The new business networking website that she has created at sohobiztube.com allows a company to create and control a profile and then have employees add themselves to the company profile, allowing the account owner to be more in charge of their company’s brand. This approach is much different than linkedin.com, for example, because it focuses on the company first, and then on the employees.

One thing that stuck out was how CD Vann prefers to refer to startup companies as a “growing” business, and not as a “small” business.

Adam Parikh did a great job with his presentation on Search Engine Marketing & Social Networks. He shared on how to drive traffic to your site, and keep visitors engaged once they are on your site. Adam outlined how paid advertising, requires less personal involvement and  that free advertising is not really free because you still have to invest your time into it.

Adam mentioned that in search engine marketing, focusing on keywords that present a solution to a problem will generate the most interest. His main theme was “participation”. If you can reply to people’s questions and posts on various websites, it can be a way to lead traffic to your own website. He says, “find the watering hole and hang out there”. 

Jenn Turner shared many practical ways in which Bucketworks can help you “practice your passions”. Bucketworks is a “health club for the brain” that fosters an open and collaborative environment for theatre, music, workshops, ”coworking”, and more. Jenn says, that Bucketworks aims to provide the space and the tools for whatever it is that people want to make.

Currently the organization has around 42 professional members who use the space and resources at Bucketworks. Jenn states jokingly, that the only difference, between working at home and working at bucketworks is that you have to wear pants. On a more serious note, Bucketworks is not only a physical location for people to meet, but it is also a group of creative professionals who’s aim is to provide accountability and access to the tools needed to succeed. 

Stephanie Reynolds shared an update of the GMMC’s Service Project. We drafted a proposal for the rebranding of the Milwaukee School of Entrepreneurship. The members of the GMMC plan on using their skills as multimedia professionals to help the school revive their logo, website, and other marketing materials.

The GMMC is currently in the process of approaching the MSE with our idea. 

Proposal:

The GMMC proposes the redesign of the “Milwaukee School of Entrepreneurship” (MSE) website currently found at: http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/mse/

The members of the GMMC would contribute to this service project by using their unique skill sets which would include the provision of copywriting services in regards to the MSE website content, creating a short video clip for use on their website, and providing printed followup materials that the MSE can use to keep in touch with their clients and supporters.

About MSE: 

The mission of Milwaukee School of Entrepreneurship is to prepare students for either a post secondary education or the world of work, including management and entrepreneurial skills. The MSE was founded in the mid 90’s. Their innovative approach utilizes an integrated curriculum, a caring staff, parent involvement, and community networking to provide each student with a safe, nurturing and challenging academic environment. Students are encouraged to develop business and technological competencies. The MSE’s multi-ethnic environment encourages students to become deep-thinking, responsible citizens. A special Cooperative Education class is offered for those who wish to one day open their own Business. 

With many thousands of business websites already strutting their stuff in cyberspace, is there any sign that the Internet’s business saturation point is being reached? Not a one. On the contrary, there are excellent reasons to believe that we are still early in the game of business Web marketing. There are still tens if not hundreds of thousands of businesses that have minimal Web presence or none at all.

If your company has no website yet, or if you’re dissatisfied with what you have and want to re-create it, realize that one of your main challenges is how to distinguish yourself in the increasingly crowded playing field that is the World Wide Web. In addressing this challenge, it’s crucial to keep in mind two things: the image you want to portray on the Web and the unique selling points that make your business different from others. Join those two together, make them interlock, and you will be well on your way to creating a site that represents your company’s essence while making you stand out in the crowd.

Determine Your Image

Your company most likely fits somewhere between two extremes. Over the years, you have built a reputation within your industry and are frequently sought out for your expertise or your quality goods. Or you have seen the great opportunity that a particular industry offers and fairly recently entered the field. In either case, and anywhere in between, as a small business owner it’s essential to ask yourself, “How do I want my company to be perceived on the Web?”

Whether yours is an older or a newer company, your website is the 24-hour face you present to the world. If your company has an established image, it’s important that your site doesn’t clash with, but instead enhances that image. If your business is new and your image not yet established, your website can be a key factor in developing your company’s “look and feel.”

No matter which end of the spectrum you are closest to, an experienced web designer can help. Whether working closely with an established business owner or a hopeful entrepreneur, the web designer’s job is to arrange the given content in the most attractive and effective manner. For the established company, it will likely be important to carry over the same look and feel online that the business shows in person, paper, and other media. To that end, the company might provide photos, graphics, and an exact color scheme for its website. The entrepreneur, on the other hand, may not have an established brand or public identity. Thus, the web designer may need to locate appropriate photography, create custom graphics, or even assist in designing a new logo.

