A great website and professional branding are critical to how customers find and perceive an enterprise. Websites are often the first point of contact the public has with an operation, and branding consistently reflects the ethos of a business, distinguishing you from competitors.

In this session we cover the free resources available to members of the Business Business Business community to help out with these two fundamental areas.

Websites

Over the past decade or so websites have come to be one of the most essential elements of business marketing. They not only tell an operation’s story and reveal critical details like services and location, but the best websites will position business above all others in those all-important Google searches via keywords and search engine optimisation.

Arguably websites have become one of the primary communication methods for attracting clientele and furnishing them with consistent and relevant information.

And there’s some important statistics to consider when designing and managing a website:

  • The first position on Google search results on desktop has a 34.36% clickthrough rate. (Advanced Web Ranking, 2015)
  • 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases. (Retailing Today, 2014)
  • Given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain. (Source: Adobe)
  • 30% of small businesses with a web presence generate more than 25% of their revenue online (Espresso Digital)
  • According to Google’s 2015 data, 50% of consumers who conduct local searches on their smartphone go to a store within 24 hours, and nearly 20% make a purchase within a day

So who can help out?

  • Focused Web Design explains the workings of websites in easy to understand terms, offering a free website consultation for new and existing businesses. If you’re new to business they’ll talk through your website options and costings. If you have an existing website they will provide you with options to improve it.
  • Smart Skink Marketing will manually audit your business website for SEO and record a short screen capture video with recommendations for simple changes you or your web developer can action immediately for an increase in search rankings.
  • Amy Hooke specifically assists bookkeepers with a free training video and tips to help bookkeepers improve their websites.

 

Branding

Branding is so much more than a logo or catchphrase, it’s the sum of a business’ parts rolled into a recognisable vision.

Or as noted by Boundless in “The Benefits of a Good Brand”:

“Developing a personality for your brand will help to stand out amongst your competitors and will ensure your customers remember you long after their initial purchase”.

And the following services are available to assist:

 

  • Lynette Delane of Kits and Bits offers templates and tips for business and has an eBook “Optimise Your Logo: 8 Practical Tips You May Not Have Considered” so you can compare apples with apples re outputs. She discusses source files, file types, different sizes and shapes, colour profiles, colour codes, fonts, taglines: to have or have not, and brand elements.

 

The final word

In a crowded marketplace great branding and a professional website are two of the elements to help you stand out from competitors, but of course there’s always more to business. We’re also profiling the further assistance available in arenas like bookkeeping, business coaching and PR.

For now there’s great information on a wide variety of business interests and issues available at the Business Business Business Learn Magazine.