News

Reach Your Customers with Internet Marketing

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:37:00 GMT

Internet Marketing is the use of the Internet as a medium to market products and services to an audience. Having a website is not enough for you to successfully market your products or services to your clients. In order for your business to be successful, you need to have a marketing campaign in place. With the growth of the Internet, you can reach a global market at much lower costs than you would have with printed advertising. Internet Marketing also helps companies and businesses to gather data concerning the demographics of clients and future prospects.

Three of the components of Internet Marketing are:

SEO:

Search Engine Optimization is a way of making sure that Google and Bing and the other search engines know what your website is about so it can come up in the listings when someone is searching for what you offer. SEO considers how search engines work and what terms people are searching for as well as other aspects of your site. In order to adequately optimize your site, one needs to examine and optimize the words that are visible to the person who comes to your site (words cannot be in images or Flash as the search engines cannot read text in pictures). The search engines look for the words someone searches for and if your site has those words, your site might come up for them. If your site has the words in the right places and has other ranking considerations, then your site is likely to come up higher than the other sites that have those terms in the search results. Google does use 200 or so ranking considerations but the words on the page and how they correspond to the words searched for are one of the most important.

SEM:

Search Engine Marketing is the marketing of a website so that advertisements are more relevant in searches and rankings. In SEM you use pay-per-click, contextual advertising and paid inclusion to promote the visibility of your website in search engine results. One of the most successful pay-per-click tools used is Google AdWords. With Google AdWords, you create an ad using words or phrases related to your business. When people search for you on Google using one of the keywords you used, your ad may appear above or next to their search results, allowing people to click on the ad and redirecting them to your website.

SMM:

Social Media Marketing is a recent Internet marketing strategy that has gained quite a bit of popularity. The rise of social networking sites in the last few years have allowed people to interact with each other as well as with businesses, enabling an organization to market their products or services to a wide number of people by “word of mouth”. Social media is a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with Internet access, reason for which organizations are using it as an inexpensive way of implementing marketing campaigns. So, if you are a small business with an even smaller marketing budget, social media marketing is a resource you should be looking at ... remember that if a friend or associate recommends a product, you are more likely to use it. Some of the most prominently used social media platforms for marketing efforts are Facebook, Twitter and more recently, Pinterest. Make sure to check them out!

As with any marketing campaign, it is necessary to keep an eye on these Internet marketing strategies in order to modify and adapt them to benefit your business as much as possible and ensure the approach you are taking is successful. It is a good idea to have some type of tracking and reporting software that will help you achieve this. Contact us today if you have any questions or need help with your Internet marketing strategies!

The Top 3 Reasons to Update Your Website

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:22:00 GMT

With the beginning of the New Year and all those personal resolutions in mind, why not add some resolutions in regards to you online business? The majority of your potential customers will look online for information on products/services they need. Your website greets more visitors than anyone else in your business, so make sure you make a great first impression!

Here are the top 3 reasons why you should update your website:

1. Your content is obsolete.

Consider the changes your company and your customers have gone through these past few years. Maybe you’ve added staff or new products; or you have revised policies and procedures. It is always a good idea to review your content frequently to make sure you are giving your customers correct and relevant information.

2. Your website is not optimized for mobile devices.

With the rapidly growing percentage of mobile devices being used to navigate the web, it is of upmost importance for your online business to reach all potential customers. If customers find it difficult to navigate and view your website, you might lose that potential client to a competitor whose website is better optimized for smartphones.

3. Your website was designed in the last century!

A professionally designed website can make a big difference in the message you broadcast to the world. If you’re ready to start 2012 with a new professionally designed website that will represent who you are today rather than years ago, then contact us today!

It is always a good idea to review your website on a monthly basis and make sure all your links are working properly and if you have an ecommerce site, that the check out process works as it should. Also, make sure to update your copyright date and notice with the New Year! If you need to make any changes or refresh the look of your site, contact us and we can help!

Make 2012 a successful year for your business!

