Before the launch of that new website, have you considered having a second look at the content you’ve implemented? Making sure your website caters to your target audience with the right mix of information and relevance will convert more visitors to customers and keep others coming back for more.

Having a website is great, but it’s not enough.  The spread and extent of your online market is governed by how well your site content matches your visitors’ expectations – also known as usability.  Defining the target audience and their needs is an important factor in usability and in increasing the loyalty on your site.

6 Questions to ask yourself about the target audience of your website:

Who is your target audience?

Everyone, right?  While we’d all love to sell to everyone, there should be a definitive theme of who the ideal customer is – that is your target audience.  Examples of good target audience definitions are “post college health nuts” or “middle income families with small children”.  Defining your target audience helps you answer the next question…

What does your target audience expect to learn from your website?

If you know you your target audience is, you can draw conclusions or better determine what they are looking for.  In keeping with the above examples, the post-college health nut would like to see a calorie breakdown of your new breakfast bar line – let them see it.

Does your customer know how your process works, or how to go about doing business with you?

If I am a middle income family with a small child, how will you help my child learn to read after I send you my hard-earned money?  A customer may believe in your product or service, but if they don’t know enough about your process, they may decide to do business with someone more transparent.

Have you anticipated most of your customers’ questions and answered them?

You want to keep your visitor from going to the competitor’s website to find answers.  It also helps build your credibility with a customer and lets them know you’re the right business for them. Anticipating the questions of your potential customer puts you a step ahead of most of your competition.

Are the features and benefits of doing business with you clear?

If you don’t explain them to me, I might never know.  Try to steer clear of assuming your client has an even basic knowledge of your industry and make very clear the features and benefits of hiring you.

What can you do make your website more “sticky”?

… that is keep your target audience on your site longer in hopes of developing their trust and converting them to a customer.  Do you have a blog or other news outlet with frequently updated content?  Or a cool application / tool that aligns with your business?  (Think mortgage calculator on real estate websites).  These keep people on your site longer and help you develop a report with your visitor.

The ease of navigation and convenience in finding information are key areas of catering to your target audience.  Don’t require your customer to guess or assume anything from your website, spoon feed them in a relevant and engaging way for your small business success.

Let us know some of the target audience strategies you’ve used and how they’ve worked for you.

Content Management Systems (CMS) have become increasingly popular among small business website owners.  We have been asked more and more to build them along with a specific website project or to retrofit an existing website.  Offering the means for a non-web programming business owner to make an unlimited number of updates to their web site, it’s easy to see why.

Consider this: You have a shiny new website.  It’s got crisp images, a TON of information and a 10% coupon to encourage conversions.  It might even include a way to <GASP!> contact you.

Things are humming along rather smoothly.  In fact, business is so good, you had to bring someone on to help with day-to-day tasks.  Then you had multiple phone lines installed.  You may have even splurged on a brand new logo.

Almost as an afterthought you realize you haven’t updated your website with all the new changes. Shame on you… A new staff member, a different coupon, new contact info and don’t forget your new logo!

Obviously, you call your web company.  You’re not sure whether they’ll make these changes for free or whether they’ll bill you.  Either way, you need the updates on the website and you need them yesterday.

You could be in a sticky situation.  You can’t make the updates yourself, some web companies bill $75/hour, 1 hour minimum and they add you to the bottom of the stack to get to it by the end of the week.

Ouch. A ten-minute job for $75 and you have to wait a few days?

With a CMS, you don’t have that problem.  You simply login:

And make changes!

A lot of the CMSs out there are very similar in functionality to other text editors, like Microsoft Word, in that you can adjust font sizes, insert links or images and even create brand new pages.  They’re very user-friendly so you can have your helper make updates for you as well.  Depending on how many updates you need, having a CMS built for your site can pay for itself in a few months.

Whether you use a blogging platform or a traditional website, you will need your web company for high-level programming, but for simple website text and image updates, you can’t beat a CMS.

If you already use a Content Management system, leave us a comment and tell us what you like and dislike about them – we’d love to hear from you.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get more website tips from ODX Fusion!