To prepare for discussions with your web designer about image, think hard about your company, how others perceive it, and how you want them to perceive it. Pick out your favorite colors, or even better, the favorite colors of your best customers. Think about the impact your company has made on its existing clients or customers, or how you hope it will begin to make an impact. Pondering these issues is equally important whether you have an established business or are still finding your legs. If your company is well established, it’s important that the website dovetails well with the reputable image you have created. If your business is newer, even if you have only a few employees, your site can be constructed so that it provides you with an engaging new image that provides you with almost immediate reputability. A small company may not be able to compete with a large company in terms of impressive buildings—but even a one- or two-person company, with some careful thought and planning, can show the world a website that is as sophisticated and impressive as a Fortune 500 company’s site. In that way, the Internet is a medium that helps even up the playing field for businesses in every phase of development. Whatever your position in the spectrum your thinking will pay off when you and your designer are able to work synergistically to create a site that presents the face you want your website visitors to see.

Determine Your Unique Selling Points

As you consult with your designer about the Web image you want to portray, you should also be working on the all-important issue of the content you will present to visitors. Here again, the idea is to differentiate yourself from your competition. To do that, it’s essential that you get clear on how your business offerings, whether they are products or services, differ from what your competitors offer. Figuring this out goes beyond knowing your general market niche, which may be anything from selling sweaters to plumbing supplies to pizzas, or offering services from tanning to financial to janitorial. You need to understand clearly the advantages and benefits your company has over competitors in your same niche. What makes buying sweaters or pizzas from your store a wiser choice than buying them from your competitors’ outlets? Is it quality, cost, a personable staff, or something else that makes you shine? Or why should someone opt for your financial or janitorial services instead of the competition’s? Do you offer timely service, guarantees, or expertise that the others can’t touch?

Understanding how your products or services are a wiser purchase than those of your competitors’ will help you not only in developing your website content, it will also aid in writing clever and catchy ads that can be used in search engine advertising. Clarifying the unique advantages your company offers to its customers can help you target specific groups of people more effectively and increase your return on investment. The bottom line is that conveying your unique qualities strongly on your website will help differentiate what you can provide from what others offer—and thereby help you stand out in the crowd.

Determining what makes your business unique has a benefit beyond enabling you to realize what qualities you should emphasize on your website. It also helps you to clarify selling points that you may not be taking sufficient advantage of in your other marketing efforts. Far from being a stand-alone marketing tool with only tangential relation to your other operations, your Web efforts should be integrated with the rest of your business. You can learn a lot about what you should have on your website by considering the details of your business. And you may learn some things about how to improve your business as a whole by having to explain on your website, sometimes in just a few pages, the specific reasons customers should buy from you.

A Great Tool: Research Your Competition

In contemplating how to distinguish yourself from your niche-peers, it helps to do your research. Find out how competitors in your area present themselves on their websites. Are they making themselves stand out from the crowd by emphasizing their unique qualities? What do they say about themselves and what do they offer? Comparing competitors’ websites can help you clarify the focus and design of your own site, suggesting qualities to emphasize and the best way to present those qualities.

Visits to others’ websites will also help you understand the overall quality of your competitors’ Web presence. For each site, ask yourself, “Is this website professional-looking and appealing? Can the visitor to the site find information easily? Does the website make the company look established and credible?” If you answer “yes” to any of those questions for any competitor’s website, then you need a site that does at least as well. Also, for each site you visit, decide what you think are its positive and negative features. Discuss these features with your web developer. Does he or she agree with you? Why or why not? Between the two of you, hammer out an architecture and design for your website that focuses on the strengths of your company and also avoids mistakes that your competitors may have made in their web design.

Interlock Image and Content, and Voila!

On the Web, image and content go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other. In fact, each one can profoundly affect the other. For instance, it’s possible for your logos and trademarks to get lost in too much text. Generally, long, uninterrupted stretches of text should be avoided on business sites unless there’s some strong reason. Easily-read sentences and paragraphs surrounded with sufficient white space are more inviting to visitors and can help to enhance your design. The mistake can also go the other way. Images that are too large, gaudy, or numerous can distract from your message.

The artful interlocking of image and content is where your web designer can shine. He or she can help you to combine your selling points in the most effective way with the colors, logos, textures, and other design elements that you have chosen. Your goal is to get to the point where the unique image you decided to portray is engagingly interlocked with the unique selling points you want your visitors to be aware of. At that point, voila! You are likely soon to be the proud owner of an outstanding website that distinguishes your company from its competition.

