Archive for the ‘Web Sites’ Category

Is It Time to Update Your Web Site?

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

Web sites have become a “must have” for businesses of any size, in any industry or geographic location. In fact, to a large degree, if you don’t have a web site, you don’t exist. When potential customers are looking for products or services they are very likely these days to turn to the Internet and do a search. If your business doesn’t come up in their search efforts, you’re not likely to be part of their consideration set. (more…)

How Does Your Web Site Stack Up?

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

The yin/yang of the 21st century marketplace is that consumers can find, and form impressions of, you online without ever having to encounter you either face-to-face or voice-to-voice.

That can be a good thing if, through those encounters that you may never physically take part in, their impressions are positive. It can be a very bad thing if they’re not. And, sadly, you may never know the difference.

We were working with a client recently on a web site analysis. Through that process we: (more…)

Crisis: It Can Happen to Anyone. Take Burger King, For Example!

Monday, February 18th, 2013

Contributed by Rachel Vick

We saw a prime example today of the need for big brand crisis communication. That’s right; Burger King was hacked on Twitter earlier this morning. Nothing like an Internet hacking to threaten a company’s reputation and put them directly in the spotlight!

Burger King’s hackers tweeted around 11:00 am that Burger King had been sold to McDonald’s. Burger King’s Twitter profile was also changed, including the profile photo (which was changed to the McDonald’s logo) and company information, which stated: “Just got sold to McDonald’s because the whopper flopped.”

The hackers continued to tweet for about an hour with obscene statements and false accusations, such as (more…)

Are You Listening to — and Learning From — Your Web and Social Media Analytics?

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

I spent my first 10 years in the field of direct marketing which, at that time, was very measurable compared to other forms of advertising. Today, online marketing allows marketers to gather even better and more immediate results on how they’re doing. Surprisingly, though, (at least to me) there are still a number of organizations–large and small–that are not using analytics to evaluate how they are doing in terms of connecting with, engaging and influencing their target audiences. And, in some cases, they are not acting on the information they attain.

(more…)

Are You Losing Online Sales Because of a Clumsy Ordering Process?

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

Sometimes I think the most simple thing that we can do as businesspeople and marketers is to “put ourselves in the shoes” – literally – of our prospects and customers. Are we making it easy to buy? Or are we setting up unintentional barriers, however “slight,” that may interfere with – or obliterate – the purchasing process?

In retail settings this might mean products organized in ways that make it difficult for consumers to find what they’re looking for. It may mean limited – or non-existent – parking. It may mean long lines at the check-out counter or disinterested (even grumpy) service staff.

Online it may mean much of the same – the ability to quickly find what we’re looking for is important. Parking isn’t an issue, but the check-out process certainly is.

Have you taken a critical look at (more…)

How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your Web Site

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

Most businesses today have a web site. Once that web site has been up and active for a while, they often wonder whether their site is as effective as it might be. We work with a number of clients to help develop, position, evaluate and improve their web sites from a content standpoint (more…)