The rise of smartphones (iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, etc.) has allowed consumers to take the Internet with them wherever they go. No longer does one have to get on a PC or open a telephone book in order to find a service: they can do it in a few clicks from their phone.

Mobile websites have grown immensely in popularity over the last three years, and it’s estimated that by 2014, mobile Internet usage will have surpassed traditional browsing. A recent survey found 84 percent of respondents used their smartphones search option to find retailers, and 49 percent made a mobile purchase in the last six months.

 Now is the time to think about a mobile website. Unless your Internet presence offers a mobile version, it can be a horrible browsing experience for your clients, as mobile and traditional browsing are as different as night and day. You need a custom built solution that works on all operating systems available for the thousands of mobile and smartphones on the market.

You make your purchasing decisions based on value and cost, and we understand that.  As mobile browsing continues to grow, your competition will try to gain a foothold in the marketplace. Shouldn’t you do the same?

Don’t wait until it’s too late: take the time now to get started on developing a portable presence. 

Article written by Elite Web Designs www.elite-web-designs.com

Oh, if it were only so simple.

Yes, these companies might be able to quickly get you to No. 1 on Google, Yahoo and Bing. You’ll see success: with more traffic comes more business.

However, it won’t last long.

Companies that boast how they have the “magic formula” or the “secret recipe” to search engine marketing success are blowing hot air. And businesses swayed by these braggers often end up to be Internet marketing victims.

How?

Say you own a restaurant in the Finger Lakes, NY region. Your specialty is Italian food. But, you find your business losing customers to the diner down the street, thanks to their aggressive marketing tactics. You decide to call XYZ Internet Marketing, which gloats about its amazing Internet successes. “We’ll get you to No. 1 on Google for ‘restaurant finger lakes,’” they tell you. They’re so convincing, how could you not believe them? A month later, your site is the top result for that query. Business picks up.

Then, business falls sharply. You find out your site is nowhere to be found on Google. You panic, wondering how this could happen. Then, you hear the term “Black Hat SEO” and wonder if that’s the reason why.

“Black Hat SEO” is everything that is wrong and unethical with SEO/SEM. Companies that specialize in these practices focus more on short-term gains, winning you over early, and once the bottom drops out, they’ll say, “Well, we just need to do this and everything will be fine!” Of course, it’s going to cost you more money, and the results will be nil.

True SEM professionals look at your industry’s market down the road, and will be straightforward with you:

• SEM/SEO is not an overnight process
• SEM/SEO is not a magic bullet
• SEM/SEO is a great effort
• SEM/SEO can and will take a while for results
• SEM/SEO patience can reap great rewards

Do the terms “honest” and “forthright” describe your SEO company? Or are they focusing more on the short term rather than the long term?

Article written by Tom Elliott, President of WebDrafter.com

Simply put, smart phones are mobile devices that combine voice capabilities with e-mail and Internet browsing tools. But they have countless other uses, including the ability to scan barcodes and learn, within moments, what the funny symbols mean.

And as smart phones grow in popularity — they are expected to outsell personal computers this year — the ability for companies to market their products to the tech-hungry smart phone audience do as well.

Enter the QR code. Short for “quick response,” QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes first developed in the 1990s by a Toyota subsidiary as a way to track car parts. Now, however, they’re showing up everywhere — on signs, in newspaper and magazine ads, even cans of soda.

But the marketing potential for QR codes is much broader, according to Lily Hurley and Colin Tuttle of the Bozeman marketing company Promotions West.

Hurley and Tuttle explained the many uses of QR codes to a small audience during a lunchtime seminar at the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce on April 20. According to Hurley, the applications for QR codes are endless.

“Businesses can use them to advertise specials or coupons or for interactive marketing,” Hurley said. “They can take smart phone users to a website without having to type” the address.”

QR codes have started showing up on real estate signs in some parts of the country, for example, allowing potential buyers to find out everything they might want to know about a listing without even getting out of the car.

The beauty of the codes is that unlike ordinary bar codes, QR codes can hold thousands of individual characters — anything from a Web address to contact information, even a lengthy text message. They can be created by anyone with a computer and read by anyone with a smart phone and a free app that can be downloaded in seconds.

