One of the biggest domain name mistakes we see is allowing a third party (web designer, lawyer, etc.) to register a domain name for your business without the proper contact details. While domain name registration is a legitimate service, you need to be sure that the name is registered with the business owner’s contact information. The reason is simple. In the event of a dispute or problem with your site, owning your domain name will allow you to switch providers while retaining your domain name.

We’ve seen clients lose entire websites (and all of their content) because they couldn’t access the domain name registration.Following a few simple guidelines will keep your domain name safe and under your control:

• Register the domain name yourself using a reliable registrar such as GoDaddy.
• If you do allow a third party to register your domain name make sure that they add YOUR contact details as the domain name owner and administrative contact. It’s ok if your service provider is listed as the technical contact. Request proof of registration from a third party.
• It’s a good idea to review the contact details for your domain name once per year.

Takeaway:
Your domain name is the master key to your website. Guard it carefully and make sure you are listed as the domain registrant or owner.

Getting a Return

Web marketing is one of the most neglected areas of development amongst new and budding site owners. It’s often assumed that web “magic” will happen once the site is complete. Veteran web marketers know differently. Many large Fortune 500 companies have been known to spend upwards of 40% of the entire company budget on marketing and advertising. Why? Because an effective marketing plan is vital to the success of any business, big or small. Now, the point is not to convince you to spend 40% of your budget on your web marketing campaign. The point is to help you understand that you must have a marketing plan in place.

You decided to build a website because you wanted something in return. Anyone in business knows how hectic a day can get. If you’re a business owner you probably spend your time wearing many different ‘hats’. There’s no way you would spend the time, effort, and resources on a website if you didn’t want something back. Whether you’re looking for more leads, more sales, lowered costs, or better service, you’re looking for something. And that something isn’t going to magically come along. You have to pursue it, relentlessly. You have to drive traffic to your site, give customers a compelling reason to stay, provide a flawless experience, and keep your site up to date! You have to do all this while pursuing that something in return.

It Starts With a Plan

To have a successful website you have to think like a successful website. Let’s look at some important components of your marketing plan:

• Diligently pursue ways to increase your exposure to new traffic.
• Create a compelling experience for this traffic and extract value from the experience in the form of new leads, sales, lowered costs, or better service.
• Stay in constant contact with your past visitors.

Let’s look at each one individually.

Increasing Traffic

In order for people to visit your website they must know about it first. This is why search engine ranking is so important. Search engine marketing is an art in itself. The technology is constantly changing and the elusive “top 10” spot in major engines is a moving target. So what can you do? By designing your site with these requirements in mind you can greatly increase your chances of being found. Research the keywords that are relevant to your site. Find out how people are finding your competition. Consider online advertising such as pay-per-click, banner advertising, and sponsored listings.

People often neglect the offline marketing opportunities when it comes to websites. Add your website address to everything your company sends out or uses to represent itself. Use word-of-mouth advertising at networking events. Depending on your type of business, this may actually be one your most powerful marketing tools. After all, if you serve a 50 mile radius in Anytown around your business it doesn’t help much to get listed in the top 10 under “accounting services”. However, it probably will help if you’re listed under “Anytown accounting services”. Think relevance!

The Visitor Experience

You’ve done your homework, laid the foundation for a solid marketing plan, implemented it and your new visitor numbers are off the charts! Congratulations! Now what? You’re at a crucial stage in your site’s development. Fail here and you’ll undo all that hard work you did to increase your traffic. Your website must be a clean, mean, functional machine. It has to perform flawlessly. Work hard to make sure your site delivers the goods. Constantly consider which parts of your site could be better or friendlier, you get the idea.

Keeping in Touch

You reeled in hundreds of new customers, provided a flawless experience and your visitors couldn’t be more delighted. Now don’t forget about them! Look for ways to stay in constant contact with your past customers. Collect email addresses and send your weekly or monthly newsletter, regularly. Offer incentives for people to return. Do whatever it takes to make sure they keep coming back.

Summary

Creating a successful site can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have a marketing plan in place. If you continually implement and improve your plan you’re sure to be top-of-mind the next time your customers reach for their keyboards.

• Develop a plan that drives traffic to your website.
• Manage the traffic and provide a quality, rewarding experience for the visitor.
• Stay in constant contact with your customers and remind them to come back.

