Website Reporting

Posted in Reporting, Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 03/20/2011 10:17 am by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 10 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #10: Reporting – Reporting is such an important part of any website that it almost seems a shame to leave this item as the last on my list of the “Top 10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website.”  Reporting (aka analytics or metrics) is no longer just the number of people who have visited your website – it provides much more information than that:  information that lets you know the effectiveness of your website content and online marketing efforts.
My personal favorite, and the industry’s leading service is Google Analytics.  This service will let you know which online resources your visitors used to find your site such as which search engines, links from other sites, and online ads.  This information helps you to know what advertising mediums are working best for your business and which ones may either need more work or rethinking.

Google Analytics also provides you with vital information about your visitors such as their geographic location and which browser they use.  This information can be very useful if, for example, you service an specific area of the country and yet most of your website visitors do not live in the area you service.  While it may be flattering that many people in China like your website, it doesn’t make good business sense if you cannot sell to them!

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in Marketing your Website, Starting your first website on 03/19/2011 10:02 am by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 9 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #9:  Marketing your website – Once your website is live, there are many avenues that will allow you to draw people to your site.  Currently the most popular of these is social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.  A great resource for information on Facebook for business is this post by Merle K Evans.  For Twitter, Twitter has a great “best practices” page and Business Week has some great suggestions.
Another resource that can really help to drive traffic to your site is Google Adwords.  Google Adwords are the ads that appear on every Google search result page on the top and right-hand side of the page.  These are pay-per-click (PPC) ads, which means that you pay nothing unless someone actually clicks on your ads and visits your website.  That also means that an unlimited number of people can view your ad (without clicking) for free – something that is not possible in the offline ad world.

While this service is very powerful, learning the interface used to set up an adwords account can be daunting for some and can require some time to learn.  Luckily, Google provides a lot of help and tutorials such as this “Getting Started” tutorial.

Last but certainly not least is email marketing.  Email marketing is a very effective tool to help you reach out to your desired audience.  One reason for this is that it does not rely on your audience visiting your website, your social media site or your print advertising – the message comes to them!  The message can also be customized for the person that is receiving the email.  For example, when reaching out to your customers who have purchased baby gear from you in the past, you can send an email directing them to the baby section of your new site.  Being able to pinpoint your customer’s exact needs and showing them how you can fulfill that need can be a very powerful tool in getting visitors to your website.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in E-Commerce, Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 03/18/2011 09:50 am by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 8 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #8: E-Commerce When selling your products online, there are many things you need to take into consideration – both online and offline.  As a business owner, you already know the offline items you must take into account: you already take care of these things on a day-to-day basis.  Items such as pricing, inventory, business licenses, etc.  So now let’s talk about the difference in doing business online.  Probably the top two items to plan for are the need to ship all purchases (unless of course you are selling a service or a downloadable item) and the increased cost of processing credit card transactions online.

The biggest item on most business people’s minds is processing credit card transactions – the money.  While there is a charge involved every time a credit card transaction is made – on the internet or not – there are other charges involved when processing in cyberspace.  I am not going to go into each one or the cost in this article since those items are usually charged by your bank and gateway service, but I will say that the cost is usually higher than you may be used to.  For more information, I would suggest contacting your bank.

A second option that many businesses opt for is using services such as PayPal or Google Checkout.  The major benefit to using these services is the lower cost and the additional features they offer to the consumer.  PayPal also offers a service that will allow for processing of orders directly on your website instead of requiring customers to go to the PayPal website to complete their order.

Secondly, let’s discuss shipping.  If you are selling smaller items, such as anything under 30lbs or so, shipping should not be a big concern.  The USPS or UPS should be able to take care of your needs and your website should be able to link to each service easily to correctly calculate shipping costs and track orders.  Where some businesses have challenges is in shipping larger items.  There are many ways to overcome this hurdle.  If you have a physical location, there is always the possibility of allowing the customer to pick up their purchase.  If not, you may consider offering delivery service to local customers.  Of course this is not an option for businesses that serve a wider area.  In this case, drop-shipping or an arrangement with a transportation service may be the best option.