Best of all, they’re free, and anyone can create one in a few minutes on the Internet.

“A major plus with QR Codes is that they can essentially be printed on anything, from paper to a t-shirt,” according to an April 7 Inc. Magazine story. “Though QR Code usage isn’t widespread, it is becoming increasingly popular.”

Tuttle said more businesses are using the codes in ads and on other promotional materials because they’re so easy to create and use, and can instantly give customers almost any information the business wants them to have. Another benefit, he said, is that some online QR code generators will even track usage, so the owner of the code can learn whether QR codes are actually driving traffic to their doors.

Mickie Imberi, whose husband Ron owns Ron’s Diesel in Three Forks, attended the Chamber seminar to learn how to create QR codes for use in promotional materials. She said the company plans to use them in advertising and may even put them on signs at the business to give after-hours customers contact and other information.

“There are so many ways we could use these,” she said of the codes.

Imberi is right, said Tuttle, who was sporting a T-shirt bearing his company’s QR code. “These are going to become more and more popular.”

GETTING STARTED WITH QR CODES

1. Download a free QR reader/generator app for smartphone

• iPhone: QR App or ShopSavvy

• Blackberry: QR Code Pro

• Android: QR Droid or ShopSavvy

2. Find a QR code to read (there’s one attached to this story).

3. Click the Camera icon (varies from app to app)

4. Center the code on the screen, hold still and wait for it to read.

The more personal the service (hair care, financial, construction, legal, etc.), the more research customers want to do to ensure they are comfortable with the service provider.

Whether or not prices are cited on your Website, customers look for signs of quality and professionalism.  The purpose of your Website is not necessarily to convince your customer to buy on the spot.  It may be to encourage them to pick up the phone and ask for more information, speak with an expert, make an appointment online, or fill out a free consultation online.  Realize that a Website is more often the customer’s initial point of contact for your business.

Clients will turn to your service-related Website to see portfolios of your work, a list of information they need to bring to an appointment, testimonials from existing clients, videos, and more.  The cliched expression a picture is worth a thousand words, applies.  People believe what they read and are emotionally impacted by images that they see.  When you can present your company in an interesting, colorful, expressive, and interactive way online, you will attract more business.

1. Branding: every time a prospect sees your domain name it reminds them of you and your business. So why promote your ISP (Internet Service Provider) when you could be promoting your business?

2. Consistency: consistency in your marketing is important so it makes sense to have your domain as both your email and website address.

3. Portability: when you move ISP’s you can’t take your email address with you. So any marketing material with that address will have to be updated and all your contacts notified. Email addresses on your domain name (email@yourbusiness.com) are yours and can be moved whenever you switch ISP’s or move web hosts.

Does your email address match your website address?  If not, why not?

How do you know when it is time for a website makeover?

With a physical storefront it is easy to tell when a fresh new coat of paint is needed or your displays or furniture is out of date, but knowing when the time is ripe for a website redesign can be slightly more difficult. The best way to check if your website is behind in the times is to do some surfing around the web. Make a list of competitor websites as well as websites that you regularly frequent and compare those sites to your own website. By comparing your website to other websites, you will begin to notice what works and what doesn’t work– then you’ll be able to assess your own website more accurately.

Modern website design focuses on making information clear and concise, presenting your company and your products in the best possible light. Internet marketing has become more sophisticated, therefore methods have been developed that allow for layouts that maximize exposure and encourage web surfers to interact, join, purchase and collaborate. A website redesign will allow you to take advantage of these advances in internet marketing.

Size does matter…

The most noticeable sign that you need a website makeover is the width of your website. With more and more computers being sold with widescreen monitors (especially laptops), your site that was originally designed for 800 x 600 pixel screen resolution will now look very small on a 1280 x 960 or larger screen resolution. The ideal width for the modern website is between 950 and 970 pixels wide. That size range is perfect because it not only caters to widescreens (if designed properly), but also still works for the commonly used 1024 x 768 screen resolution.

If your website was created a few years ago, there’s a good chance that your site was designed to accommodate smaller screen resolutions and needs to be brought up to date. On modern computer screens, your website could look very small and insignificant.

Content is King!

