A Good & Artistic Landing Page Does Spell The Difference In Online Marketing

So, you have your own Internet business? Well, what have done for it lately? Have you had enough blog articles to promote your site? Do you have your own website designer or you’re just doing it all yourself? Some of the things that online marketers like you to have in your mind is to create traffic and impressive page rankings for your website. Okay, so, your visitor is on sight and they are there right in the middle of the road, so, what’s next? Do you think they will stay a little longer or would try to avail your products or services if your site is not that impressive to their eyes? You might have a PR 4 or 5 but you know very well that the essence of business is to make people buy. You know, although some may find something that they want in your site but you can never expect them to do future transactions with you if they find your site all too passive or plain-looking. What you need to do is to find some ready-to-be-customized free web pages templates to help you make a killer page or pages.

Filed under: Website Design

Free Website Templates For Your Websites

An online business is a very lucrative money-making machine but it can also give you headaches, too. Even the simple designing of your website can be a tedious job even though it’s perfectly an enjoyable experience when you’re trying to make your site very impressive and pleasing to the eyes of your online visitor. But you can avoid all of these. If you can find a site where there is a wide of array of unique and free website templates, then, everything will be smooth for you. All you need to do is select a template you want and that suits your online business and you’re ready to create your own website and so far, this is another technological breakthrough that can be benefited by online marketers worldwide. What is cool about these templates is they save you valuable time and money. You want to find out? You know what to do.

Filed under: Website Design

Understand Search Engine Optimisation in Worcestershire

Web Design and e-Marketing Company in Worcestershire

As the age of the internet firmly takes hold many commercial companies are starting to realise the importance and maintaining an effective and well presented website and e-marketing strategy. One of the industry leaders in helping businesses to understand the importance of websites as commercial assets is a company called the Blue Cube, delivering a team of established experts in web design and e-marketing.

Working in the natural surroundings of Bordesley Hall in Worcestershire hills the Blue Cube now maintain and support dozens of business websites from small to medium sized enterprises through to the corporate giants of the UK economy. The Blue Cube have also firmly established themselves as recognised search engine optimisation experts, helping clients to achieve incredible results on all the major search engines, in some of the most competitive keyword terms on the internet.

e-Marketing Services in Worcestershire

Once a novelty and buzz word, e-marketing has now firmly established itself in the commercial world and many businesses simply couldn’t function without it nowadays. Having the right guidance and support for and effective e-marketing strategy in a fierce market environment is paramount to maximizing profit and this is something the Blue Cube are experts at.

Online brand positioning can mean the difference between success and failure for companies relying on the internet as their main shop window. Working with the Blue Cube will give you the edge over your competition as their extensive experience in high quality web design and e-marketing services is unrivalled in Worcestershire.

“We are finding that many companies are surprised at the low costs of e-marketing services and just how effective the ROI on that investment is. Put simply - Web and Search engine marketing are cost effective and deliver proven results! Phill Burrows - Managing Director, The Blue Cube”

Search Engine Optimisation Services

Not only are the Blue Cube web design experts, they have been able to guarantee and deliver high ranking positions using different search engine optimisation techniques for companies across Worcestershire and the whole of the UK. In some cases, using their unique podcast blogging submissions the Blue Cube have been able to achieve top ten Google placements within a couple of hours!

The Blue Cube now has a pedigree within the world of web design and e-marketing yet the management and staff remain wholly modest in the success they have achieved in delivering stunning yet wholly functional websites. With the experience they can offer you can guarantee the Blue Cube know their stuff when it comes to web design, e-commerce, e-marketing and the search engine optimisation of commercial web sites.

If you are serious about taking your business website forward then you can rely on the Blue Cube to deliver the expert advice you need in maximizing its potential.

Read more about web design Worcestershire, Search Engine Optimisation Worcestershire on the Blue Cube website.

If you need to improve your online selling tips - read this info.

Filed under: Website Design

Things Should Understand About Graphic Design Job

How To Develop A Graphic Design Job Portfolio

A graphic design portfolio is the best way to display and showcase your past projects, creativity, and talent. A graphic design portfolio is vital when trying to pursue opportunities as a graphic designer within a company or as a freelance graphic designer pursuing clients.

