Do you need a website for your business?

How to get started and what you need to know.

In this world of ours, it is no longer an option – having a website is one of the most important things you can do for your business. People look online for everything and for all types of reasons. To do research on a company or service, to find answers to questions, as well as to see if you are who you say you are. Even if you have a Facebook page or twitter all the time – the importance of having an actual website should not be underestimated.
If you want a functional – durable website that will give you what you want for your business, there are a few things you need to do.

The 5 steps to building a website right...

1. Establish You Goal.
• Your goal is uniquely yours, planning a website is no different than any other marketing strategy. You must decide what you want this website to do – are you going to use it for ecommerce or for branding your business. Do you want to give information that will help potential clients choose you when going to a professional? Are your clients the general public or are you selling to businesses? What group(s) are you trying to attract, and the list can go on and on…
  
  
2. Give yourself an education
• If you are not familiar with the internet lingo, you need to learn. Do you know what a domain name is and how to register your domain? Are you familiar with hosting and what a host does? If you find the right person to design your website, they can help you understand how the process goes, but it doesn’t hurt to read some articles and understand the language before you go out and hire someone. Know the difference between a template, a customized site and a true custom website. Knowing this and the right questions to ask will help you save a lot of money. Not everyone wants a custom website; they would be happy with something less expensive, but you need to know the difference.
  
  
3. Create a flow chart (outline)
• It is really important that you plan out the structure of your website and in order to do that you need to know what pages you will have linked to your home page. There are standard pages that should be on all websites: about, contact, testimonials or reviews to name a few. So let's say you want to have an online jewelry store the flow chart would look like the outline below. As you can see this website will have 10 pages. 5 links would go on every page, and the  secondary products' page (Bracelets) would have links as well.  

• Home Page
• About
• Our products
• Bracelets
• Bangles
• Bands
• earrings
• Necklaces
• Testimonials
• Contact Us

4. Write copy for each page with keywords
• Now that you know the pages you want, it is time to start structuring the content of the pages. You will need to do some research so you know what your client is putting in for searches. These would be your keyword. There are two types of keywords, simple and long tailed keywords you want both within the copy of your website. A simple keyword is one or two words like: website design, a long-tailed  keyword would read like: Website developer in Utah.
  
  You want to have a minimal amount of copy on the first/home page. You know the saying sell the sizzle not the steak. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you home page solves a problem. Why do people need what you have and solve that need within the text of your home page. A new visitor will only spend a short amount of time looking at you website once they find you. If that interests them they will access links other pages and that is where you can put the meat of your content.

5. Building the website
• This is the 10,000. Dollar question. How are you going to get your website built? You have two choices; you can try to build it yourself – or hire someone. Some hosting companies on the internet offer the use of their templates, or you can build your own website using their system. The problem with this is first you do not own that website. You are simply leasing, because you have to host on their server so it is essentially their website. They will also register the domain name for you – so they also own the domain name. On top of that if you do not have an artistic side, you will end up with a website that gives a bad impression.
  
  The problem comes in when you decide you don’t like their hosting service, if you do leave you lose the website as well as your domain name. All the effort you have put in order to market your business and get visitors will go down the drain. Not a good scenario.
  
  The next option is to have someone build it for you or at least design it. It may cost you more upfront, but I guarantee it will be less than you will pay for the "all in one package." First off, the all in one (website builder – host) will cost you double or triple the amount monthly much more than a regular host would.
  
  Another great reason to hire a professional is that they can point you in the right direction. They will give you an image you can be proud of and if the web developer has experience, they will also know how to search engine optimization your website. A certified web designer can help you understand the ins and outs of marketing on the internet.  Make sure you find a designer that is willing to answer all of your questions no matter how stupid you think they are. This person should also be able to direct you to a good host – and teach you how to register your domain name for minimal cost (12.00 or less a year).
  
  You should feel comfortable with this person; they should be happy to answer all questions you have, last but not least make sure they have experience and happy customers.
  
  If you choose the right professional going in you, will have an ongoing relationship that you will value for years to come.
 
To Exciting Opportunities & Endless Possibilities!

Pamela Jacob - Artista Design
801-910-4825

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

What is an Opt-In Box how does it Work?

I find a lot of business people do not know what an auto responder is, how it can help them build their business and bring in revenue.

I know we have all come across those little sign-up (commonly referred as opt-in boxes) where you leave your name and email – to get information or to be on a mailing list. This is what the front end of an auto responder looks like.

It drives me crazy when I have clients that do not want to collect names and prefer not to have one. That is marketing 101.

DEFINITION:

Auto-responder: An e-mail utility that automatically replies to an e-mail message with a pre-written response when that e-mail comes into a specific e-mail or Internet address.

An auto-responders (or opt-in box) can be used if you need a way to send information about your services, products, price lists, or if there are repeated questions asked across large numbers of e-mails.

Maybe you want to offer your site visitors a special bonus of some kind, such as advice or relevant articles. All of this can be handled by an auto-responder.