Does Your Website Reflect Your Business Professionally?

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:55:00 GMT

In the last few years, studies have revealed that the Internet has surpassed newspapers and yellow pages when it comes to information and research about companies, products, and services. Many of our clients are dropping their yellow page ads, in favor of improving their websites. Your website is where people go first to decide if they want to do business with you. In fact, your website may greet more customers than any of your employees!

It’s time to take a look at your website and evaluate how well it represents your business, online. The same way as you wouldn’t do business with someone that does not present themselves professionally, be assured that having a website that does not represent your business in a professional manner will cause you to lose potential clientele.

Here is an example of a professionally designed eCommerce website (on the top) vs. a poorly designed eCommerce website (on the bottom). Who would you feel more comfortable purchasing jewelry from?

Having a professionally designed website will help you differentiate yourself from your competitors. It will also give you more credibility. The process of creating a website can be overwhelming, but don’t stress, we at MIS, Inc. can guide you through the steps needed to be successful in the process.

Some of the results you will receive from having your website professionally designed are:

More User Friendly, so visitors can find what they are looking for easily and do more business with you
Search Engine Friendly, so people can find your website in Google, Bing and other search engines
Easily updatable by utilizing the dashbee business platform
Technical support and expertise

Keep in mind though, that designing your website is just the first step to a successful web presence. In order to continue receiving the benefits a website can give your online business, it needs to be kept up to date. Having a good website often requires ongoing maintenance and attention by a professional.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression … make it count!

Is Your Online Store Ready for Holiday Shoppers?

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:17:00 GMT

It’s incredible how fast the year has gone by and that holiday shopping season is less than two months away! With Internet sales increasing year by year, it is important to have an eCommerce solution that will enable you to take part of these sales.

Is your website ready to offer customers the shopping experience they are looking for? According to comScore Inc., holiday online sales last year totaled $13.55 billion for just the month of November with Cyber Monday accounting for $1.028 billion. Total eCommerce sales for the year of 2010 totaled $165.4 billion, with forecasts expecting them to reach $197.3 billion for 2011.

Useful eCommerce marketing tips to have your online store ready for holiday season shopping:

Make sure all your content is up-to-date and that your products are showing up correctly.
Go through the shopping process and check that all products are added to the shopping cart correctly, and customers can check out without a problem.
Have special promotions for the holiday season and use early-season messages in your marketing campaigns.
Share all your promotions with your social media followers (Facebook, Twitter).
If you offer gift cards and certificates feature them right on your homepage. If you don't, now is the time.
Customize your SEO or AdWords campaigns for your website to reflect the shopping needs of the holiday season.
Use holiday keywords when writing blog posts and don’t forget to increase your PPC budget to capture as much traffic as possible.
Add a little bit of holiday themed flare to your website to give it the extra something to catch a customer’s attention. But remember, it is important to remove the holiday theme on time, once the season is over.

We have the eCommerce solution you need for the holiday season!

Take a look at some eCommerce solutions we've built for our clients:

If you don't have an Online Store, we can help! Contact us TODAY to learn how an eCommerce solution can benefit your online business!

Mobile Web Optimization

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:08:00 GMT

Now a days, anywhere we go we see people surfing the web through their smartphones or mobile devices. At the doctor’s office, on the train, at the airport … more and more people are going mobile. With the increase of mobile device users, the reality is that having a mobile optimized website is now a necessity.

It is also a reality that mobile users expect the websites they are reaching on their mobile devices to load as fast as websites load on their personal computers. For this reason, it is very important to keep in mind some of the following points when optimizing your website for mobile devices:

Your website will be seen in an approximate 2 by 3 inch area on smartphones and a 7 or 9 inch area on tablets.
Large images should be left out if possible.
Flash should be avoided.
Navigation options must be large enough to be easy to tap.
You should show only the content that is absolutely necessary.

Since the majority of mobile users will probably be on the go while checking out your site, it is important that your main landing page is as informative as possible and you get your message through rather quickly.