• Easy to Read
• Easy to Navigate
• Loads Quickly
• Easy to Find
• Strong Visual Theme
• Easy to Read

The web is full of millions of sites. Each one is competing for attention from new visitors and each has its own message. A successful site must find a way to rise above the ‘chatter’ and be heard. One of the ingredients in the ‘special sauce’ of a successful web site is effective copy. Your message must be clearly defined, and well articulated. Forget the fluff and get to the point. Understand that web users don’t read a web page like they read a book. Great copy is concise, is written to be scanned and is highly organized without becoming dry and tasteless.

Easy to Navigate

Unlike a book, a website doesn’t have a predictable layout. Think about this for a moment. When you open a book, you have a good idea about where to find things. The table of contents will be in the first few pages, and you can find a page number in the corner of each page. The index will be in the back of the book and you can probably find out who published it somewhere near the first few pages. We have been exposed to books our entire lives and, thankfully, there is a fairly standard way of organizing their information. This doesn’t apply to the web. The web is like a sea of floating pages, all from different books. You must give your visitors a consistent way to navigate through your pages. On every page there must be a consistent menu system with links to every part of the site. Not every visitor will enter through your home page and when the weary web traveler shows up at your doorstep without a clue you’ll be a hero if you can provide a consistent, clear way to navigate your site.

Loads Quickly

You have about 15 seconds to capture the attention of a new visitor. An d that’s on the patient side! The speed of your website is paramount to its success. Fast loading pages start with simplistic design. Now, notice that I didn’t say ‘boring’ design. A cleverly written and coded website can easily out-do the fanciest Flash site on any day of the week. To understand this you need to think like your target audience. Do you enjoy staring at a blank screen waiting for a snazzy website to appear? How impressed were you by the time it finally loaded? I didn’t think so. There are plenty of ways to ensure that your pages load quickly and look great. (Plus, since you took the extra time and energy to write great copy you’ll be way ahead of the competition!)

Easy to Find

How can you have a successful site if no one can find you? Make sure your site is easily found by optimizing your pages for search engines. Incorporate your URL (domain name) into every promotion that you run, both online and off. Keep an eye on your site statistics and make adjustments if you’re not happy with the results. Print your website on all of your company correspondence, and take advantage of word-of-mouth advertising.

Strong Visual Theme

A strong color and graphic theme will go a long way in reinforcing your online identity. Study the nuances of color before committing to that neon green design! People have a huge psychological attachment to color and it’s important that you realize and take advantage of this. For instance, blue is considered to be a color of trust. You’ll notice that many huge corporations choose blue as their company color for this reason! It’s a good idea to gather a list of sites that you like. These ‘examples’ can serve as an important reference for your designer.

Follow these bedrock principles when you’re planning, writing, and designing your site and you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of most sites.

What’s a domain name?

Simply speaking, a domain name is the online version of your address. It’s the part between www and .com, and it’s how the rest of the world will find you. While there are technical details involved in a domain name, we’re going to stick to the how and why of things.

Simple is Better

Keeping your domain name short and simple is the way to go. People hear and see hundreds of domain names a year and the less they have to remember the better.

Dot What?

When you register a new domain name you have a choice of extensions. Extensions are simply the letters that are tacked on after your name such as: .com, .net, .org, etc. By far, the most recognizable of these is .com, and If you can find your name in a .com, buy it. If not, a close runner up would be .net, although an alternate .com name might serve you better. We’re seeing more and more extensions crop up for sale such as .cc, .biz, and .us to name a few. While these names might work for a special occasion site, they’re usually seen as gimmicky compared to a .com name. Remember, your domain name is a big part of your identity on the web and .com is tried and tested.

Hyphens

Domain names can contain letters and numbers as well as hyphens. They can’t contain spaces or any other special characters. Hyphens are a bit of a grey area. In some circumstances they can work if you have a highly targeted audience. In most cases though, hyphens only make your name less memorable and harder to find. If you have the choice between the perfect name with hyphens and the less than perfect without, I’d choose the latter. A great domain name can certainly boost web identity, but a high quality website will fare well even with a mediocre domain name.

Spelling

Make sure to spell your name correctly. This may seem obvious, but some sites have tried to use a domain name that is spelled the way it sounds (www.sk8supplies.com). This kind of phonetic trickery is sure to send your visitors kicking and screaming all the way back to the search engine.