You can set up campaigns for your business and then build stable relationships with your customers by using auto-responders. Auto-responder programs vary from software that runs with your email program to a specialized script that runs on your web hosting company's server. This kind of script may use a web page form or simply operate with your e-mail account. This kind of script is programmed to send out a standardized message whenever an email is received. The message is sent to a particular script or email address.

This saves you time, and time is money…

They can do more than simply send out standardized messages. They can send out an unlimited number of follow-up messages sent at pre-determined intervals of time. For example, you can set your auto-responder to send out a new message every day for as long a period as you desire.

If you have a website and do not have an Opt-In box – you need to get on the stick! Your data-base is gold, how are you going to contact people who have come to your website and are interested in your products/services when you have a sale or new service?

How many times have you forgotten a website you had visited. Do you know that people usually visit a website more than once before they buy?

How are you going to be able to remind your visitors about you and your service?

Auto-responders are an effective and powerful marketing tool, allowing you to contact thousands of potential customers. This is an invaluable asset considering how many potential customers you usually have contact with before you make an actual sale. Essentially, an auto-responder allows you to automate part of your marketing campaign.

E-mail is an excellent marketing tool; it is inexpensive and fast.

I know there are a lot of auto-responders on the market. I use the professional version of Get Response (www.getresponse.com) I love it and don’t see how I ever did without it.

For a free month subscription here is a link. Check it out and you will see how easy they are to use.

If you feel a little intimidated and need someone to help you put up your opt-in box contact me. When you feel comfortable, you will be able to upgrade to the pro-version.

Un-complicate your life! Save time, save money, markets effectively use an auto-responder!

PS If you would like an auto-responder that can set up affiliate account and other high level marketing strategies you may like Kick Start – Click Here

To Exciting Opportunities & Endless Possibilities!

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

Do You Have a Custom Website?

There are some huge misconceptions out there. People who are smart and savvy when it comes to business really don’t know the difference between websites, customized websites, and custom websites. I must admit a lot of web people, and websites play fast and loose with the terms but there is a big difference between each of them. You really have to ask questions when you have someone do a website for you.

It seems everyone is saying they do custom websites – but do they? What is the difference?

Template Website – is a website that has been pre-built, and you are buying it as is. A good example is a Word Press Blog that is used as a website – the template may already have been designed you just plug in your business name, copy and possibly some pictures. These types of websites are sold over and over again. They are the Least Expensive Choice.

Customized website – is a website that is put together as a template, but you customize it with your own banner and other small tweaks. Because you do have some customization, it will be more expensive than a template website but less expensive than an actual custom website.

Custom Website – is a website that is built from the ground floor up. The idea is visualized, written down then designed. Some web designers actually sketch the website out and then use a program like Photoshop to create the images needed for the interface of the website.

Once the images are designed, and the client approves them than the process begins. The images need to be cut apart and reassembled into a web page with html. The navigation of a website is another type of code typically JavaScript – and then if you want some movement you may use some flash or other type of animation that is also created from scratch.

People like custom websites because they want to brand their business with a certain look and feel. The website and all marketing materials will have the same logo, color, typography, etc. The copyright is owned by the business. As you can imagine this type of website is the most expensive. People who do custom website can also (usually) do graphic design, so they can develop your business card and logo, do brochures and fliers, folders and any type of promotional material you can think of. I have always done custom websites and everything that goes with that. I am inexpensive compared to other companies who truly do custom websites, but it will still cost more – because it takes more time and some talent to design custom items.

One of the hottest things going right now are Word Press websites – these are blog’s that are used as websites combined with a blog. The allure of this type of website is that business owner can update text on their own websites. These can also fit into all the categories that I have listed above. And search engines love these types of sites

So often a lot of so called web developer's scam people who really do not know the ins and outs of having a business on the internet. They take advantage of their lack of knowledge just to fill their pockets. It gives a bad name to those in my profession.

I also hear "I can get a website done for much less than that". They don’t realize that they are not getting a CUSTOM WEBSITE… 99 times out of 100 they are being quoted a template or a customized website.

Ask the hard questions when you hire a designer – make sure you are getting what you pay for. Maybe you do not want a custom website and a template or customized website is all you need – but at least be aware of the difference.

One more thing to think about – make sure your web person can do all the things to make your websites more search engine friendly this also takes a lot more attention to details – and things on the back end that you don’t see. However, it is well worth the extra price.

I think I am going to come up with questions to ask – sheet for those of you who are thinking about having a website designed or re-designed. That way, you will know the answers to the questions and when you ask, and the person doesn’t give you the right answer you can find someone else!

One more thing, I am going to be coming out with some customized websites and templates. I am thinking about having a section of templates and customizable websites for those of you who just don’t have the budget to have a customized website. When I do you will be the first to know.

To Exciting Opportunities & Endless Possibilities! Pamela Jacob – Artista Design Access Portfolio Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results