The first important step in developing a graphic design portfolio is deciding what work to include. You should only include your highest quality work in your graphic design portfolio. If you include mediocre work in your graphic design portfolio simply because you are concerned about not having enough pieces in your graphic design portfolio, you will lose important job offers and clients - this is the mistake of many website designers. It is better to have a few pieces in your graphic design portfolio that really showcase your talent and creativity than have many pieces that do not help you build a solid reputation as a graphic designer.

The next step in developing a graphic design portfolio is deciding what type of graphic design portfolio you want to create. There are four main types of graphic design portfolios: printed pages in a binder, an online graphic design portfolio, images placed on a graphic design portfolio CD, or a slideshow of images placed on a graphic design portfolio DVD. Really, it is best to create one of each type of graphic design portfolio so that you are fully prepared to offer whatever your prospective employer or client is prepared to look at to judge your talent and creativity as a graphic designer.

To create a graphic design portfolio of printed pages, you should choose only your best work, and only the best quality printed copies. If you are unsure of the quality of your home printer, put the images on a disk and have them printed for you at a print shop. The best quality and most creative pieces can look mediocre if not printed with high quality printing. You should then present the pieces in a professional manner. The best color for a graphic design printed portfolio is black, and the most professional style is leather. This should be something that is spiral bound, a book, or a case so that you can add or remove pieces from your graphic design portfolio easily as you progress in your graphic design career.

To create a graphic design portfolio online, you will first need web space. Website hosting and domain registration has become very cost effective. But if you know how to choose free hosting with ftp - everything becomes possible.

Most websites also give you free website building tools so that you don’t have to know HTML. However, make sure that you sign up for website hosting with enough bandwidth to handle all of the images and potential traffic. Once you have your website set up, you’ll want to choose your pieces carefully. Display them as thumbnails on one page, with each full scale piece appearing on another page when the thumbnail is clicked.

To create a graphic design portfolio on DVD or CD, you must have a computer with a DVD or CD burner. To make really professional DVD or CD graphic design portfolios, you will want to get a CD or DVD burning kit that allows you to burn images onto the top of the CD or DVD and create labels for jewel cases. You can either save individual pieces on the CD or DVD, or you can simply save a copy of your website on the disc.

Filed under: Website Design

Home Based Business Site - Truth About Home Business Websites

It’s no secret network marketers in general hate the thought of speaking to prospects. No, it’s not because they don’t want to it simply has to do with approaching someone with an opportunity and the fear of being labeled a serial pest.

That’s understandable and was the main avenue for MLMers up until several years ago. So what’s the answer? An home based business site.

It’s amazing what a difference a website can make to both the quality of leads generated through it and to a person’s ability and confidence to build their business. The best benefit comes in the shape of highly targeted leads. Your prospects will be ready to receive your offer because of the ability to be able to target specific lead groups.

You may not get the picture just yet if you are still working your business offline but understand, with an home based business site you virtually decide who you want to deal with. It’s true, but you still need to know how to use your website the correct way. There is a right and wrong way and we provide you a starting point with how to leverage off your piece of online real estate in the most effective manner.

Attraction Marketing + Pre-selling - The Magic Formula

1. Your site must be used to promote useful take away content for the visitor. In other words, articles on your chosen network marketing niche whether it be nutrition or technology. Provide articles or content that educate the reader.

2. Provide something of value to the visitor which doesn’t cost them anything. A free report offering tips and training. For example, you could put together a small report about the dangers of not taking nutrition. Mention problems and then provide a possible solution. Make sure to include links to valuable resources such and where they can get more information.

3. You will want to create a leads capture area and this can be easily done by using the free report in conjunction with it. People provide their email address for the report.

4. Once you start building a list you can then start providing them with more valuable information but be careful not to use it as an opportunity to bombard them with sales messages.

5. Every time you update your home based business site you can alert your list that you’ve posted new content. This is a great way to stay in touch with them and you are creating a good bond with them.

6. The main aim of using this strategy is to create trust with your prospect. Sales messages create resistance on your prospect’s part. By educating and training them instead, you break down these barriers and become more and more important in their eyes eventually leading to business sign ups.

