What’s Matthew on about now?  Actually, in his spare time he makes guitars and the One Basic Rule of woodworking is “ Measure Twice – Cut Once”.

In other words, before you make a cut you need to be damn sure that you are cutting in the right place!

Translated into marketing strategy, and especially web design, you must get the thinking straight (the measuring) first before you start spending money (the cut). Simples!

Like many of our current clients, you are thinking about a new website.  That site you had done is now looking out-dated and you are looking at the options.  Friends and colleagues give you loads of advice – and it all conflicts!  You have read our article on the difference between the various web sites on offer – but where do you start?

Really think about what you want before going to design, or before you brief your web design or creative agency.  Have a plan, written down on one sheet of A4 on what you want the web site to do for your company and your business.  Think about objectives – what do you want to achieve with the website – and this principle applies to any marketing really.
Think about what you are trying to achieve – are you looking for more sales in which case your focus should be on lead generation.  Or are you looking to create better awareness of your brand, to disseminate information about you services or products – to seek information, are you looking for feedback?
Or perhaps you are looking to develop a website that sells on-line in which case there are many other issues to consider such as the shopping cart technology but most importantly SEO – to be successful, you will need a constant stream of prospects visiting your site –and they need to be converted.
Write it all down as a draft design brief and discuss and agree it with your web developer – in advance.  He/she will thank you for it and you will get a better result and thinking about it we might just develop one for you to download – good idea?

Let us know!

Like many of our current clients, you are thinking about a new website.  That site you had done is now looking so 2004! And you are looking at the options.  Friends and ‘network-meeting experts’ give you loads of advice – and it all conflicts!

Do you buy a template- based site for £1.99 per month – the cost looks very appealing and the sales patter implies you don’t need to do anything but sign on the dotted line.  But will they deliver?  Or what about a bespoke site that I can have genuine design input – aren’t they too expensive? And what about maintenance – won’t I get stitched up each time I need a change?  Well I hope that in this short article we can debunk some of the myths!

There are basically 2 kinds of site – those that you can edit – and those that the web developer has to do for you.  The sites you can edit are called CMS sites and are based on Content Management Systems – essentially a clever set of software tools that sit behind the visual stuff on-screen that the people who visit your website will see.  The benefits to you of CMS sites are:-

They are really easy to update – and you are in absolute control of this.  This can be a double edged sword – if you can change it, then the boss might ask you to keep changing it all the time!

Websites developed using CMS can be updated anywhere that has Internet connection – your office, Starbucks, or your friendly WiFi pub.

If you develop new products or run offers or want to add landing pages for your email marketing campaigns, then CMS sites allow you to add pages really easily and expand the site to site your businesses growing needs.

Want to add new features, for example an e-newsletter, a Blog (great for SEO), rolling news feed (RSS) plus a host of other features  – CMS sites can add all of these pretty much on the fly as and when you need them.  They can integrate Flash (although Matthew would say sparingly for SEO reasons!)

They are more expensive to set up because there is a 2 part process – the back end design that allows you to edit the site is separate from the work to develop the visual designs and it can mean a longer lead time.

Here’s a really great example of a CMS site http://www.stag-geological.com

Bespoke websites are developed by your Web designer using a package like Adobe Dreamweaver. If you are looking for the ultimate in creative design and flexibility then this is the type of website for you.  To your brief, your web developer can embed anything into the web pages such as Flash, RSS feeds, Forms and graphics

Depending on the design brief, these types of website are be less expensive to set up initially and will be quicker to set up and there is absolute flexibility for maximising SEO and maintaining competitive advantage here.

Other functionality can be embedded into the site such as blogs and forums but they have to be added separately as plugins; however this is not necessarily a bad thing as again this gives you greater control and choice of the technology you may prefer to use.

Bespoke websites can only be updated by your web developer, unless you have the necessary software and abilities and they tend to be serviced by your design agency or web developer. This does not have to be expensive if you do all your thinking first in terms of marketing strategy – also you can pre-negotiate these terms with your Design Agency upfront – many will agree to a guaranteed maintenance agreement for changes.  Here’s a great example of a Dreamweaver website www.Snap-Marketing.co.uk – a smaller Dreamweaver less expensive site www.gm-landscaping.co.uk

Its so easy to keep doing what you have always done in terms of your marketing. But here are some thought provoking ideas about why it pays to look further than online advertising or hard copy directories. The new more fashionable stuff like email marketing and pay per click has put the older techniques into the shadows – but those old less trendy marketing methods still do the trick.

When trying to raise awareness of your brand, or even create a brand or drive more people to your site localised or nationally there are other forms of advertising and promotion that can be explored.

A small advert in a local newspaper can set you back £400 a time – why not think about other forms of localised advertising such as posters at local Railway Network, Adshell (posters at bus stops). You can get your brand displayed on 6 sheet billboards costing as little as £240 for 2 weeks advertising campaign.

Compare this to the cost of a days advertising in your local newspaper you could be adverting for a month on a billboard in your area! Or outside, dependent on the geographic area you require. Another brilliant benefit of poster advertising is that if the media sales agency has not sold the space after your campaign finishes – your poster stays up there! This can be as little as an extra, but we have had experience of our posters staying up for 6 months – FREE!

Your local Radio is another interesting source of advertising for certain businesses. Used correctly with creative thinking, it is said to raise over 50% more business if localised to an area.

Consider other forms of branding and advertising – some of these long term such Banners and exterior advertising – signage and livery, flag poles and so on – they all have a longer shelf life – delivering your message. Think about every Eddie Stobart lorry you drive past on the motorway. Have you seen the Rabbit vans (another client of Snap Marketing!) driving around Reading? That investment has been paid over and again.

Think outside the box – what about bus exteriors and interiors – what about Hotel, or Leisure Club lobbies, sports exteriors – race courses – football and Rugby grounds. Think about pooling resources with complimentary business to make your investment go further over time or to have greater impact.