Does “Web marketing” confuse you?

It’s our mission at Calloway Green to help you embrace Web Marketing as part of your sales strategy to bring you the customers you want. However, most companies still see Web Marketing as something best suited for technical people.

So how can you help us help you?

Simple, please fill out the ‘leave a reply’ area below with your main question about websites, web marketing or being at the top of Google.

We will endeavor to cover the questions over the coming months in this blog.

As web developers we tend to move in some really odd circles. It seems that whatever profession you choose, there’s a bunch of people who latch on to it and want to ask you questions. Usually when you’re in the pub tucking into a particularly nice packet of nuts.

Solicitors will be asked “how can I sue my accountant?”, estate agents will be asked “is the house market really in depression?” and bankers will be asked “what the hell is the credit crunch anyway?”

If you’re anything to do with the web, you’ll get asked “how can I be number one on Google?”. It’s enough to make you cry.

The fact is, the internet is a funny place and most people seem to think that because everyone can get it and anyone can have a website for essentially a few pounds, to get to number one on Google should also be free. Well, it can be free, but like most things in the knowledge economy, it’s free if you know how to do it. If you don’t know how to do it, it costs.

I could do my own accounts for free if only I knew how to do it. I could sell my own house if I knew how. But for some strange reason, many people seem to think that everything on the internet should be free, including marketing and the knowledge on how to do marketing.

Amazon didn’t cost a few hundred quid to set up and market. It took millions. Same with YouTube, Digg, Facebook etc.etc.

Some sites did well on no money, but that’s because the people behind them worked on the code, the marketing and the launch themselves. If you add up their time and multiply by a consultant’s fee, you’ll arrive at the real cost of setting up their website. It will never be free.

But why pick on this particular subject? Well, it’s because we’re about to launch a complete search engine marketing service for all those customers who are serious about selling stuff on the internet. Serious as in they view it as important as all other marketing and advertising. We don’t sell websites to people who aren’t serious about making money from it, so there’s no point in marketing a site for exactly the same reason.

Thing is, if you get it right, you can earn unlimited amounts from the web. That’s right. Unlimited. No limits. Let that sink in for a minute. The internet is ace. If you put an advert in the local paper, you’ll be hard pushed to get a few thousand people looking at it, let alone giving a damn. On the telly? Yeah, it gets pushed in front of a few million if you’re lucky enough to be able to afford a prime-time spot.

The internet? The difference is, people are looking for you. People go to Google to look for stuff. All you’ve got to do is make sure that when people are looking for stuff, they find you.

Easy. If you know how. If not, you can always pay someone…

Many many people call us and ask if we can get them to the top of Google, which is fine, but what happends when you get there?

When people get onto your site, what do they think? Do people’s experiences on your website match your expectations of what they experience? Or is your site just plain BAD?

If more than 5 of the following are true then you may need some help

• Does your website color scheme looks like a cartoon character exploded.
• Even you would never read through all the text on your site.
• People have time to go to lunch before your site loads.
• When you last update your site, Forrest Gump was a hit film.
• Good grammer is optional.
• Your domain name gives people RSI when they type it in.
• You use casual spelling on your site like you are trieing 2 snd a txt msg.

Ok, these are just a bit of fun, but you should seriously think about your site, it’s content, the way people see it and use it. Then when you do reach those dizzy heights of the front page of Google, you can expect some business to come through it.

Are you losing sight of what is important in your web site or just losing out on international sales?

Whether you are currently exporting or considering it for the future, if your website doesn’t appeal to international customers in their language, you are potentially losing out on thousands of pounds worth of trade.

Research has shown that if you don’t provide content in the language of your audience, they will go to a site that does and you have effectively lost that sale.

Is this happening to you?

Read the rest of this entry »

For some reason, there are still an awful lot of people who hold on to the belief that they can earn a million by just making their website live. To some, the process is quite linear:

But this doesn’t work for one very good reason. Your site has joined another million that were added today and no-one knows about it. Not one person.

Imagine a shopping centre with 10,000 shops , a bit like the one pictured here. You wanted to open up shop and so you buy your unit, get some signs and blam, you’re open for business. Will the buyers come knocking at the door? Doubt it. Before they even get chance to see your products or talk to you about fulfillment or see some example they’ll need to find you!