One of the best things you can do to help bring your website up to date is to update your website content. Every page on your website is a chance for you to capture the interests of a visitor. With properly developed text and images that are up to date with the times, you’ll be able to maximize your conversion from visitor to customer. Your text should be compelling– Talk to the reader, don’t talk at them. Treat the site visitor as if you were sitting across the table drinking coffee with them and don’t forget to include a call to action. You can stand in front of a door all day long telling people about all of the wonderful things they’ll see on the other side of that door– But if you don’t tell them to go thru the door, they probably never will!

On top of your compelling text (whether it’s about your products or about your services), you should always have a call to action that encourages the reader to want to proceed with contacting you, buying from you or signing up with your newsletter or program.

Website makeovers are designed to give your business the greatest edge by presenting your business or organization in the best possible light. Modern web design is clear, crisp, highly readable and encourages visitors to become customers. You want your business to put on its best possible face, to look fresh, enticing, and most of all– Current. You wouldn’t wear clothes that are outdated and out of fashion– It’d make you look unprofessional and out of sync with what’s current. Put your website in your shoes (just not your old ones).

Keep your website looking its best and producing its best with a website redesign.

1.       Internet Marketing is More Measureable – Branding is important and traditional marketing does have benefits when it comes to branding. However, marketers today are smarter and more sophisticated. They see the value of measuring results and brand awareness is more difficult to measure then real visitors to your website and real conversions. Marketers want to make sure every penny is spent wisely. Internet marketing allows you to see exactly what you are paying for. Traditional marketing takes a little more trust that the impact of your efforts is helping your bottom line. With Internet marketing you can see real facts and every detail that leads to reaching your goals and determine your ROI.

2.       Internet Marketing is a Constant Source – When you hear or see a television or radio ad it is there one minute and then it is gone.  If you catch an ad in passing and you missed some information you cannot go back and review it. Print is a little better for this but newspapers and magazines do get thrown out after a week or month. Internet marketing provides you a permanent address online that people can visit anytime they want. Even if someone does not know about your company they can do searches based on what you offer and find you in the search engines.

3.       Internet Marketing Makes Strategic Decisions Based on Facts – Internet marketing can make decisions based on detailed analytics. You can have the smartest and most talented traditional agency with great ideas and plenty of experience, but they will have a difficult time showing real data that leads to achieving your goals. They will also build out a campaign and not be able to adjust it on the fly based on the public’s response.  The best way to really know how effective your marketing approach is to see exactly what the audience is responding positively too. Internet marketing allows you to study every detail about your audience in real time. You can study data from every phase in your conversion funnel that includes: how people found your website; what they do once they are on your site; and what led to your conversations. You can make adjustments to your campaign at any point to increase the effectiveness of your campaign.

4.       Internet Marketing Is Better at Reaching Your Target Audience – Traditional marketing is known for its reach to a mass audience. There are ways that traditional marketing can target certain demographics depending on a television channel or show, radio station genre or industry magazine. However, traditional marketing will never be able to target as precisely as Internet marketing. With Internet marketing you can target even the smallest audience based on a variety of things. Internet marketing also does a great job of targeting your advertising spend so that you know all of your money is being spent in the most effective way.

5.       Internet Marketing Provides Better Word-of-Mouth – Word-of-mouth is still the most effective marketing for producing conversions. Social Media is an aspect of Internet marketing that allows people to build a community and let others spread positive feedback about your product or service. When you develop evangelists for your company, with Social Media Marketing, your message will be spread quickly because more people are speaking for you. People will normally trust word-of-mouth much more than traditional ads that try to convince you about the benefits of a product or service.

6.       Internet Marketing Can Increase Conversions More – No matter what your goal, Internet marketing can increase your conversions month after month. The reason Internet marketing is more effective at delivering conversions is that you can study every detail of what is working and what might not be working. It takes the guessing game out of it. You can continue to place more emphasis on the tactics that are working and eliminate anything that is not effective. Internet marketing also provides an environment where you can safely test new ideas so that you are always pushing to improve your campaign’s performance.  Traditional marketing develops a campaign and then hopes that it will work. This makes it difficult for traditional agencies to test new ideas or even look into all of the details to determine the effectiveness of a campaign.

The bottom line is that Internet marketing is far more efficient than traditional marketing. You can adjust your campaign much easier to produce the best results.