Web Development
Webwise - If you build it they MAY come!
Let’s get on the same page, the same Webpage that is. There are millions of rumors, myths and erroneous assumptions circling the internet when it comes to doing business on the world wide web. Add in security issues, hoaxes, technical problems and an ever-changing sea of information, it is easy to see that dealing with your company’s website can be overwhelming. Despite the issues, having an online presence for your company is a MUST nowadays because it can add significant revenue and increase global recognition, if done right.
Did you get that, if done right? One of the biggest misconceptions about doing business on the internet is the “if you build it they will come” syndrome. Millions of online businesses suffer from this.
An example: a company has spent a large amount of time and resources getting their website developed and published to the web. They excitedly wait for visitors to start coming and for the sales to start pouring in. And they wait. And they wait. And they wait some more. Frustrated they begin to blame the web developer for “misleading them.” They eventually give up on the website and categorize it as a write off. They are angry, but it is not the developer’s fault. The problem is that the company did not do it’s homework.
You should understand that “if you build it, they MAY come,” but most likely you will need to promote the hell out of your site. Yes, that’s it folks. For your site to become a fabled cash cow, you will need to treat it as what it really is:
A MARKETING TOOL.
Historically, in any successful marketing campaign, a target product, target audience, branding message and deployment strategy must be decided upon. The greater the quality of planning and research, the higher the results will be. You must begin to think of your company’s website as an ongoing, worldwide, 24/7 365 days a year marketing campaign and must treat it as such. Anything less will have detrimental effects.
In order to have a successful online presence, a company must research and plan for an effective website that fulfills company and customer needs. After the site is published, a systematic, consistent marketing plan to promote the site is needed. Also, a systematic, consistent plan to keep the site fresh with new content to keep visitors coming back is necessary. These two plans will work together to create a dynamic site that customers will come to trust and will lead to greater sales and communication with customers.
Additionally, it is necessary to use as many forms of media to promote your business website as possible. Newspaper ads, flyers, radio spots, TV spots, articles, business cards, promotional events and online strategies will help you to create a buzz and visibility for your website. If you have been consistent with your marketing you will notice that your site will begin to have a growing traffic base of loyal customers who trust your company. These customers will happily do business with you online and will become spokespersons to drive more traffic to your site. Because you have been consistently updating your site with new articles and information, your customers have learned to depend on you as a source of quality information, quality services and quality products. You have made it at last.
Although this picture of your website as a long-term marketing tool may not be the news you wanted to hear, that is just the way it is. Doing business online is a different animal. But if you can see the value of having a strong web presence for your business and can make a commitment to using your website as a marketing tool, you will reap the benefits. In this column, we will be looking further into the realm of doing business online and addressing some of the big issues and misconceptions that can be turned into avenues of success.
Joomla - CMS
We would like to tell you a bit about Joomla, so you can learn to appreciate it as much as we do. Also, we would like to show you, why the investment may be slightly higher at the beginning, compared to HTML sites, but you will soon see that the many benefits that Joomla has will begin to pay for itself in record time.
More than ever, having a live, always changing website, rich with features and information is a requirement to being a successful business.
One of the main advantages that a Joomla CMS site has to offer is that content and design are kept separate. When they are kept separate it’s much easier for the customer to make changes to their own site. Historic HTML sites required special software and the expertise of professional web designers to modify the content. What does this mean for you? It simply means your site can be updated on any computer, at any time. Updating your website is as easy as writing an email and requires almost no computer skills. Now it is simple and inexpensive to always present a clean and up-to-date website to your customers. We also offer training classes to help you learn how to make your changes and updates efficiently. Saving you time and money, Joomla CMS is a great solution.
Joomla CMS also offers Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO defines how a customer can locate you online using the most popular search tools available. Joomla CMS offers a simpler way to optimize your exposure; since engines are constantly changing, it’s necessary to maintain SEO on a regular basis. Without the advantage of SEO, you may have a great website, but no one will be able to find you.
There are hundreds of interactive plug-ins available for your Joomla site. Should you decide that you need to add a customer login, shopping cart, online catalog, sign-up form, gallery, calendar, newsflash, rotating banner, and community forum or more, we can implement these easily and at little cost.
When it’s all said and done the advantages of having a Joomla CMS based site are not to be overlooked. Keeping up with the latest technology and constantly wanting to move your company ahead is difficult. With the ease and professionalism of Joomla, companies will have an upper hand and allow them to focus on more pressing tasks.
Since all business is growing quickly and the industry standards require you to always be a step ahead of your competition, Joomla CMS is a great solution for you. Companies will envy your website and wonder why theirs does not quite stack up. Computer Connections is confident that we can create a one of a kind site for your company, giving you the exposure that you desire.
Be one of the first in the Business to have the latest and greatest website companion!
Advantages of Content Management:
-Saves time
-Saves money
-Increases productivity
-Offers rich online interactivity with customers
-Can increase profits
-Can help expand company visibility
-Allows for in-house web maintenance
-Updates made without coding experience needed
-Makes it easy to have a fresh, always-changing site
- Search Engine friendly
and much, much more!
Call us for a custom quote today!
Customized Web Development Can Save You Thousands!
The Internet has become one of the most important marketplaces in our economy. Period. Because of this it is critical to have a strong, functional web presence for your business that caters directly to the needs of your customers. One manner to achieve this is through customized web application development.
Custom web design is extremely important to consider when planning on how to provide the best possible customer service for your clients because it can be a means to provide personal interactivity and up to the minute information. This improves team efficiency and higher sales.
