MARKETING SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES

website services for businesses

When I talk to business owners, I often find that a key concern is their website's performance or, in the case of new businesses, the thought of creating a website for the first time. Here are some of the typical 'stumbling blocks' they encounter (all of which, by the way, can be overcome with a little time and effort):

Techie speak: Factors such as meta tags, descriptions, page titles, keywords and content are all highly important to the visibility of your website. Despite some of the techie speak used in the industry, getting these factors right is not rocket science! It simply requires a good basic understanding and some solid groundwork, neither of which take very long at all to implement.

Too much information: Getting fired up about helpful tools like Google Analytics, ezine articles, favicons, Google Page Rank, business and social networks, speed tests, etc, etc. is a great place to be. Taking these things forward, however, can sometimes seem daunting.

If these scenarios sound familiar, you're not alone. I have years of experience in helping clients create new websites and resolve issues on their existing sites and I can help and support businesses in the following key areas:

Website reviews
I love reviewing business websites. It's one of my favourite marketing tasks. And it doesn't take me long to carry out an analysis and identify key areas for improvement. What's more, I generally find that most problems are easy to fix and can make a big difference to a website, thus making the small outlay well worth the end result.
What my clients say:
Thank you for all the fantastic input you put into our new website.
Becky Hall, Director, Fluent Consulting Ltd

Google Analytics
I'm a great fan of this powerful and completely free tool from Google. If you already have a business website or are planning one in the near future, it’s important to monitor its marketing and sales effectiveness in relation to your target audience. Google Analytics is a sophisticated yet easy to use statistical analysis tool that provides over 80 different reports on areas such as visitor segmentation, individual webpage popularity, buyer behaviour and search engine optimisation efforts. If you don't have time to manage Google Analytics yourself, please contact me for a no-obligation quote to provide you with regular statistics tailor-made to your requirements. I am currently presenting a series of beginner level seminars on this topic at City Business Library and the next session is on Monday 14th November. You can also sign up to my mailing list to receive a reminder of these upcoming events.
What course attendees say:
"A useful and informative session which was well presented."
"Very good technical ability - really did 'hold hands' and took the audience through."
'Barbara was very thorough, personable and kind."
"Really useful/well explained and presented."
"Thanks so much for a fantastic workshop last week. I really appreciated it."
"Many thanks for the slides and for a very useful session."
"I'm pre-start up but your seminar helped to demystify Google Analytics for me."
"Thank you for the slides. It was a pleasure to listen to your presentation."
"Thanks for the slides Barbara. It was a great seminar."
"Enjoyable and informative."
"Very clear starter explanation."
"Very friendly and patient speaker."
"Informative, very useful, interesting."
"Very interesting workshop and easy to follow."
"Informative, excellent speaker."
"Very useful intro for beginners."
"Good presentation, entertaining and informative."

Search engine optimisation (SEO)
After years of working with websites I remain convinced that "organic" SEO and natural search engine results are a great option for businesses, especially those with limited spend. Organic SEO involves applying a best practice approach that ensures your website is the best it can be both in terms of content that meets your visitors' needs and the visibility of the site at search engine level (with the two clearly being interrelated). I launched my website in January 2008 and have only ever used organic SEO techniques. I have never used Google Adwords or Pay Per Click (PPC), yet take a look at my rankings in the column on the right and you'll see what can be achieved. That's not to say that Adwords and PPC don't have their place for certain organisations, but in my experience with my own website and my the work I've done for my clients, they're not absolutely essential for every business website.
What my clients say:
Thank you for all the optimisation work you did on our website. We're thrilled with the improved rankings!
Jair Santamaria, Owner, Hair & Beauty by Jhair

Social media
Are you using social media in your business? Which are the right social media sites for you? Do you love to Tweet? Have you explored Facebook as a promotional avenue? Or do you like to interact on business networks such as LinkedIn? One thing's for sure: social media is a phenomenon that's here to stay, so assessing its potential usefulness (or not) to your business has become an essential part of marketing strategy today.
What my clients say:
Our customers were keen to see our daily menu posted on Facebook and Twitter, and Barbara has done an excellent job of setting up this service for us. It's also saving us time, as our customers who normally phone us each day for the menu can now be directed straight to our social media pages. Barbara even took the external photos of our cafe, which was an added plus.
Maddie Coles, Cafe Pronto

If you'd like some help and support with your website or practical advice on social media and how it relates to your business, please contact me today for a no-obligation chat.