An item that many smaller business sometimes overlook is the need for a picture, description, and possibly specifications of every item they want to sell online.  While this may seem like a small thing at first, when you consider how many items you sell, and how many pictures you may need of each item (for example a shirt would need at least two pictures, front and back), it may turn into a large task.  These are things that will also need to be maintained throughout the life of your site as your product line changes.  Other items that will require ongoing maintenance include inventory, pricing and sales tax to name a few.  Before taking your website live, it is best to plan for these needs.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in award, Uncategorized, Web Design on 01/15/2011 02:43 pm by Jenna Brenn

The Art of Jen has been ranked as the #1 web design firm in Kansas according to top7design.com.  Top7design.com ranks both web and graphic design firms for every state in the nation.  Although I am no longer officially in the state of Kansas, I still do quite a bit of business there for businesses such as Vornado Air, the Lenexa and Raytown Dairy Queens, and Insite Design Communications.

Thank you to those of you who nominated me!

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in brand identity, Small Business Websites, Starting your first website, Web Design on 05/20/2009 09:43 pm by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 7 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #7:    Web Design Considerations Web design means more than just how your website will look.  In fact, web design incorporates many aspects of a website including how users will interact with your site – how they will navigate through the pages, how and where they will find the information contained in your site, how they will use any web application on your site such as an e-commerce shopping cart, and any number of other functions visitors could perform on your site.  Because the web design involves almost every part of your visitor’s experience on your website, it is vital that it is well planned before you choose a web designer or developer and before the programming of the site takes place.

Having said that, I will concentrate on the most obvious part of web design in this post: the look.  If your company has an established brand or company identity, your website should match that identity.  Usually this means going beyond simply adding your logo to the site.  By incorporating the brand colors, marketing copy (optimized for search engines, of course), and personality of the brand you will not only borrow from the brand reputation you already have, but you will also reassure your website visitors that they are on the right website.  This is especially important if you are doing any e-commerce on your site, as visitors would be much less likely to input their credit card number into a website that they are not absolutely sure of.

Of course, I do realize that not every business has an established brand identity.  In that case, your website design options are a bit more flexible.  You still want a design that is going to adequately represent your company and create a good first impression.  After all, if your website is a person’s first impression of your business, it IS your business to that person.  In order to accomplish a  professional design, you could choose either a custom-designed site or choose a template from a site such as templatemonster.com.  A template can be a cheaper and very effective option for some businesses, although you should be prepared that there may be quite a few other websites that will look just like yours.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 05/19/2009 03:39 pm by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 6 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #6:    What do you hope to accomplish with your website? There are many types of websites come in all shapes and sizes including e-commerce, marketing/advertising, web applications, and social networking websites. In the sea of web designers/developers, there are many levels of experience in each of these types of websites.  Once you know what you hope to accomplish through your website, you can begin your search for a web designer/programmer with experience creating your desired website type.

The website that is right for you depends on three things: what your company or organization needs, what your customers/clients need, and what your stakeholders need.  Before beginning any website project, it is important to pinpoint exactly what you are hoping to accomplish to meet the needs of these groups.

For example, let’s say that you are an organization who coordinates various events for the local state fairground.  Your website will have many audiences, all of which you need to keep in mind before creating your website: your company, your prospective spectators, your vendors, your current and prospective sponsors, and your community.  In order to meet the needs of your company, the first item on your list of requirements for your website is e-commerce, or the ability to sell tickets to your events on your website.  In order to do this effectively though, you will want to consider the needs of your prospective spectators.  In this case, they will most likely want to know the location of the event, what they should or should not bring with them, what other events you will be offering, your refund policy and the contact information for your company, to name a few items.

Vendors have their own list of needs that can be meet through your website.  Tops on their list would probably be your location, contact information, company history and reputation, and time and date of the event(s).

Sponsors would probably love to have their company listed on your website in exchange for their sponsorship dollars.  In addition, prospective sponsors could learn more about your company through your “About Us” page.

Stakeholders would like to know about the success of your current events, your future event plans, your leadership team, and your current stock price.