One example of a custom web application is live database integration with an existing accounting platform. This enables important information to be made available to employees and customers through a website.
Some questions: Do you need to provide order information in real time to your customers? Do you offer updating customer shipping notifications? Can your customers respond to you immediately? If you do not currently provide real time order information, live help, UPS or Fedex Automated Email shipment notifications you are missing a huge opportunity to provide tools that will encourage your customers to stick with you in the future.
So, how much does customization cost? A lot less than you may think. Customization makes it simple to get information to your employees and clients and can save a tremendous amount of time by automating many manual procedures.
A case study of one of our clients is McArthur Towel and Sports in Baraboo, a manufacturer of towels and Licensed Sports Products that distribute locally and internationally. McArthur Towel and Sports is realizing the extreme benefits of a customized web application developed for them by Computer Connections. Our web team designed a custom program that links their existing accounting data to the web interface so that sales people, vendors, and customers can have live sales information available to them via the website. The savings from this custom development generated by newly automated process, higher customer satisfaction and increased purchaser loyalty is momentous.
It is more important than ever for businesses to provide consistent, useful, current information to existing customers, vendors, and partners. Custom web solutions are without a doubt, something to consider when planning how to provide better customer service and up to the minute information to your customers.
We would like to talk to you soon about how we may be able to help you accomplish your goals and to show you how easy the customization can be. Please give us a call to find out why this is a lucrative opportunity for you.
Drive More Traffic to Your Website in 7 Effective Ways
JUST HAVING A WEBSITE IS NOT ENOUGH! With the internet growing at an astonishing rate, the risk of your website getting lost in ‘cyber space’ is now higher than ever.
Learn how applying these 7 steps can take your website from the black hole and make it easily accessible to your potential customer base. It is a well-known fact that more people search the internet to find the service they are looking for than actually searching for you through the yellow pages.
1. Create a post-card to advertise your website and hand it out to every customer that you encounter. Try leaving it on tables in restaurants, and other public places. This ensures that people know how to find you easily.
2. Find authority websites in your industry and ask for back links to your site. These sites are ones that are not your direct competition but someone that is in line with your product sets.
a. For example: If you are selling beauty products, find someone like a spa, massage institute, or hair salon to provide a back link to your site.
3. Know the statistics of your website. If you don’t have Google Analytics yet, go out and get it! This program provides valuable information on the visitor behavior for your website. With this valuable information you can target your keywords and marketing campaign very specifically, change your site to suit respondents, optimize your keywords and finally launch a sucessful marketing campaign.
4. Put your website’s address out everywhere you can.
a. Business cards, emails, receipts, checks, postcards, brochures, books, cars, signs, newspaper ads, yellow-page ads, magazines, etc.
5. Be part of online communities in your field and post comments and articles to get well known; building trust in potential customers.
6. Start a blog. By only posting 3 times a week with any information related to you, your business and industry will not only get valuable content and keywords from your site, it will also hold your customer’s interest, and give them a reason to return to your site. Also, because you are always adding new content, Google and other search engines will improve your rankings since your content updates often.
7. Submit your website to the popular search engines and industry related directories.
By doing these seven steps on a regular basis, you will not only notice increased traffic flow to your website, but you will also begin to notice you website has higher authority, as more people come through your door or call your office. Let Computer Connections of Wisconsin assist in your Search Engine Optimization. Call us today for a custom quote.
Ecommerce
Does your business need more customers? Do you want to increase sales?
Then the following may be something for you to consider!
The advantages of Ecommerce/online shopping are revolutionary!
Recent statistics show that 50 % of all adult Americans have Internet service at home. 49 % of Americans have purchased products online, and the numbers are rising every day.
The reasons for this popularity are fairly simple:
* The internet is open 24/7.
* With Ecommerce, normal time constraints are no longer an issue.
* Your business is unaffected by rising gas prices, since neither you or your customers are limited by distance or location.
* A simple Web site can reach people around the globe.
All you need do is invest in a good Website and online marketing to catch the attention of potential online clients.
There is no need to hire and train salespeople to pitch your products or services. The Website does it for you: A well-designed, well-written, and well-promoted Web site is a strong marketing and advertising tool, salesperson, and cashier, all wrapped up in one. Ecommerce can reduce set-up costs, operational costs and lower your staffing costs.
If your products are part of a niche market you will enjoy selling your products to customers and fans all over the world. (Niche products are very specified products that not everyone needs/buys, but the ones that do are willing to pay a good price for it, since they cannot get it at other mainstream stores.)
There are a few things to consider before hiring someone to create you an online store:
It is important to research the market and to be sure that the products that you are selling would do well over the Internet. Let’s take shoes, for example: even though they are being sold online, they would be a product to reconsider, since most people really want to try on shoes before buying them.
Another consideration is shipping; are your products shippable? UPS may have trouble with kitchen cabinets…
When selling products online you need to have accurate market research, online marketing and Search Engine Optimization, to ensure that people will be able to easily find your website. The greatest website ever developed will not be visible to the multitude of your niche market customers, unless it is optimized for the search engines. Otherwise it’s like having a fancy lemonade stand on a back road just outside town. You get the picture…!
Our advice:
If you have a product that is suitable to be sold through the Internet and shipped to your customer, we encourage you to explore this modern age way of increasing customers, sales and profits.
We can help you:
Computer Connections’ experts can help you develop your website and online store to quickly promote your website online. We can optimize your website for the search engines, so that your potential customers can find you.