Knowmad Blog

January is the perfect time to review your online marketing plan to ensure it still matches up with your company’s sales plan for the upcoming year. What has changed in your company’s planning or marketplace since you last reviewed your online marketing plan? Reviewing the performance of your website and the competitive landscape online will inform your planning.

Do you know the top 3 metrics to measure?

For most companies, the website’s highest purpose is to bring sales leads. If it’s not performing on this task, take a look at the following top three metrics for success.

• Total number of website visitors vs. visitors that become leads or buyers
• Close rate of sales leads
• Average order value

The number of metrics available for a website is daunting and trying to track all those numbers will distract you from real success. Instead, narrow your focus to metrics that will drive the business forward.

Is your website bringing more customers to your door?

By using the metrics mentioned, you can easily track the performance of your website and overall Web presence. If your metrics are trending downward, what is driving the change?

If traffic is at expected norms but interactions are down, you may want to review and update the product descriptions or offers on your website. If traffic has decreased, where are your previous visitors going? You may find you have a new competitor, visitors are finding more relevant content somewhere else online or your online market space has changed.

Are You Falling Behind?

When was the last time you reviewed your online competitors? The online marketplace changes quickly. It’s smart to complete this every 4 to 6 months or when your metrics significantly change. One way to do a competitive review is to search on your most valuable keywords and review both the search results and advertisements. You may discover new competitors or that existing competitors are gaining ground.

Online plagiarism is a tough and frustrating problem; each plagiarism situation is different and the overall problem isn’t going away. The content in need of protection could be copy, images, sounds, videos or other varied types of content. It becomes a little easier to address when you know where to start.

In our industry, we most often see content theft in e-commerce, blogging and publisher websites but it can happen to any website. This isn’t intended to scare you, just to let you know that it’s a common issue and there are a few routes available to protect your investment in online content. In addition to qualified legal advice, other web publishers are a great source for ideas on how to protect your content by learning about their methods.

We’ve also observed that, in our business, the issue of plagiarism is best handled by providing our clients with options so they can find a method that works best for them. Recommending a specific solution would expose us to certain undesirable liabilities. Ergo…

Our Important Legal Disclaimer

We can’t give legal advice; we’re not attorneys, laws change and each situation differs. You should consult a qualified attorney and the US Copyright Office if you have questions about copyright protection and to review any process created for plagiarism or copyright infringement protection.  We are providing information about common industry practices and not information about applying the law to a specific set of facts.

Now, let’s discuss the issue at hand.

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Now that “the cloud” has reached mainstream media with Microsoft’s “To the Cloud” marketing campaign, I felt it was time to address the risks and rewards of this next evolution of the Internet. In a nutshell, the cloud is Internet-based computing that enables the sharing of resources, software, and information. A commonly used analogy is the electricity grid which supplies power to our homes and businesses.
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Old Italian Homestead

During my travels in Italy this fall, I witnessed both the beauty of this historic country as well as the impact that neglect has on its ancient structures. Indeed, a common job in the country is in the maintenance and restoration of its architecture, art and books. Likewise, in today’s business world, the heart of a successful Web strategy is regular maintenance of your website. Read the rest of this entry →

“The desire for symmetry, for balance, for rhythm is one of the most inveterate of human instincts.”—Edith Wharton, Pulitzer-prize winning novelist, writer, and designer

Here’s some advice that might be hard to swallow: The colors, fonts, spacing and imagery on your website could be the difference between a user purchasing from you or choosing a competitor. This means that even the most strategic SEO or marketing campaign could be jeopardized by a visually neglected site.

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One of my favorite questions to ask prospective clients is why they have or want a Website. Granted, in 2010, it’s de rigueur for a business to have a Website. However, building a Website just because everyone else is doing it is an unsatisfactory reason that will produce limited results at best. If you don’t have the time and budget to build a serious Website, you should consider this strategy. Otherwise, there’s really no excuse to ignore this important question which can be used to define your goals, create a strategy & measure the success of your efforts. Read the rest of this entry →

Facebook is an important marketing communication tool for businesses of all sizes. Businesses are using Facebook Fan Pages to promote brands, send out event invites, broadcast company updates, conduct crowd sourcing research and otherwise stay in touch with a loyal customer base. From international brands to your local corner store, businesses of all sizes use social networks to share the personality of a brand, encourage brand interaction and cultivate buyer loyalty.

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Your corporate website can play a critical role in your organization beyond simply communicating your products and services. It can be a key component in your overall business strategy. And it can also be a powerful tool for your sales team by gathering leads, warming prospects and supporting the post-sell process.

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Our experience building value-added Web sites for businesses has shown us that one of the best ways to improve your Web site ROI is to implement features that enhance customer service. We’ve helped many companies leverage their website to reduce customer support costs and improve brand loyalty by adding some thoughtful features.

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Anyone who has ever personally been on a limited budget is familiar with the search for inexpensive ways to improve and extend the life of something we own. The answer usually lies in viewing the object from a different perspective.
Businesses have budgets too and in today’s environment, those budgets are being squeezed. But one area that is ripe for viewing from a different perspective is Web technology and the systems surrounding it. Savvy organizations understand how to achieve maximum utility out of their existing systems, create competitive advantages, increase efficiency and grow their businesses.

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