Some examples of MIS clients with a mobile optimized website:

Don’t let the competition get ahead of you

Your competition may already have a website design that displays well on iPhones and other mobile devices. A potential client may choose to do business with them simply because their site worked better on the mobile device they were using to surf the web. In this economy, can you afford to lose business from people who are trying to access your website?

What’s Next?

Optimizing your website to work on iPhones and other mobile phones is critical. Contact MIS, Inc. today as we are experienced mobile website designers.

Interesting Resources on Mobile Optimization and Mobile Usage:

Writing Great Web Content

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:45:00 GMT

Many of our clients struggle with writing copy for their websites. This article includes 15 great tips for writing web copy.

Image credit: Brice Ambrosiak

The tips include:

Keep Paragraphs Short
Use Relevant Images
Understand Your Audience
Use the Same "Voice"

Read the whole article and all 15 tips.

Social Networking for Your Business: Facebook

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 05:15:00 GMT

By now everyone has heard about facebook and twitter. They are the top two social networking sites. We published an article on our blog recently about the importance of using twitter for business. Facebook with 350 million users is becoming an even more important tool for business. It's important to note that there is a difference between creating a facebook profile and a facebook page for your business.

Please ask us if you have questions about this. We've also linked to some great resources below:

From Facebook: Step-by-step Introduction to Pages (Download PDF)
Learn Free's Tutorial: Detailed Basics: Facebook 101
Article from Search Watch: Facebook 101
From Switched: Facebook 101: 25 Tips and Tricks
From Mahalo: How to Use Facebook
From eHow: How to Use Facebook: Video Series

So Why Do you Want to be on Facebook and Twitter? According to the American Marketing Association "In the last year, on average companies with high levels of social media activity experienced an 18% increase in revenue." (quoted in Network: Where Businesses Connect / Share / Learn ) See these Social Media Success Stories from Search Engine Watch

Examples of clients using Facebook for business:

Social Networking for Your Business: Twitter

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:13:00 GMT

Have You been Hearing about Twitter? Ever Wondered if There Might be a Way you Could Harness Its Power to Help Your Business Website? Twitter has been all over the news recently. The network daily news programs have reported on Twitter and invited viewers to follow them on it. The weekly news magazines have had stories on it. And people are talking about members of Congress Twittering while listening to Obama speak.

So What is Twitter? Twitter is a service through which you can communicate and stay connected through short simple "posts" (Tweets) that can be read on a website or a cell phone, etc. A free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. How Can It be Used? Many people use it to tell their friends what they are doing at a particular time. But the same format can be used to announce special offers from a company, give out new information about a business, promote a brand, announce an expansion into a new product or a change in policy. It can be used to see if one or more customers have problems with a product or service so a company gets the message and maybe changes the way they do things or explains their practices and maybe defuses situations before they do much harm. A responsive company can actually help its reputation. Two recent news reports illustrate how important Twitter can be as a supplement for your business website and a way to promote your website:

Dell reported that it has made several million dollars in orders using Twitter to announce sales and to report what items it has added to its refurbished section.
The U.S. State Department asked Twitter not to do a scheduled maintenance that would cause it to be down for one hour during the election turmoil in Iran because Twitter was being used by the people there to arrange gatherings and to warn of problems.

