News & Reviews

lavish.co.uk May 2009

In the Lavish's May Update, I touched on the HUGE subject of web sites with a few ideas for getting the best possible start on the internet.  I'm going to expand more on this in subsequent newsletters.

I went to the Spa Business Association Networking Event at the beautiful Stoke Park Club last week and listened to a great presentation from Ross Hawkins of The Carlton Institute on Search Engine Optimisation.  This is so important and I don't think enough of us are doing much about it.  Watch this space!  Come the revolution!

The Lavish May Marketing Tip went like this:

Worldly Wise Web

It doesn't matter whether you are an established enterprise or a fledgling one (wo)man band, having a web site is now a fundamental marketing tool. The internet is a great leveller so if your web site has been planned and designed well, it will match up to any competitor, regardless of your budget.

Here are a few ideas for getting the best possible start on the internet:

Be prepared
Before you begin to think about what your web site is going to look like, think first about why you are building one and what you want to do with it. Do you want people to stop, stare and enjoy, do you want people to interact with what you are saying or do you want to find out about your visitors and capture their data? Hopefully you will be considering all three and more. It's important to prioritise what your objectives are, write them down and agree them with your team. This will help you to choose the right web designer to create your site.

The act of planning is invaluable
Now it's time to think about the content for your site. What information do you want it to contain and how will this be presented? Write it all down like the chapters of a book with Home Page as the first chapter and Contact Us as the last, for example. Don't get carried away with creativity at this stage. Just think bricks and mortar.

Admittedly times are tight however web marketing can be extremely cost effective. Write down your whole wish list. Even if you don't think you will have the budget for everything that you want, it's best to let your web designers know what your ideals are at the beginning. Not only will you both have something to work towards, it will also help you be more efficient with your build costs because it can be two or three times more expensive to add in functionality to a site after it has been completed than to include it at build stage but keep it dormant until you are ready to use it.

Speak of me as I am
It is becoming more and more important to interact with your customers as web users demand a more sophisticated, rewarding experience. Think about how you can open up a dialogue with your customers but make sure it is in keeping with your business ideals and your brand proposition.
User generated content (ratings, reviews), blogs, personalised log-ins and video diaries are all ways of communicating with your audience, promoting your brand "experience" and a sense of belonging. And I can't emphasise enough the need for really good quality images, illustrations and photography on your web site. After all, we are in the business of marketing desirable experiences so web users will expect a visual feast.

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish
I would strongly recommend that you have a content management system attached to the backend of your web site that enables you to update and/or amend pages as and when necessary. This will reap enormous benefits for you in future because you are ultimately in control of the content of your site. You can keep up to date with trends, seasonal changes and customer feedback by writing timely comments and you can change the copy as often as you like without having to pay your web designers each time.

Having used words from Lord Baden-Powell, Napoleon, Shakespeare and Eisenhower, I bet you're wondering what they have in common? Well, I have no doubt that, because they were all passionate about their causes and experts in public relations, they would have had awesome web sites! I hope you are feeling inspired now.

More to come on web marketing in the next Lavish newsletter.

 

 

 

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