ODX Fusion is asked to speak to many businesses and professional groups about how Internet Marketing can help boost a brand and ultimately bring more sales.  It’s fun, we love to do it and further love seeing the “ah-ha!” moments on our audience members’ faces when they begin to realize what we’re saying.

But make no mistake, the one question that’s been asked Every. Single. Time. is… “How do I find the time?”

It’s a good question on the surface, we agree.  It appears that gaining any ground in the social media and online environment takes an inordinate amount of time.  Aside from being untrue, we believe the question is disingenuous even if the asker doesn’t realize how.

We make time for our books, we make time for our employees.  Let’s make time for our business marketing.

The real question then becomes: “Why am I resisting the internet marketing plunge?”

Read on to see the answers we believe businesses are resisting online marketing.

1. Fear of Change

You’re doing your offline marketing, you’re out there shaking hands and kissing babies and you get a few sales.  You’re comfortable with that.  Internet Marketing / Social Media brings a whole new set of headaches that you just don’t need, right?

Wrong.  Marketing online has given us a forum to engage our customers and put information out to them in real-time.  REAL-TIME! When was the last time your direct mail campaign did that?

Marketing is a necessary evil of doing business and the landscape is always evolving. You need to keep up.

2. Fear of Marketing

If you’re in business, you NEED to market your product!  In some way or another, you need to get the word out.  Too many business owners believe that their product or service speaks for itself.  I’m here to tell you – it’s not speaking to anyone if not a soul knows about it.

As with any other type of marketing, a good strategy is all you need.  Once you have that in place, it’s not so much a fear as much as a project to be treated as such.

3. Fear of Competition

Some folks are not comfortable in dealing with competition.  Marketing online puts you in front of a lot of people, including your competitors.  Be confident in your craft and let your competitors see you.  Ever thought they might fear you?

What you’re doing by not using the internet to your advantage is allowing your competitors to use it to theirs.  You’re letting them speak to your past and present customers.  And forget about future customers. You may not have any (maybe a bit harsh).

4. No Idea Where to Start

This is common and completely understandable. It’s a big online world out there and you have no idea how to get started.  Check out our recent series of posts on Getting Started on Social Media for Beginners.  If you don’t want to hire someone, you’re going to have to look around to determine where to start.  This blog is by no means the only one out there interested in helping you.  Sign up for a social media account.  Buy a book.  Start learning about search engine optimization.  Read about Pay-Per-Click marketing. Start a blog (it’s free!). If you don’t want to do all that leg work, we know someone who would love to help with your internet marketing efforts <wink>!

5. You Hate Your Website

Internet Marketing is really about bringing qualified (primed to purchase) customers to your website. But your neighbor’s 11^th grade son built your website a few years ago and frankly you’re embarrassed to send anyone to it.

When you can’t afford a professionally designed website, it’s an even better argument for using social media. While customizable, your profile can give you a look that’s on par with everyone else.  For the record – a Facebook page does not replace the need for a well-designed website, but it can act as a lead generator in the absence of one or until you can afford one.

6. Fear of Leads

Make no mistake about it, some people have anxiety attacks when it comes to following up on leads. “what do I say to put my company in the best light?” or “what if they ask me a question I can’t answer?” and you might be surprised how scary it is for some people to ask for money.

When your internet marketing efforts are working and generating qualified leads for you, these people WANT to give someone their money, it’s your job to convince them that someone should be you.  They’ve reached out to you, now go shake your money-maker.

Any questions?

This is just the surface of why you’re resisting online marketing and social media.  If we’ve missed the boat then we want to hear from you.  Why ARE you resisting?  If “time” is all you come up with, look deeper and really ask yourself what’s keeping you.  If you can’t answer the question, let us know and we’ll get you there.

Your Comments Welcome

YouTube and other online video services are great platforms for marketing your business, but it’s also a wonderful tool for learning about topics of interest that you know little about.
In keeping with the Internet Marketing theme, I’ve compiled 10 of my favorite YouTube vids for your viewing and learning pleasure.