So what does that mean for your business? It means that if you have merchandise you want to move quickly, Twitter might be able to help. Also that if you want to communicate with your customers and prospects, Twitter can keep you in touch with people who are interested in what you have to say and want an easy way to find out what is new. Harness the value of short direct posts as the Iranians are doing about their election. Many companies have information they would love to disseminated the same way. Your "Tweets" (posts on Twitter) can even be found by keyword thus letting more people know about your company and its website. The website can be linked from a Tweet and from your profile. So How Would YOU Use Twitter? Actually, you need to think about that and then as things developed, you will probably find more and more ways of using it. Every business would be different. Get those involved in your company together and brainstorm. What information do you want to tell your customers, prospects and then general public? What would they be interested in hearing about. Where do these two things intersect? Where Would YOU Start? First you have to open a Twitter account. Then you have to announce that you have it and what you intend to Twitter about. If you put a notice on your home page that you plan a series of one day sales and you will post those on your website but for those who don't want to check the website every day to see if you have a sale, you will also Twitter about it so they might want to follow your "Tweets". For those who want to follow you on Twitter, they can just do so with one click if they already have a Twitter account. If not, it is free and easy and even quick to set one up and then follow you. For you to post a message that will go out to all who follow you, you go to your account page on the Twitter website and if you are logged in, you post a message. You only get 140 characters but it can link to a page on your site with more details. Naturally, you have to have something to say that people are interested in. Sales, discounts, new products, new information you are offering, changes in policy, cities you are visiting, speeches you are giving, articles and blogs that mention your company and your products, reports that show the effectiveness of what you offer, or something that just occasionally reminds people that you are offering what you offer so they don't get talked into getting something similar from one of your competitors because your name wasn't on the tip of their tongue. You can even create online Twitter Coupons for products and services. For every type of company and its website, what you might want to Tweet about---that people might want to follow you to find out about---might be different. And you might want to follow others or just check out what they are saying occasionally. You can either officially follow others or, if you don't want them to know you are following them as in the case of your competitors, you can just go to their Twitter page to see what they are saying. Where Can We Get Helping Setting Up Twitter? Although it is quick and easy to set up a Twitter account, you might want to get professional advice, ideas and customization MIS, Inc. is here. We can help you think of ways to use Twitter to help your business and we can make your Twitteraccount look more like it is part of your business. Some Twitter accounts we have customized:

Once you are set up and have a plan to start with, you will find it as easy to post on Twitter as it is to send a short email.

Related articles
Some Places Discovering ways of Using Twitter

New Mexico's Top Women-owned businesses

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:10:00 GMT

Congratulations to all the companies in New Mexico Business Weekly's list of Top Women-owned businesses published this week. Three of our clients that made the list this year:

DJ Heckes of Exhib-it Tradeshow Marketing Experts
Melanie Burns of Achievement Gallery and Flair Events
and Yashoda Naidoo of Annapurna's Ayurvedic Cuisine and Chai House

We wish all of these smart business women ongoing success.

Characteristics of a Good Business Website

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:43:00 GMT

These are some characteristics of a good business website:

The look and feel (first impression, navigation, general appearance)
1. Professional design - not too busy or complicated. The first thing a viewer sees is the "design". It needs to reassure the viewer that he/she is dealing with a professional business. But it also needs to allow viewers to get the information they are seeking.
2. Navigation needs to be simple and to offer the viewer access to the pages they want or need. The design needs to work with the "buttons" or "navigation". Sitemaps are good for the search engine but viewers often do not use them. So from the home page and from all other pages, a site needs to offer the viewer the main pages the viewer is most likely to want or need.
3. Naming your pages. It doesn't hurt if you name your pages (like about.html or faq.html) with keywords (for a site about dogs: about-dogs.html or dogs-faq.html).
4. The presentation of the text needs to be considered. Text needs to be large enough, with enough contrast to its background for your target audience to read easily. Headers and subheaders need to introduce and break up the text.

The text ("content is king"):