And finally, there is your community.  Every business affects their community in one way or another.  In this case, the community as a whole will probably want information about your events, any job openings you may have, your current stock price, and your plans for expansion.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in Search engine optimization, Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 05/18/2009 07:43 pm by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 5 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #5:    Your domain name (a.k.a. URL, a.k.a. web address) Your business’ domain name can be very important in generating traffic to your website.  First of all, an easy to remember domain name can stick in your audience’s mind long after they have heard your radio spot, seen your print advertising, or heard their friends talking about your site.  Secondly – yet still just as important – the domain name you choose can be important in your site’s search engine optimization.

Your domain name not only determines your web address, but in most cases, it also determines your email address.  (If your web address is www.abc.com, your email address is usually me@abc.com).  As with web hosting, you can choose have your web designer/developer register and manage your domain name for you, but just as mentioned above under “Website copyright,” there is one precaution that you must take if you do this:  you need to ensure that your domain is registered under your company’s name, and not the name of your web designer/developer.  It is also a good idea to have your domain name information – such as the name of the registrar and the login information for their website – sent to you by the designer or developer when the domain name is purchased.  If your company does not own your domain name and is unable to contact the developer, it can be very difficult to point your domain name to a new web hosting service, where you may have a new website located, cheaper hosting rates, better service, or more functionality.  In a worst-case scenario, you could need to start over with a new domain name, which would mean that your visitors, who usually came to your website from your old address, would need to find your site again, you would need to start over with your search engine optimization, and all of your company’s email addresses would suddenly need to change.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 05/15/2009 09:44 am by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 4 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #4: Web Hosting Web hosting is the service that houses your website on a web server to make it available for the public to see.  The type of web hosting service that your website will need depends on a number of factors that basically have to do with what your website does, what functionality it has, and how many people visit it each day, hour, and second.  If you have a basic website (informational only which delivers text and pictures), your hosting costs should be minimal (around $10 a month) and you have many choices of hosting companies.  E-commerce websites or websites with web applications will usually pay more for web hosting.  It is important to research the hosting company you are considering prior to signing up with them to ensure that their current customers are happy with the service they provide.  A website that provides web hosting company reviews based on their customer feedback is www.webhostingreviews.com.

A more convenient way of taking care of your web hosting needs is to have your chosen web designer/developer sign you up with their hosting company, but please read the caution under the “Website copyright” post if you choose to do this.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in brand identity, Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 05/13/2009 04:01 pm by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 3 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #3:  Website copyright When choosing a web development company, it is important to determine the copyright (a.k.a. ownership) to the website files that make up the website itself.  Allow me to explain:  Some web development companies provide website packages that include the website itself (the files that make up the website), the domain name (explained more in my next post), and the web hosting (also explained in further posts) in one package.  While this allows for greater convenience and is a service that I offer myself, you need to ensure that your company owns the copyright to the website files once completed.  The reason why this is important is that if you outgrow your web development company or if your relationship were to sour with them, you want to make sure that you can take your website files to a different hosting company.  This will allow you to continue to have your website the way that you planned, worked-toward, and paid for and not lose the investment that you have put into your website.  While this seems like a simple request, there are some (quite popular) services out there that will charge you to create your website, but once you do not want their company to host that site for whatever reason, you do not have the option of taking your files with you.

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Posted in Small Business Websites, Starting your first website on 05/12/2009 08:02 pm by Jenna Brenn

This post is part 2 of the “10 Things Every Business Should Know Before Starting a Website” post.

Thing #2: Do you (or your staff) need to update your website often? One of the best ways to keep visitors coming back to your site is to keep your content (the text, pictures and/or downloadable files you offer on your site) fresh. While the majority of websites require a web programmer – or someone with at least basic knowledge of web programming – to update, you may want your website to have a content management system, which will allow you or your staff to update the content on your website without any programming knowledge.  This is not only convenient for your company, but it also means that you do not have to pay your web designer/programmer every time that you need to update your website.  Content management systems have become so popular that I have recently began offering them as a standard part of every website I create.

Content management systems come in all shapes and sizes, but in their most basic form they allow a user (a.k.a. you or a staff member that you designate) to sign in to a web page and make changes to your site by filling out a simple web form.  If you can use the Internet, you can update your website!

Like this article? Click an icon below to share it with the world.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
 
Older Entries