Filed under: Website Design

Constructing Successful Sites That Makes People Buy

To be successful in your web venture, you require a website intended precisely for that - a plain, focused website. One that’s painless to put up, low-priced, reliable, and a potent traffic-builder and customer-converter. The quality of your web copywriting plays a big role.

Owning the correct tool and the correct product alone doesn’t insure the success of your business. There’re lots of things to be thought about while putting together a website. Regrettably, nearly everyone of these are disregarded by online business owners… So here are some copywriting tips to help.

1. Develop To Load Fast

It is a fact of present-day life - everyone are in a scurry. This means that you get somewhere from 10 to 30 seconds to acquire your prospect’s attention. To lessen your load time, keep graphics as big as they need to be.

2. Focus On One Market

Grasp who your customers are and ensure that your website meets to their needs. It is central that your web site replicate the values of your prospects. Is your market mostly corporate experts? If so, the web site should be well-planned. Is your product intended commonly for adolescents and young adults? Then your website ought to be more laid-back. The answer here is to identify your market and put up a web site to their liking.

3. Focus On One Goal

Ensure your website is concentrated on the objective, advertising your product or service. A website offering numerous distinct products will not automatically go out of business, but this is repeatedly the case. If your website does sell numerous products, dedicate a unique webpage for every one as opposed to attempting to market them all from a single page.

4. Navigation have to be effortless

Simple and effective navigation increases the convenience of your prospects. Employ robust search and catalog features. Most of the times lots of visitors do not have the patience to navigate through the whole site to acquire what they are seeking.

5. Ensure your website is interactive and personalized

Make use of comment forms with email forms to permit your soon-to-be customers raise questions they might have pertaining to your product.

Personalization of your website is another key aspect that can lead to customer pleasure and can boost your sales. Personalization technology would give you an idea of what products to cross-sell and up-sell. For instance, when a customer buys a car, car accessories can also be offered.

These eight, straightforward rules will go a long way in the direction of perfecting your website and most significantly, convert browsers into customers.

Want more web copywriting tips like these?

Filed under: Website Design

Web Building Software: Build Professional Websites With These Programs (no Experience Required)

Creating websites isn’t that easy if you do it the traditional way. Creating a website about your cat or hobby isn’t that hard with programs like Frontpage or Dreamweaver. But if you need a professional looking, high converting website it’s not that easy to do. Most of us don’t know HTML, CSS or PHP. If these terms don’t sound familiar you have just proven my point.
But there is a way to create breathtaking websites with no experience at all in web building software. Actually there are several ways to do this.

If you look around on the internet , you’ll find a handful of web building software programs that claim you can create professional websites within minutes. But, like so many things on the web, not all of these programs are as good as they want you to believe. In my quest for the best web building software I noticed that the best programs not only let you create professional websites easily, but there are also other things to take in account. Below are some of them:

- extensive training area to get you started
- extensive media gallery (with thousands of options to choose from)
- free hosting!
- Search Engine optimization
- easy ftp upload
- good support

As you can see it is not just about building websites, but it’s about creating an easy experience for people who have never created a website before. I’ve found 3 programs that in my opinion are the best you can find on the web. You’ll be able to build website of such high quality nobody will believe it was you who built them. And they are really easy to use too! If you know how to work with Word or a similar program, you’ll be able to build websites with these great web building software programs!

I’ve created a website with a comparison of these three programs, so all you need to do is figure out which one is best for your needs and start building amazing websites. If I can do it, you can do it!

Filed under: Website Design

Hint To Avoid Common Fault On Building A Website

If you’re construct your very first website and it will really be of use you in the long run to keep special care to the design from the outset. Certain you can go back and fix things at a later date, but a lot of impair can already have been done to your online credibility by that point - and that credibility may take a very long time to build back up again, so why take the risk?

Here are some do’s and don’ts to reassure not excessive in the graphic department, where all of the other pages and sections of your site are easily accessible from.

Excessive use of banner adverts will tend to give your Web pages a slow load time and, take care with flash and pulse in a kaleidoscope of color, will irritate and annoy your visitors rather more than they’ll amuse them.