Text that is about the viewer's needs and your credibility.. Text is the way people will find your site and the way you answer the questions that your viewers have about what you can do for them and why they should choose you over all the others in the universe that can offer them the same kind of product or service. The most important text in the website (for the search engine and the viewer) is the text on the home page, which will determine if a viewer goes into the site or within a few seconds goes back to find another site to do business with. Do not make the text a "Mission Statement" but about what you will do for the viewer (potential customer).
Use the words that the target audience is searching for. A site that doesn't use the words people are looking for is unlikely to be found in the search engines. And usability studies have shown that a site that uses the words someone thinks they want will keep that person longer than if they use words that are similar to the words someone has in their mind. Main places to use those words are in the title, the headers, the subheaders, the body text, lists, and the links to other pages. There are ways of researching what people are searching for.
A site needs fresh content on a regular basis. A blog can add fresh content. Or you can constantly add information to regular pages, etc. Google likes sites that add information on a constant basis - not radically changing the information that is there but adding to it.
Establish credibility. Unless you are IBM, Amazon, or Disney, many, if not most, of your viewers may not know whether you are a legitimate business or just out to steal their money or their email address, etc. Include contact information (preferably also a street address and phone number) in the footer of every page as well as on the contact page. You want to quickly tell viewers how long you have been in business, etc.
Answer the viewer's questions quickly and easily. If you don't tell your viewers that you do what they are looking for, they will use their back button to find a site where they do not have to guess whether the site offers them what they need. You can do an FAQ page (make sure the list of questions is at the top).
To measure how a site is doing, a site absolutely must have "statistics". Statistics should include how many people came to the site, what pages they accessed, what search engine or other site they came from, what words they searched for to find your site in the search engines. Without this information, you do not know the basics of how your site is doing.

The Search Engines:

If you do all the above things, you will be "optimized" for the search engines, but in addition, there are the following points:
1. Buy your domain name for more than one year (Google will actually notice).
2. Submit to the major search engines, of course.
3. Get links from as many other places as possible.
4. Have a links page so you can recommend other related sites and maybe get them to recommend you on their links page.
With a new domain you will usually get into Yahoo and MSN long before Google will pay any attention to you. Google doesn't trust new sites. A new site usually doesn't come up decently for a competitive term for at least six months and often for a year. In that time, you may want to consider Pay Per Click.

The day after we wrote this, the New York Times came out with an article entitled How to Make Your Website Sing for You that made some additional points:

"'Users spend 30 seconds reviewing a home page,'Mr. Nielsen said. 'A business must encapsulate what they do in very few words.'"
"If a site does not answer a user’s questions about a business, then you have scored one for the competition."
“'The most important rule in Web page design is to eliminate unnecessary design,' Mr. Flanders said. He recommends not adding large, spinning graphics that take a long time to download."He also advises business owners not to add introductory splash pages that force a viewer to watch a video or animation."
"In the end, getting a prominent placement in a search engine is the only way to ensure that your site will be seen by those who can increase your business."

A few ways to get some more traffic to your website

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:28:00 GMT

In order to get traffic you should follow these steps:

Make sure everything you publish, write, etc. lists your website address: letterhead, business cards, ads, signature file on all email you send off (almost all email programs will allow you to specify a signature file that will automatically add itself to the bottom of all email you send off and will have your name, address, website address, phone number, fax number, email address and maybe a slogan.
If you have the time visit forums and list servs where your target audience "meets". Check the posts until someone asks a question that you can answer. Post your helpful answer. If the forum or list serv doesn't allow you to link to your own address, they may allow a signature file. Check for their rules on these things.
Check other websites in your field that are not in direct competition with you. Check to see if they have a link page. If they have a link page, add a link to them from your website and email to tell them that and to ask for a link back - also ask if they want to send you a few words of explanation to go with your link to them. Send them your full link, the words that should be clickable and a few words of explanation (if they allow that to others on their link page).
If you have more money than time, consider pay per click.
Add a blog to your site. Google subscribes to blog post notification services and likes websites that have blogs that are continually updated.

We We Calculator

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:12:00 GMT

If you're in the business of serving customers then your website content should reflect that. If your website is all about how great you are but doesn't say anything about your customers then you might be sending the wrong message to your audience.

There is a website that offers a free tool that will analyze your text and tell you if your text is focused more on you or your customers. It's called the 'We We Calculator.' I tried it using the text on our homepage and I'm happy to report that we got an excellent rating! We talked about our clients twice as much as we talked about ourselves.

You should try it out with the text on your website too and see what you get.

We We Calculator