Helping to brand your company is usually (and should be) a goal for every business’s website.  A website is an important part of any branding strategy.  Let’s talk a little bit about how to use your website to help brand your company. 

- Make your logo prominent in your site design.
It is so important when you are tying to brand your company to include your logo on all the marketing materials you create.  Your website is no exception.  Make sure your logo is prominent in the design of your website.

- Use your company colors.
Company colors are also an important part of building your brand.  Your website design should be in your colors so customers can easily recognize that they are at the right site as soon as they land on your homepage. 

- Include your company name in your domain name.
It is always a good idea to include your company name in your domain name.  This will help brand your company and help people find you. It is also important to go to a domain registrar like godaddy.com sooner rather than later to reserve your domain name.  Reserving it will ensure that it is under your control and that competitors and domain squatters cannot buy it or themselves.

- Maintain the look and feel of your business.
Your website is an extension of your business and should reflect the personality of your business– whether that is classy and sophisticated, hip and trendy, or fun and energetic. You know if you have achieved this if going to your website kind of feels like walking into the door of your business. And if you don’t have a physical location that customers visit, you have even more flexibility to create the look and feel of your business through your website.
Your customer needs to know within seconds of landing on your site that they have come to the right place. A lot of business names are similar so it is important that your website maintain a look and feel that is uniquely you.

Choosing a web designer that suits the needs of your business is a crucial part of creating a successful website.

One of the most important things to look for is a designer that takes the time to get to know your business. A big part of our website design process is learning. You need to provide your designer with all of your marketing materials– brochures, flyers, logos, etc.

You also want a web designer that is receptive to criticism and willing to take your input into consideration. Your site needs to be uniquely YOU; it is an important extension of your business. We always tell our clients that we are building THEIR website. So if they don’t like something about the designs we come up with, they should say so. We aren’t here to get our egos fed; we are here to design a website that is going to help your business succeed.

As far as experience levels, you want a designer that has experience with…
- Web design. You want to go with an experienced firm because they know the whole process, and they understand important things like website usability standards and cross-browser compatibility.
-Programming. If you want any kind of interactive quality to your site like forms or administrative back-ends, you you’ll need a web designer with experience in a web programming language such as PHP or ASP.
-Graphic design. Typically, you have web designers that are good at programming and web designers that are good at graphic design. It is rare to find one person that is superior at both so make sure you go with a company that has a programmer and graphic designer. Because building your website is an important part of building your brand, you also need someone who understands formats that are not just web-based so that they can convert the look for your current materials to your website or vice versa.
-Search engine optimization. A lot of web designers don’t design with the search engines in mind. But it will save you lot of aggravation when you are trying to market your site if you have a designer that understands SEO best practices. Sites that are too graphically intense or all flash tend to not rank well in search engines. So unless you are a high profile business that has already built their brand like Chanel, you will need someone who understands how to get you to rank for keywords in your target area. You may have a really cool-looking design but what good is your website if no one can find it?

If you are interested in hiring a web designer to build your company’s website or just to improve it, mention this blog entry and get a free web consultation when you contact us!

I’m sure you know by now how important and beneficial building a website can be for your business.  As more and more people use the internet as part of their daily activities, it only becomes more critical that businesses adapt and create a web presence.  

However, we know that many small businesses are on tight budgets and feel that they cannot afford to hire a professional web design firm. What you may not know is that having  a custom site built by Goebel Media Group can be financed.  If you take advantage of our website design ’same as cash’ financing program, your payments can be as little as $100/month until your balance is paid off.

If website financing is something you may be intersted in please contact us or request a web design quote.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to set goals for your business and decide where you are going to spend some of your marketing dollars. If you don’t have a website for your business or your website is outdated, make 2010 the year you stand out online.

If you aren’t convinced that now is the right time to start thinking about your website, consider the following reasons:

1. Customers and potential customers need to know where to find you.

Every business can benefit from having an effective website. That being said, not every business needs the same type of site and not every business needs a large and expensive site. Many small businesses simply need a few pages with their phone number, address and directions to their location. This is going to allow new and returning customers to access the information they need about your business whenever they need it just by searching you out in a search engine such as Google.

2. Your customers are already shopping (and pre-shopping) online.

According to Forrester Research, online sales in the US are expected to reach $331 billion in 2010. This market is only expected to grow.

There will always be a place for brick and mortar retail shops, but e-commerce is something you shouldn’t ignore or resist. Not included in the $331 billion figure are consumers who went online to research, price, and comparison shop products before going into a traditional store to actually make their purchase. So even if you aren’t ready to sell online, a website can motivate your customer to buy from you.

Another promising statistic from Forrester states that although the economic downturn has impacted overall sales in nearly all areas, the online sales growth rate has diminished only slightly and continues its upward trend by as much as 13% per year.

3. The sooner you get online, the sooner you will start making new customers online. 

Building a superior online presence takes time. Having a website built can be quick, but getting into the search engines and ranking well for the keywords you want can take months, even years for competitive terms. The good news is that you can get started right now by going to Godaddy.com and buying the domain name (that’s your .com or .net address). The domain will only cost you about $10/year. The earlier you get started, the sooner you can start getting results.

If you are serious about making 2010 your year to bring your business online, be sure to attend the January Market and visit http://www.goebelmedia.com for more information.

Goebel Media Group has an exciting new client– Christopher Macken Concepts. We are thrilled to be managing his web presence and much of his marketing. The current site is a work in progress and will be added to in the near future. More about this exciting client to come…

About Christopher Macken
Christopher Macken has taken the beauty industry by storm. Blazing a path through Miami, Orlando, and much of the southeast, his long list of distinguished clients travel from all over and he travels to them, allowing everyone to experience having their own personal, celebrity stylist.  Having trained under some of the best in the business and boasting a lustrous decade long career, Christopher has developed his own brand of  high end, high quality cosmetics and skin care products.

Goebel Media Group designed a new website for Dr. Faull Trover, located in Covington GA. Here are some of the highlights of the website:
- Flash header
- Administrative backend that allows them to update content for parents
- Fun, colorful site design that shows he is a pediatric doctor.

About Dr Trover:
Dr. Trover attended Tulane University for his undergraduate degree. He attended medical school at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Dr. Trover sees patients from birth to age 21 or completion of college.

Dr. Trover habla español.

Visit the site at http://www.drtrover.com