Our METHOD is what sets us apart and allows us to be as transparent and forthcoming with information about what we do and how we do it. Investing in your website is not selecting the lowest bidder or someone who can match or beat our prices. We don’t view a website as a commodity but we are sensitive to affordability and the absolute minimum is our advertised price which balances the work required with an entry level professional looking site that can be built upon.
The Interview: Understanding Your Business
A thorough view of your business is the key component in selecting the content to go on your site
The first step is talking with you do get an appreciation of the nature and operations of your business. This includes obtaining information about:
- Your products & services- including images and descriptions, prices etc.
- Your best selling products/services- to highlight and promote on the site
- Your business strengths- your key selling points; what makes you different and gives a competitive edge
- Your target market and niche- to better focus the site to speak to them directly
- Your main competitors- their websites, search ranking and keywords to formulate a strategy to beat them
- Your accomplishments- feathers in your cap so you can fortify your credibility
- Any Affiliations/Certifications- also for credibility
- Satisfied Clients- to obtain testimonials for feature on your site
The Design:
Content & Layout
Determining the proper company snapshot of your Home Page is an art by itself, then inner page layout and content.
This part starts with selecting the right template for your business. There are many templates themed for specific industries. Don’t get hung up on the use of templates as opposed to designing a website from scratch. Firstly, no small business on a budget can afford a unique custom designed website. Secondly, the level of coding required for server-side dynamic web pages (PHP, Javascript etc.) is best left to expert coders and not comparable to static HTML sites. It’s also more than just swapping images and replacing text as you still have blank pages to fill staring at you. Design & Layout:
- Selecting content for home page- Featured content, designing slider images, illustrative icons,
- Determining Navigation- Menus and sub-menus, links
- Inner Pages- Deciding what these pages should be by conceptualizing your website from the interview, including the best layout, illustrative icons, company images, sidebar content
- Content Writing- Writing compelling copy for the web requires skill and know-how— we have the skill and we know how!
- Facebook Page- The ‘sugar’ for your website’s ‘tea’ so you go down smooth with your customers. Maybe Twitter is the ‘Crix’!
- Bells & Whistles- Interesting display of content: typography, styled lists, tabbed display, toggles, slideshows, pricing grids, tables, special forms
The Launch:
Promotion & Feedback
When your site goes live it begins phase one of a feedback loop to gather performance data and make creative tweaks with the now visual terms of reference.
The Forward Method ensures your website hits the ground running, you and your site will not be left alone to fend for yourself. With our online network and close relationships with owners of influential and high-traffic sites we actively promote and endorse your website and Facebook Page via:
- T&T Small Business Network’s Facebook Page- with endorsements and links
- Cross-promotion-on our network of other Facebook Pages depending on your business
- Our own ‘Websight’ email newsletter- announcing your site and encouraging email forwarding
- Our Facebook Page and Website- Each new website is added to our website’s Portfolio page with it’s specific keywords and meta description for search engine optimization (SEO). So your new site can get found through using our position on Google T&T
- Feedback via Google Analytics- using analytic reports to measure site traffic and performance of promotion efforts
- Feedback via Facebook Insights- using Facebook’s Page Insights to measure your page performance
And there you have it! Have we now armed our competition with our methodology? Absolutely, but why settle for a painting of a lady when we give you the Mona Lisa! All content on this page is original content passionately written by us so you can be sure we know what we’re talking about. So are you ready now?
© 2011 by: Forward Multimedia