Most Web surfers these days have learned that banners are advertising and clear, evident advertising tends to get tuned out. You can get away with one or two banners per page that look in context with the general look and feel of your Web pages but overdoing it will only make you look like an amateur.

Make a clear, simple navigation menu that’s easy to understand. Don’t invent nothing in this context.

Learn from your own experience what happen when you navigate and have found that the Website left you completely confused when it came to finding your way around and locating the information that they appeared to promise and that you were looking for? Probably more than you care to remember, sadly. And how many of them did you choose to revisit after having been bamboozled first time around? Not many, right? Well. You will escape from this fault here and make sure that you put a lot of time and effort into planning your site’s navigation menu so that it is logical and easy to understand. It’s a good idea to test it on a few friends to see if they can find what they’re looking for without any help from you.

Choose your Website color schemes wisely

Don’t put music that start automatically on the opening page;
With the opportunity to adjust the volume

It’s really very tempting to just jump right in and start building your Website without much planning but it really is more sensible to spend a reasonable amount of time working things out on paper first. Doing this will almost certainly save your time in the long run by minimizing the number of mistakes you’ll have to correct that jumping in with both feet without thinking will inevitable lead to. Continue search other cool stuff from

Filed under: Website Design

Web Graphic Design

You’ve just started a new business, and you’re looking for something that will set your company apart and give you the advertising edge that you need to be successful. So, you’ll need to learn a little about web graphic design in order use the features of the Web to make your business’ services and products more marketable. Here are some of the benefits of graphic design, as well as some resources you can use to get the tools you need.

Web graphic design allows you to add features to your company’s website that will make customers pay attention. You may want to make your company’s logo rather large on the homepage, and you can give the letters of the logo animated qualities, so that the company emblem dances onto the page when visitors open your site, or the letters can drop from the sky as soon as your website is selected on a browser. Web graphic design features and programs will also give you the tips and skills that you need in order to create interactive characters that are associated with your business. If you have a mascot, like an animal or animated object to use for your business, this should be included in your homepage as well, so that this character can help to lead customers through all the pages of your site.

When you’re using web graphic design techniques and software, the digital design choices that you’ll be exposed to will help you to choose the right colors and design schemes for your website. This means you’ll be able to customize your site as much as you want, and can create borders around each page that are in the same color scheme as your logo, or uniform animated font that will go on each page of your site. It may also be a good idea to get Adobe installed on your computer–the software is free, and you can go through tutorials that will teach you more about how to construct a great website. You’ll learn about how to download graphics and pictures, and how to add various features to your pictures that will make the images stand out even more, such as shadowing items, glossing over a photo, or changing photos from black and white to color. Brushing and text effects are also part of the tutorial program, so once you get a little practice, you’ll feel comfortable adding all these great web graphic design features to your website.

If you want to learn more about web graphic design so that you can start making a living designing websites and graphic templates for other people, you can check out sites like www.aiu.edu or www.devry.edu to find out how you can enroll in degree programs that will make you a hot commodity in the workforce. Both online and live classes are available, and you’ll be training under the instruction of seasoned professionals who have been in the business for years. To get the latest updates of graphic design programs and to learn more about how you can practice you skills on your own computer, check out www.pcmag.com.

Filed under: Website Design

Web Design Help That Will Improve Your Site

It takes more than a handful of HTML tags added to a page to complete a website design. That is where the principals and elements of design, from print design to brochure design, come in; once you learn how to use the elements in order to design an eye-catching site, you will have the skills necessary to become a great designer.

To put it simply, the building blocks of designs are the elements that are used to make up every page or interface you design. Once you understand the five basic elements you will be able to put together more creative and stimulating web pages for your online home business. The graphic designs you attempt need to be eye-catching and of course, your web graphic design should have the earmarks of a professional. Also, making your website user friendly and adding some “eye candy” is extremely important, as you are competing with thousands of other websites to get visitors.

Lines help delineate spaces around elements on a web page and can be vertical or horizontal, and the line work increases the understanding of the design. They can be used as borders around elements, dividing lines between elements, contours around elements and decoration in website design. One of the most versatile elements is shape; they can make up any enclosed area in the design. Most of the shapes you see on web pages are rectangular or square, but you can use images, lines, color etc. to create other shapes.

