As well as providing ideas for people to make their website deliver more benefit or profit for their business or organisation it’s purpose is also educational. I find that many clients or would-be clients are ignorant about what a website is, how it’s structured, how search engines work, how they can update their sites, what domains are and so on. My aim is to help improve their understanding – which will help them appreciate what it is I do for them as web designer, developer and marketer and what needs doing on a regular basis to keep their website delivering the benefits they hoped for.

See the January newletter on my website www.realcomnet.co.uk/newsletter001.html and if you like it sign up to receive my next newsletter by email.

My newsletter "Making your website work for you"

I think this needs to be considered very carefully.

Blogging and business Facebook pages have been put forward as a way to update your website yourself – usually quoting “it’s difficult to get web designers to update your website”. In some case this is true. I have picked up the pieces from several “abandoned” websites set up by designers who have no idea about marketing or customer service, or by students who have just moved on. A professional web designer will always consider how the client’s website is to be updated and maintained – either using a content management system (CMS), a support and updating contract or a combination.

see www.realcomnet.co.uk/updating-your-website.html.

Even when you use social sites to provide news and updates about your business you will still need to make changes to your website to accommodate SEO tools such as keywords, descriptions and scripts. And the most important factor in getting good rankings on search engine is good content. You will need to modify and update content, provide landing pages etc. to support any respectable marketing campaign.

I’m not saying that blogs and Facebook etc. are not worth doing. In some markets – e.g. consumer electronics, food, holidays – social marketing is essential. Consumers like to talk about products they have bought or are thinking of buying. But it may not be essential to your business. Think carefully about your audience. Are they likely to be avid Facebook users (over 50% of UK population has a Facebook page)? Can you afford to spend time creating content for blogs? The answer is probably that if it’s important to your target audience you should get professional assistance to make social networking work for your business. If it’s not – don’t spend a lot of your time or money doing it, probably badly. Social networking is just another communication channel. You know your clients and how they like to hear from you. Concentrate your precious marketing budget (inc your time) where it matters.

Success in business often comes from exploiting differences. Generally retailers and those who supply the consumer market are pretty busy on the run-up to Christmas. A good percentage of turnover and profit for them is generated in November and December. They will all need a well-deserved holiday in January (or February after the sales). For others the Christmas and New Year are pretty flat. Maybe because your staff or your clients are on a 2-week holiday, or no-one wants to think about next year just yet. It can be pretty hard trying to meet your sales targets in December.

But it’s not necessarily a dead time for business:

1. If you can respond to enquiries when others are on vacation you may be able to steal some business you wouldn’t ordinarily get. (This means keeping an eye on the website responses over the hols).
2. Sending your clients a Christmas and New Year greeting by email is more personal than it sounds (Don’t use a distribution list though!) and you may get a reply you can build on.
3. Phone prospects between Christmas and NewYear. Some people do work then and when it’s quieter you may be able to reach the person you want to speak to directly and get their attention.
4. Take the time to plan for next year. Don’t leave it to January 1st to make your resolutions. Plan a newsletter, blog or regular website update schedule.

Above all, enjoy Christmas, whether you get 2 weeks holiday or half a day. Those prescious hours with you family are what everything else is about. Enjoy your turkey!

• You should always check the actual address the hyperlink is pointing to (the address comes up if you hover your mouse over it)
• Never click on a link in an email unless you are absolutely certain – type the url into the browser address bar
• Make sure you have decent anti-virus / anti malware software on your PC , lap-top or tablet just in case you land on a dodgy website despite all precautions.

I’m always surprised at how trusting we are and how companies and even the government take that for granted. Banks call up and ask all kinds of questions about us including date of birth and secret questions before they will even explain what the call is about – and they take no steps to identify themselves! They could be anyone.

I’d add a couple of my own:
Prezi - a change from “Death by Powerpoint” for presentations see http://prezi.com/ and you can share presentations across the web.

CushyCMS – a great way to add simple content management features to web pages. You can update from any browser anywhere, so is great for “latest news” and “new products”. (If you don’t do your own web you’ll need to ask your web person to add a couple of lines of code.) see www.cushycms.com

The Guildford Centre for Psychotherapy – an association of psychotherapists and practices in and around the Guildford, Surrey.
The brief was to provide a fresh-looking web site which would generate more business for their members and to provide a private section for their members to share information and documents.
www.psychotherapy-guildfordcentre.org.uk

Having reached over 100 pages of information, I decided it was time for a make-over to improve the navigation. There are now drop-down boxes with more room for a descriptive title than a traditional button, and wider pages to hold more information and easier reading on today’s wide-screen displays.

There’s lots going on in Coleorton! We’ve just launched a Heritage Trail for walkers who like to find out about the rich heritage of this area – both industrial (mines go back to 1540′s at least) and cultural (Wordsworth, Constable and Coleridge were all regular visitors to the area).
Take a look >>

But of course it’s not just luck to find those potatoes. It was the result of a lot of careful planning and hard work and diligent watering, weeding and feeding.

It’s a bit like a web site. (aha!)

Web site success doesn’t just happen. The site has to be planned (who is it aimed at, how does it fit with the rest of your business and marketing plans), nurtured (updated with new information, checked to see how well it’s attracting visitors) and harvested (make sure you respond quickly and appropriately to enquiries, add enquirers to your email and newsletter lists).

Make sure your web site is part of your marketing and business plan and nurture it well. Then it will deliver the golden harvest you’re looking for. (Almost as tasty as those spuds!)