Interested in podcasting? MobilePhone2003 uploaded the video above and it offers great information for the beginner.

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David Skul from the Skul of Relativity has put together an incredible library of videos to help business owners use Social Media and Blogs to promote their business. Above is just one of the many Blog Marketing vids he’s offered.

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You’re not using Google Alerts to keep up with what’s being said about you or your brand online? Shame on you. Watch this video and learn how.

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If you can get past the Crocodile Dundee accent, here is 10 Things You Can Do For Your Small Business Online. Great beginner video.

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Gary Vaynerchuk is an amazing speaker, especially when it comes to social media and business. And he’s not interested in keeping it Rated G either.

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Perry Belcher on the most common question I receive with regard to using social media and time constraints. This is right on in addition to Perry always sporting an awesome shirt.

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Don’t Be That Guy. No really, please don’t be that guy. Chris Brogan talks about aggressive selling on social media. Oldie, but a goodie – and unfortunately too many people are still that guy.

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Ian Lurie is the grumpy Internet Marketer that knows his stuff and co-author of “Internet Marketing for Dummies”. This is setting up Google Analytics, which is a must have for any business with a website. It’s an older video, but the setup is virtually the same.

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Another of Ian Lurie’s tutorial vids, this one for finding out what you should pay attention to within Google Analytics.

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This is an easy and basic video tutorial for setting up Google Adwords, Google’s Pay-Per-Click service. A great way to get started.

Sometimes Internet Marketing can seem daunting, but these videos are a good way to become familiar. If you have questions about any of the services covered above, contact me and I’ll guide you through.

I recently attended a local small business conference regarding a myriad of online marketing topics that range from search engine optimization to social media and ecommerce websites to blogs.  I hate to say there is still a lot of confusion out there about these topics and others.

In this post I will try to dispel a few specific rumors and misinformation in a non-technical sense so that it becomes more clear what online marketing really entails.  My hope is that you will take what you see here and identify how it might work within your own web marketing strategy.

This may seem random, but it’s in the order of the discussions as we had them.  Enjoy!

Shopping Cart

The first note I had was about the advantages and disadvantages of a Shopping Cart on your website and when to implement one.  Shopping carts are for ecommerce websites selling a product and may make it easier for your customer to find and purchase multiple products within a single shopping experience.  You can collect payment information right from your website, offer receipts, make other purchase suggestions at checkout time, coupons and much more.  A disadvantage to having a shopping cart is its potential for more maintenance, legwork and upfront cost.

When should you get a shopping cart for your website? If you’re selling one product twice a week, a shopping cart is probably not for you.  But if you have multiple products, a shopping cart could be a very viable option so that your customers may purchase many items all at once.  A shopping cart on a website also lends credibility to the merchant and your customers may appreciate it.

PayPal

PayPal is a no-contract, secure and easy solution for buying and selling goods /services online and an alternative to a merchant account in some instances.  If you offer purchases via PayPal, the buyer can pay with a credit card without even having a PayPal account.

PayPal takes a small portion of the sale (often 1.9% – 2.9% + $0.30 USD), which may be feasible depending on the size of the sale.  You’ll need to determine what’s best – a merchant account where you need secure payment pages and all your payments occur on site or allow PayPal to take a small cut for the convenience of using their secure payment pages and transactions.

Some websites offer both.

Social Media

Many small business owners are afraid of Social Media or feel it is no place for their business. I’m here to tell you this – if your customers are using social media, so should you.

One topic that has come up recently was a Facebook issue where their Terms of Service assumed rights to users’ content.  That’s not so anymore… we spoke, Facebook listened. Your content is your content.

Of course as a business owner you’ll need to practice discretion with what you decide to upload.  There are also many privacy settings on all the major social media sites so that YOU determine what others see.  Privacy is only a concern when you don’t address it in your social media strategy…

Hosting Your Own Blog or Go With Free Hosting

This is a common question that you’ll hear a million different answers to.  Our stance is this: If you’re just starting out, use the free WordPress , Blogger or other free blog services to determine if blogging is for you.  Once you’re serious, pay a few bucks a month and host your own.  You look more professional and have more options when you host your own blog.