The other major elements of a design are texture, color and direction; all used in graphic design as well. Texture on web pages is visual, but you can use artificial or natural textures to create an effect in your design. Color is the design element that a web designer is most aware of, but color is not a requirement of any design. Most often, it is best to create the designs without color and add it later. Direction gives your designs a sense of motion across the page. The better sites will lead you through the design so that you see what the designer wants you to see. Of course, it is always a good idea to sketch the design on paper first and then transfer it to the web publishing software.

If you plan to be a good designer, then when you see that blank web page do not just throw random images or graphics on it and hope for the best. A good website design is well thought out, long before any actual additions to the pages are made. This enables you to see how well everything you have in mind will blend together, in order to create a great, user friendly, interactive website.

Filed under: Website Design

Dedicated Ecommerce Web Hosting Services

Ecommerce web hosting is one of the main things you need to start your own business online. Our Ecommerce web hosting Package allows you to not just build and host an online business, but allow you to grow and expand it with rock-solid web hosting, Internet marketing tools, and superior customer support. Ecommerce web hosting is one of the focal clothes you hardship to birth your own matter online. Ecommerce Web Hosting Package allows you to not just size and horde an online company, but permit you to grow and expand it . Ecommerce web hosting is almost self-explanatory. It allows customers to sell products and services on their web page, and usually includes a merchant account and a free shopping cart.

Business web hosting is definitely worth looking into so you can know about every different option available when you start talking to any respective ecommerce web hosting service. Make sure you understand your need before you select an hosting package, then in your doings with the ecommerce web hosting service, you may eventually have to switch packages, which is timely and potentially costly.

Custom Ecommerce web hosting - Our team will design and develop an original storefront personalized for your business, while optimizing your site for search engines, visual impact, and usability. Good ecommerce design requires an understanding of Industry Best Practices that focus not only on the shoppers experience but also on search engine optimization, site performance and ease of maintenance. Customers will always be happy if they can browse at a fast rate through any site. Therefore if your transaction speed is quick then your customers will no doubt be very pleased with your service.

Business e-commerce web hosting solutions are merely the base of the Internet. E-commerce web hosting solution is a basic web hosting account that will give you access to shopping cart software. Business web hosting is often very affordable for the largest companies. You can have solid security and backups for your website at a very affordable cost. Business on the Internet is booming and everybody seems to be getting into the act. Before you start Rate My Host will help you to find out more about the standards of today’s online businesses.

Price is often an illusion when it comes to the Windows Web Hosting industry. You are better off paying a little more for a web host that offers much less space but is reputed and has a proven track record for stability and excellent customer service, than paying only a single digit monthly fee for one that offers gigabytes of space and bandwidth but is wanting in terms of service and server stability. Price is far down the list and you are better paying a few extra dollars for a service that you know will work well. The more you limit your risk, the better your chances are at success. Do your self a favor and get a Free Ecommerce web design quote now!

Filed under: Website Design

Web Development Tampa: Website Workforce

As a major United States port, and the largest port in Florida, Tampa Bay appeals to a wide variety of foreign and domestic business interests. The business friendly environment makes Tampa Bay a great place to consider starting a business.

Tampa Bay is known for having an outstanding talent pool for all sorts of industries, whether one needs workers with financial expertise, communications skills, manufacturing abilities, or computer proficiency. Website creation has also progressed enormously in Tampa. Lots of different firms are in the site design business here.

Web Development Tampa is the ability to create and develop the World Wide Web. You can website design Tampa with the help of different tools, graphics as well as programming. There is many an SEO Firm Tampa that will help you in your endeavors related to web development.

To do small designs only little skill is required. There are many people who start very young. HTML is the language used for web development and learning this is not very tough. Once you are familiar with this language, you can even create web sites for small firms as well as large companies.

Now a days there are lot of resources that are available on the Internet which will help you to design your own web sites. But in the beginning you may find it a little intimidating. Moreover you may find it a bit confusing. You may be confused as to what tools ought to be used for development, how to get the websites on the Internet and also how to generate different applications.