Sound Off

It’s a good idea to give your proposed domain name the “radio test”. Say it aloud a few times. Ask a friend to repeat it out loud to you. Is it easy to pronounce? Does it roll off the tongue easily? Even if you’re not planning advertising on the radio it still makes sense to have a name that’s easy to say and understand.

Descriptive

Every good domain name should give the visitor a clear idea about the website content.

Keywords

The huge popularity of search engines, like Google, has spawned an entirely new way of choosing domain names. If search engine marketing is a large part of your marketing strategy, it may be wise to search for similar products or businesses using a search engine. See what keywords bring the most results and decide if it’s worth incorporating a keyword into your name.

Registering Your Domain

Registering a domain name has become an extremely easy process. You literally type in the name you want, enter credit card info, and you’re done! The cost of registering a domain has nothing to do with the quality of the domain name. So if you’ve thought of a great name and it’s available, buy it. On the other hand, if you’re already working with a developer they can probably register the name for you and save you the hassle of transferring it to your host later.

Summary

Your domain name is a key piece of your identity on the web, and choosing a name deserves a fair amount of thought. A few key points to remember:

• Short
• Good Extension (.com, .net)
• Easy to Spell
• Easy to Remember
• Descriptive

Happy domain name hunting!

Do they understand your needs?

Your developer’s understanding of your business needs is crucial to building a successful relationship. It’s important to keep this in mind when shopping for design services. So, you’ve hired the most talented designer in your region? It doesn’t guarantee a successful site if that person doesn’t understand your goals.

Choose a designer who understands your marketing plan

This point can’t be stressed enough! Your website strategy must work hand-in-hand with your marketing and promotional efforts. Finding a designer who will take the time to understand your marketing plan can save you from a huge heartache.

Are they open to new ideas?

Finding a designer who will listen to your ideas about the design can be tough! How do they handle criticism? Designers who can interpret your vision are worth their weight in gold! Remember that your website is an extension of your business and your design should reflect that.

Do they have ‘technology-itis’?

A good designer should have a solid technical skill set, and should employ those techniques to create a fast, easy to navigate website. But beware the designer who wants to use every latest and greatest technology on your site. Carefully question which bells and whistles will add value to your site. Not every site needs Flash, or a database back-end. Some do…

Do they make you feel comfortable?

Above all, you should choose a designer you feel comfortable with. You will be communicating with this person very closely during the development of your site and they should be in constant contact with you during the entire process. Communication is key!

You’re in control!

Choosing a developer is a lot like hiring a new employee. You should make sure that their entire range of communication, technical, and creative skills is compatible with your organization.

Coral Reef Scuba & Travel Center needed a new site that would give them total control over their class schedules, trip calendar and e-commerce products.

We completely re-designed their site to give them total control over these features. We incorporated a secure shopping cart, photo gallery, and a management back-end that allows Coral Reef staff to completely manage their website.

www.coralreefscubatravel.com

How We Helped:

• Complete website re-design
• Secure e-commerce
• Site management interface
• Ongoing support
• Hosting

Meme Marketing needed a simple website to showcase their direct mail services and offer customers access to huge database of zip code information.

We started with a clean site design and added database functionality to give visitors access to zip code info. Upcoming additions include a site management interface that Meme staff can use to keep their site up to date.

www.mememarketing.com

How We Helped:

• Complete website re-design
• Database integration
• Site management interface
• Ongoing support
• Hosting

Fitzgerald Automotive needed a site that would let them manage their auto inventory and process secure credit applications. We designed a site that allows Fitzgerald staff to easily manage auto inventory and collect secure credit information from potential customers.

www.cheapcleancars.com

How We Helped:

• Complete website design
• Auto inventory management system
• Secure credit app processing system
• Ongoing support

Integrated Medical and Wellness Center needed a site that would showcase their wellness services and give patients access to treatment information. We created a clean, easy to navigate site that showcases IMWC’s most popular services and provides access to patient care guides.

www.imwcbrighton.com [[Show as slideshow]]

How We Helped:

• Complete website design
• Ongoing support and maintenance
• Hosting

Vydrogen is a Denver based angel investment firm. In addition to a basic we presence we’re currently working on a range of web based tools.We created a clean, easy to navigate site that showcases Vydrogen’s services and investment activities.

How We Helped:

• Graphic design
• Site coding
• Wordpress integration
• SEO support
• Social media setup and monitoring
• Ongoing support and maintenance