Website Design

Choosing Your Domain Name

Before you can even think about getting a website built you are going to need to secure your domain name.  Most people would know it as your DOT COM name.  Choosing the right one for your business is where most small business owners and service providers start screwing up their web presence.  You do NOT want your competitors to scoop up the best name for your local area.  So pay attention to the content in this article.

The first domain you should purchase is obviously your company name.  For example.

“ABC Accounting” = www.ABCAccounting.Com
“Steves Excavation Service” = www.StevesExcavationService.com
“XYZ Hair Studio” = www.XYZHairStudio.Com

The domain name above is what you’ll be using for your business cards and everything else you do in PRINT such as flyers, invoices, letterhead etc…

Here’s the kicker… And where everybody screws it up.

But first… Let me ask you a question…?

If you were new to your area or maybe you’ve even lived there quite a while and you needed an Account to help you with your taxes this year.  If you wanted to find an accountant instantly you’d most likely start your search on the Internet.

Let’s say for example you lived in Victoria, BC… What do you think the first thing you’ll type into a search engine will be…?

“Victoria BC Accountant” or Victoria BC Accountants”

You’re not going to type in ABC Accounting…  Because at this point in of the game nobody knows who you are!

If someone owned the domain name “victoriabcaccountant.com” the search engines would be taking notice of the website as an important local resource for that keyword.  It’s quite likely you would find them first.

So what am I getting at…?

Be the first in your area to wrap up your services in a dot com name.

Example… You live in Duncan BC. And own a local roofing business…

DonsRoofing.Com (Company Name)
DuncanRoofingContractor.Com (Internet Marketing Name)

Example… You operate a hair salon in Nanaimo BC.

XYZHairStudio.Com (Company Name)
NanaimoHairSalon.Com (Internet Marketing Name)

Are you following me…

Now your website is going to stand a better chance at being found by local searchers looking for a “Duncan Roofing Contractor.”  or a Nanaimo Hair Salon because if that’s what they searched for… And your site popped up close to the top if not first, WHO do you think they are going to check out first…?

It’s not rocket science… It’s a really simple and often overlooked local Internet Marketing strategy.  This is something you could be taking advantage of.  It’s first come, first serve… Once the name is taken there is likely little chance they (your competitor) will let it go…

So are you going to wrap up the names related to your services for your area or are you going to let your competitors do it first?

Choosing A Website Designer

So you’re looking to have a website built…?

Now the difficult decision of choosing a web solution provider is before you.  Any old website designer will do if all you’re looking for is a “website”,  but if you’re looking to setup a finely tuned online sales machine than you’re going to have to be very selective.  You need a website designer who’s going to listen to your needs and the specifics of your business. 

More importantly you need a designer who knows and understands what a succesful web layout should look like and how to present the key services of your business in a fashion that encourages your visitors to dig deeper into your website and eventually make the choice to use your product or service.

If that’s not enough to think about… You need a designer that can not only build a website that sells your services, but a designer who can actually get your website in front of the people who are looking for your services.  This is where the majority of website designers fall short…

Designing a pretty website to impress a few friends is easily done and the skills can be learned through only a few hours of professional instruction.  Because of the fact that it’s so easy to learn how to “build” websites it’s caused an incredible influx of really crappy providers out there.  Be careful… If your website designer cannot SEO your website then you’re looking at incurring additional costs down the road in order to bring your site up to speed. 

Often times, SEO consultants such as myself will NOT work with a website that has been poorly designed and implemented.  It’s usually faster for us to create an entirely new SEO friendly site and that costs YOU a lot more money.

Here Are A Few Tips To Find A Great Designer For Your Business:

1.  Make sure they frequently work with clients in your specific field.
2.  Check and see if they have Google Rank for the services they provide.
3.  Ask to see some of the websites they’ve designed along with their search ranks.

Here are a few other important points to ponder:

1.  Do they offer a money back guarantee? or at least the option of a redesign should you not be happy with the product.
2.  Where do they host your website?  (ideally you want someone who operates a dedicated server, so you can have your own IP address)
3.  What are their monthly fees…?  And what do they include?

In short… Don’t rush out and jump at the first web designer you see… It could be a costly mistake for your business.  When you find a good one, that talks the talk and walks the walk… You’ll know it!

Carl Sorensen

Your Website Call To Action.

What’s your websites “Call To Action”…?

If you don’t know… You’re already in trouble!  The web unlike any other place of doing business is incredibly fickle.  Internet Surfers are a new breed of consumer with their own set of rules on what makes them decide to take action or bail on you.

If a website visitor has to spend more than 10 seconds looking around your website for “The Next Step” you’re going to LOSE that website visitor and they won’t be coming back.

Websites need to be straightforward and easy for your customers to make their most important purchasing decisions.  The easier it is for them to do business with you the more business you will generate.

Some forethought is definitely required to make sure that you’re presenting your visitors with a vivid and clearly visible “Call To Action”.  It may take a few tries to figure out what makes your customers ACT NOW but thanks to programs like Google Analytics (which we install for all our clients) you can track your visitors activity.

This provides you with data that you can use to then make the appropriate changes to your website.

Here is a description of a website with good “Call To Action”

JP owns a general remodeling company.   He had a super slick web designer who was smart enough to create an individual page on the website for each one of JP’s remodeling services.

Kitchen Remodeling
Bathroom Remodeling
Basement Finishing
Shop Construction

*MOST* Designers would rely on the website visitor to be smart enough to find your “Contact” page and then take the necessary steps to get in touch with you.  But you’ve got that super slick web designer who was wise enough to realize that your website visitors don’t want to do that.

He was saavy enough to create a customized contact form, prominently accesible right from each of the individual services pages.  Now if the website visitor clicks on the Kitchen Remodeling link, they can see some examples of the contractors work and then immediately without ever leaving the page they can request a quote/estimate for their kitchen right there.

Human Impulse is a strange thing and when faced with multiple decisions or an unclear path a confused mind will almost always say NO!

Hit with them something “Actionable” at the moment that brain impulse says “YES” and you’ll start converting more of visitors into interested prospects and the profits won’t fall far behind.

Carl Sorensen