Obtaining a domain name is the next step. The domain name is simply the URL, also known as the web site address. Finding a domain name is as simple as thinking up a name, and then checking through a search engine to ensure it isn’t already taken. Next, select a web host to serve your site’s files. A web host simply stores your web site’s files, and serves those files to the world wide web.

Ease of use of the WYSIWYG web development software and its constant upgrading is another prominent reason this expanding field has evolved. The user-friendly software can help anyone create a web page.

Web development Tampa - weboptium - is a full service web development company, including web design, web development, web hosting and maintenance.

Filed under: Website Design

Do You Have Control Over Your Website?

Once a website has been deployed (often by a web designer) it is very easy to forget about what you can do to make it perform better.

Quite often a web designer will be happy that his work on the website has been concluded and will often have other jobs scheduled to work on once he or she has completed the brief.

Sadly getting the website up is only a very small part of the puzzle , next (which should be before) comes the task that is often forgotten which is off course some on page optimisation.

On page optimisation is all about having the right content on the relevant page and ensuring the necessary meta data is also tuned for maximum effect. In addition to this is the need to start (which should be before) your internal linking strategy.

More often than not a company has no control over their own webs content and need to get the designer to make even the slightest change so any ongoing plans to make changes generally cost more than they need to in the first instance, and often will not happen at the speed that is required to maximize a product launch or a timely opportunity.

If your company is in this situation then now is the time to investigate investing in a CMS System.

Filed under: Website Design

Real Estate Design; Website Content is King

Hot Tip! one of the most important aspects you need to keep in mind at all times when choosing a website design firm or designing the website yourself. It is very important to remember that most of your visitors haven’t spoken to you yet and your site will be the first impression they have of your company.

Real estate design, website aesthetics and ease of use are three critical elements to having an effective online presence. For a Realtor, an effective real estate web design can quickly take your business to the next level.

Some Realtors forgo the use of a qualified web designer because they don’t recognize the importance of using their web site as a marketing tool. Still, it’s very possible to self design and build a website that ranks in the Top 3% of all websites on the Internet, even if you’ve never built a website before.

Given the competitiveness of the real estate sales industry, your real estate web site needs to be eye-catching, inviting, highly interactive and functional. When done right it will attract and keep customers at your web site.

The more content you provide, the more they will linger, which is exactly what you want them to do. When you give them what they want, which is great content, they’ll eventually give you what you want; signing up for your newsletter, a listing, a phone call, an appointment to see a listing, etc.

Hot Tip! Either way, keep in mind that your website design is what most online visitors to your site are going to judge your company on, regardless of your industry, so it must be as professional as possible.

Website Size Does Matter
Many agents don’t know it, but websites that dominate the Internet landscape often have hundreds, if not thousands, of pages. Optimally, each page has unique content and is like a separate doorway to the respective websites. The more pages the more doorways.

Now, compare that to some pre built web sites that come with 25-75 pages of content. Sure, they may look good and feature some valuable tips and information for home buyers, sellers, investors and renters. But don’t stop there. While 75 pages or so sounds like a lot of content know that websites with way more content rule the roost.

Hot Tip! This article was written by Manisha bhatra of Website Design India http://www.websitedesignindia.

Build It and They Will Come
Your web site should include lots of relevant content to increase your chances of being found in the search engines. You should also name your pages in such a way that they are catchy and invite the “clicks.”

A well designed website can essentially become your personal virtual real estate marketer, providing useful consumer information while automatically gathering the names and email addresses of your site visitors. Coupled with an auto responder there’s no limit to what you can accomplish with a good website.

Traditionally, real estate agents have farmed with letters, flyers and the like. Today’s smart agents are farming with real estate lead generating websites.

Websites NEED pages; the more, the better. A website filled with keyword-filled, template style pages will not impress the search engines or your visitors. However, websites with pages of real content and relevant links to other sites will become a feeding ground for the search engines.

Slowly but steadily adding pages of real content will help your site attract the search engine spiders on a regular basis. This is the ‘tortoise wins the race’ philosophy to making friends with the search engines!

Hot Tip! If you are about to open an eCommerce website or you are already own one, make sure you understand the web design principles for online selling. Consider consulting with an experienced website designer preferably someone who has experience with eCommerce websites.