Free Hosted Example = www.mybusiness.wordpress.com

or

Host Your Own Example = www.mybusiness.com

You decide.

Forums vs. Blog

In its very simplest terms, forums are predominately user-generated content (threads) which users interacting with other users on a broad topic. Here is a great example of a Syracuse, NY forum.

A blog on the other hand is a website or blog owner offering information and interacting with his/her readers through posts.  In our blog we give small business owners tips and tricks with regard to online marketing.  If you’re so compelled, you may leave a comment but you cannot start a post on our blog the way you can a forum.  Blogs also have more options and offer more diversity than forums, in my eyes.

SEO and Metadata (Meta Tags)

Meta tags are a great place to optimize your website for search engines.  Aside from the keyword meta tag,  this is not for keyword stuffing as much as it is for including relevant keywords, location, robots direction etc…  It can certainly get confusing, but if you are a DIY Search Engine Optimizer, you cannot ignore the meta data.

SEO and Flash / Images

Flash and Image SEO can be very tricky but is not impossible.  Keep in mind that a search engine cannot read an image for what the image is and it cannot view a Flash Animation.  Search Engines can only read the text associated with it and whatever text lies on the page.

Frequently Updated Content

Frequently updated content is about keeping your site current, fresh and interesting so that visitors and search engines come back to your page again and again.  It’s not changing the color of your background  or redoing your entire website every two weeks, but it is making sure you offer your customers timely information and removing information about an upcoming event that happened last year.  Having a blog or “News” section are wonderful options for fresh content offerings.

That’s it for now – I hope this has been a bit enlightening.  There is much more information on each of the topics above and I’ve only offered an abbreviated overview.

If you have further questions or would like more detailed information, subscribe to this blog, leave a comment or contact me at julia @ odxfusion .com.

On Thursday, March 19, 2009 I had the privilege of attending the 2009 Veterans Business Conference “OPERATION: Start Up and Grow” as a veteran of the U.S. Army and as a small business owner with an interest in progressing small businesses owned by veterans and civilians alike.

This incredible event was hosted by Onondaga Community College, the NYS SBDC, M&T Bank, the Syracuse SBA and NYBDC as well as in attendance by many organizations intent upon furthering the entrepreneurial spirit of our United States Veterans.

First, I would like to thank the folks that carried this event and continually make it possible for vets to take their specialized training and translate it to a business idea or operation.  Next, I offer my complete respect and gratitude to the vets in attendance that had the desire and drive to put it all on the line for their country and now for their communities as a small business owner.

What an experience.

With the excitement that all small business owners have for their business, Operation: Start Up and Grow started off with a bang.  Emceed by local talk radio celebrity Jim Reith with opening remarks from County Executive Joanie Mahoney, OCC President Debbie Sydow and SBA District Director Bernard Paprocki, the atmosphere was that of anticipation, enthusiasm and an overall thrill to be there.

The workshops were right on the mark with topics from Business Planning 101 and Effective Marketing to Exploring International Markets, Government Contracting and Financing Your Business.  I don’t know a business owner that couldn’t take some gem away from this daylong event.

Of particular interest to me was the presentation by Doreen Garrett, President and CEO of Otis Technology, Inc who started her business at the wise old age of 16 sitting on the kitchen floor of her father’s house.  Additionally, Tony Baird, President and CEO of Tony Baird Electronics, Inc shared his story of serving 7 years in the U.S. Army, enduring a service-related disability to becoming a teacher, coach and ultimately starting and running his own thriving electronics business now located in the Syracuse Technology Garden downtown.

It was an awesome opportunity just to be there and share this day with these great people, to learn from them, help educate them and be a part of the general camaraderie that existed between us.

To all involved, I thank you for make this event a memorable one.

Stay tuned for pictures taken at the event!

Julia Velazquez from M&T Bank has made herself available to our veterans for more information on starting and financing their business.  Contact her at jvelazquez@mtb.com or call 315.424.4581.