And submitting your site to Google is about as effective as adding your company name to the list of companies at the front door. Even if someone does see your name, they’re not going to know what the hell it is you do!

You’re lost in a sea of other companies all fighting for the customer’s cash, so you need to stand out and be counted.

But this shouldn’t be news to anyone. It’s what companies have been doing (or should have been doing) for years, nay, for ever.

Read the rest of this entry »

As rumours of recession and crashes fill the news, Calloway Green are bucking the trend with a flurry of new projects starting off the year. We are excited to announce that we will be working with Dave Fisher from Kingfisher Kustoms, one of the leading men in the Volkswagen scene. We’ll be building his e-commerce site over the coming months and helping him promote his new brand all over the web.

We are also working with Lasuza, a new fashion brand selling very high quality umbrellas to a discerning market. Their site will be a mixture of high fashion and excellent functionality brought together into a highly targeted and well marketed site.

Ok, so you may have heard about SEO and being at the top of Google being the best way to get more people to come to your wonderful site. But there are many many other ways and here are just 20 for those of you that want to have a go at doing it yourself. For those of you with better things to do, like running your company, please give us a call on 0845 0573420.

1. Blogging
Start writing great articles about your niche area and post them on your corporate blog (if you have one) – there’s a good chance other people will link to you. This will also begin to position you as a ‘champion’ in your business niche. If you are not comfortable doing this then maybe you could hire a PR or copyright company.

2. Forums
Visit the forums that are most relevant to your area and again post relevant information and get involved with discussions.

3. Be useful
Leave useful comments on other people’s blogs and link back to your site.

4. Review a product or company
This may not be relevant in your sector, but if you can it is well worth your time review a product or company. This again will position you as a voice of authority.

5. Online PR
Similar to point 1, but this time submit the articles to online article directories. Be careful to choose the best and most reputable ones such as PRWeb

6. PPC
You could also use PayPerClick Traffic such as Adwords on Google. These are the adverts that appear on the right hand side of Google searches. You will be charged per click and you can monitor the results if your site is set up to do so.
7. Build a mailing list
You should add a mailing list subscribe form in a high profile spot on your site and make sure the readers have a reason to sign up for news about your company.

8. Be relevant
Make sure you optimize the titles of your pages for keywords people will search for

9. Everyone likes free stuff
You could possibly create a freebie product to give away (ebook, software, whitepaper etc.). This helps build your database of potential clients.

10. Build a network
Exchange quality links with a few related sites in your niche, if they are willing to do so.

There are many many more. If you are serious about your product and service and want to drive more traffic to your site then please give us a call on 0845 0573420, we look forward to speaking with you.

In the same way that repeat business is of massive value to you, so are repeat visitors. The more you interact with your clients, the more likely they are to form an emotional bond with you. It’s simple but true – people buy from people they like.

1. FAMILIARITY
Visitors feel comfortable when the style and navigation of your site is well-presented. Make them welcome by ensuring the site is clear and simple to use, and they will be ready to learn more.

Check out your competitors’ sites, and make sure your site is better than theirs.

2. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID
As much as you love your site, people will never spend as long there are you would like them to, so whatever you have to say, say it quickly and say it clearly. In a nutshell, sum up how you can help your clients.

Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you that are keen to get more visitors to your website, you need to be getting quality links from quality sites. A good way to monitor that is by using this useful online tool ‘wholinks2me’ which does exactly what it says on the tin.

Copy and paste the following into your browser: http://www.wholinks2me.com/links/www.mycompany.com

(Remember to change www.mycompany.com to your own web address).

It seems like common sense… but as we all know, common sense isn’t common.

Knowing the answer to this is critical and is based on one simple fact that people buy for their reasons, not yours. Why should they care about your mission statement and your 200 year history? Your long list of features and benefits belong in the bin.

They only care about the outcome your offer provides them and the pain that you take away!

Once you work this out then build your website around that. People have very very limited time, but you’ll be suprised how long they will stay on your site once they know you can get them past a particular hurdle that is stopping them progress.