Summarily, good content for these pages is crucial. Your visitors may land on a page of your site that is not the main page. However, having information on every page that focuses attention on your main product or service will generate more interest and sales.

Visit Real Estate Marketing Talk for more information about Real Estate Website Design.

Filed under: Website Design

Profit Motive for Web Design: Treat Your Website Like A Sales Representative

Hot Tip! You may ask why this is such a big deal well the big deal is Microsoft FrontPage® is a program that is included in the software when people buy a computer and Macromedia Dream Weaver® you can buy for a few hundred dollars but for some reason when people get their hands on either one of these programs after playing with them a few hours they have the mindset that they are an expert website designer and it’s time to go into business.

The Balanced Scorecard was created in 1992 by a couple of Harvard guys (Kaplan and Norton). It changed the way people look at the success of a business. Prior to the concept, people evaluated performance exclusively in financial terms. In addition to financial measurement, the Balanced Scorecard provided a framework that included measurements for Internal Business Process (to satisfy shareholders and customers, what business processes must your company excel at?), Customers (to achieve your company’s vision, how must you appear to customers?) and Learning & Growth (to achieve your company’s vision, how will you sustain your ability to change and improve?). This represents a major step forward, to which we should all be grateful.

Here is the problem with the approach. It can take more than a year to reach consensus across a set of 15 or more metrics (called Key Performance Indicators). I have participated in this process a couple of times in Fortune 500 companies. While cathartic, it requires tremendous energy and commitment. And, in each case, after we moved to the execution phase, we had considerable difficulty keeping a large number of metrics in our heads each day. I imagine that is true across the board. This makes the Balanced Scorecard a great theory. One that needs to be improved upon for practical, real-world success.

Hot Tip! This is the first of eight articles about website design. Our discussion will deal with some of the issues which need to be considered when developing a new online presence.

We use a concept called Business Drivers and Operational Drivers. I don’t know who to give credit to for having created the Business Driver concept, but thanks! Essentially, Business Drivers are those things your organization can impact that will increase revenue (i.e. if you are a pharmaceutical company, a new malady that you can create a wonder drug to cure will not qualify as a business driver as you cannot, hopefully, impact the introduction of new disease). An example of a common Business Driver is “Increase the number of qualified leads/prospects”. Operational Drivers are those things your organization can impact that will decrease costs. An example of a common Operation Driver is “Decrease the cost to support an order”. Together, these two driver types result in profit. It is your responsibility to balance them properly.

Hot Tip! Many people can do website design, but how many can actually design a website. The design element is so important and so often overlooked.

We limit our clients to no more than five Business or Operational Drivers (sometimes we bend the rule). We have also found that any reasonable person can probably draft the business rules for any company or organization with 80% accuracy. In our practice, it typically takes less than an hour for the exercise.

The reason it is so important and worth discussing, is that it gives everyone affiliated with the organization (internal employees, dealers, consultants and suppliers/vendors) a clear picture of what you need to do to succeed. That means that every program developed internally or externally should be squared with your drivers (with the ability to measure success). Then, you can establish goals for each driver and determine if a particular program is performing as expected.

Are your marketing programs measurable?

John-Scott Dixon, President - ThoughtLava

I have over a decade of experience managing and leading the Ecommerce efforts of medium and large companies. I have held sales, sales management, marketing, operations, IS/IT, legal and executive management positions in start-up to multi-billion dollar organizations. I have also served as an adjunct professor of Ecommerce for the MBA program of the University of Missouri. I led the Ecommerce initiative for Sprint PCS (PCS) and Sprint (FON) as Vice President of Ecommerce. I led the integrated marketing efforts for Insight (NSIT) as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Ecommerce. Today, I am the President of Thought Lava, an integrated marketing and Web strategy consulting company. We generate and direct the flow of creative ideas to develop Internet marketing strategies that increase revenue and reduce operational costs while supporting your brand. Contact us at info@thoughtlava.com or 877.567.LAVA to begin a discussion.

Hot Tip! So let’s get to the bottom line, cheap website design will more than likely hurt your business and will be a waste of your money and time. I’m not saying you need to spend an obscene amount of money to get a good site but if you have a $200.
Filed under: Website Design

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