhelmed by budget overruns that you didn’t anticipate.

Myth: I already have a brochure so I can put the same content up on my web site.

Reality: Writing for print and the web are separate disciplines. Your site needs effectively targeted keywords in order to be found and listed by search engines, a consideration that is irrelevant in print. Writing for the web requires a delicate balance between readability for your human visitors, and keyword hooks for search crawlers.

The amount of copy that you can include in a print piece is limited by space but your site affords unlimited space to sell, convince, educate and use search engine hooks to get your site in front of your audience. While you may be compelled due to space constraints to edit your copy for your brochure, you can not only expand the content for your site, but distribute it over more pages and include more visuals.

Web visitors, especially shoppers, have shorter attention spans and are more likely to scan, skip and ignore marketing content in search of specific information. Your brochure is probably a tightly targeted marketing piece, letting customers know about the value of your business or product. But studies have found that web users ignore the marketing bluster and look specifically for measurable facts, peer reviews and testimonials.

Myth: My IT department can build my company’s web site.

Reality: Many businesses mistakenly associate web sites with technology, but a web site is a component of a successful marketing and communication strategy. Although a good web site will use available technologies to create a positive experience for visitors and a profitable one for your business, you would not expect your IT department to develop your site any more than you would expect it to develop brochures or business cards.

The technology discipline of an IT professional is markedly different than the technology knowledge required by a web developer. Even within web development itself there are different areas of expertise. A designer should be proficient in interface and visual graphic design, while a programmer should have knowledge of various programming languages and their capabilities.

Contact Us to find out how we can eliminate the false perceptions that can lead to poor investments, loss of revenue or flat results and educate you about the reality that leads to a successful web project.

Project Planning

Whether you know exactly where you want to take your business or aren't sure where to start, our planning and consulting services will outline your web needs, define marketing goals and determine an effective way to make it all work. Before you invest a single cent in developing a web site, we will define and document your business needs.

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Graphic Design

First impressions count. That's why you want a web site design that is current, attractive and fits your business image. Our graphical design services aim to provide quality imagery that will deliver your message and achieve your business goals. We believe that you should never compromise your site's objectives to fit it into a cookie-cutter mold.

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Copywriting

There's a difference between how people read on the web versus how they read in print. When we write for you we take into account your audience and how they will be reading about you. Whatever the project we can draft, write and publish content that meets your business needs, speaks to your customers and fits your marketing.

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Web Site Development

Web site development encompasses everything from database design, content management system development, shopping cart and form programming, and site search and reporting. If this all seems a bit overwhelming, our process will help simplify it by defining in plain English what your site will do.

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Content Management Systems

A content management system gives you editorial control over content that appears on your web site and can serve as a distribution tool for information. Having a content management system for site maintenance will save you time and money by simplifying recurring tasks and giving you in-house, real-time control over your web content.