Chapter 1 of 7: Upgrade Wordpress 2.6 to 2.7
Chapter 2 of 7: Backing Up My Wordpress Database
Chapter 3 of 7: Download and Unzip the Latest Version
Chapter 4 of 7: Backup My Wordpress Files
Chapter 5 of 7: Delete and Overwrite My Local Wordpress Files
Chapter 6 of 7: Deleting Online Wordpress Files and Upload
Chapter 7 of 7: Completing the Upgrade at “wp-admin”

 Chapter 1 of 7: Upgrade Wordpress 2.6 to 2.7

Chapter 2 of 7: Backing Up My Wordpress Database

Chapter 3 of 7: Download and Unzip the Latest Version

Chapter 4 of 7: Backup My Wordpress Files

Chapter 5 of 7: Delete and Overwrite My Local Wordpress Files

Chapter 6 of 7: Deleting Online Wordpress Files and Uploading New Version

Chapter 7 of 7: Completing the Upgrade at “wp-admin”

(Tutorials courtesy of Scott Offord)

A brief survey of today’s Web shows a wide range of complexity among websites in the small business and non-profit sector. These can include anything from a single page that acts essentially as an online business card, to complex, multi-layered sites with dozens or even hundreds of pages—and everything in between. The simplest websites may need to change only if the organization’s phone number, address, or basic message changes—in other words, seldom. More complex sites, however, may require updating on a monthly, weekly, daily, or even hourly basis. A real estate firm, for example, or a car dealership may want to update its pages every few days or even more often to provide visitors with the most timely, relevant information and to spur new sales.

The Old Way to Update: Outsource or Hire an Expert

For organizations that require frequent changes to their websites, there was a time not so long ago when the updating typically required the expertise and continuing efforts of the website development company that had first set up the site. Since the webmaster would normally charge on an hourly basis, this could become quite costly to the client if regular updates were required. Another disadvantage was that the webmaster might not be able to make a change as quickly as the client wanted.

In this old way of creating and maintaining websites, it was usual for the content and structure of webpages to be tightly intertwined. Making simple changes, like adding a paragraph of text to a page was hard for a non-technical person to accomplish. It meant finding the right file on the website, sifting through and tinkering with unfriendly HTML code, and then hoping that the changes made would not somehow break the website. Because of this, most companies did not elect to maintain their own website content.

An alternative was for the organization was to hire its own dedicated website expert, since updating was such a complex and touchy affair. Either way—hiring an expert or outsourcing the work—making frequent changes to the website was a continual drain on resources.

The trouble and expense required to make frequent or even occasional changes to websites led to some unfortunate results. For one thing, some organizations updated their sites less often than they actually wanted to. Furthermore, in many cases the development of the site itself was held back. If expanding the site seemed like a hot idea, but doing so would require frequent updating, the prospect of additional recurring expenses could throw water on the idea. Today, you can see the results of some of these decisions to delay development—unattractive websites that have little functionality by today’s standards and an “old” look because their organizations failed to keep the sites up-to-date due to the expense involved.

The New, Much Easier Way: Install a CMS System

Today, with the advent of content management systems (CMS), the problem of updating websites in a cost-effective way has been largely solved. With the installation of a CMS, virtually any employee in a firm, with relatively little training, can learn to update the site’s pages. This has several important advantages. First, most obviously, the business is no longer required to constantly allocate substantial funds simply to keep the website content fresh. Second, the site can be updated more often than previously because it is now so inexpensive to do so. Third, since updating requires little training, more than one employee can learn to perform the function, so that if one administrator is out on the road, in a business meeting, or out sick, someone else can be available to do the job. Fourth, with the work being done in-house, changes can be made more quickly than if the job were outsourced.

But there must be a catch, right? By bringing so many benefits, a CMS must surely incur a large initial and continuing cost to the firm. No, not if you engage the right web development company to install and customize your system.

It is important to understand that in this new way of creating websites, the content and structure of the website are, for the most part, separate entities. After installing the nuts and bolts of a CMS, the next step for the web developer is usually to create a custom design for the website. Because most content management systems are template-based, creating the look and feel of the website is usually easy for the web developer to do. There are many ways for the client to save money at this stage. Typically, the initial cost of the website depends heavily on how unique the client wants the site to look compared to others on the Web. At this stage of the website creation process, simple modifications to the default template can be quickly made in order to match the client’s current company brand or color scheme. If a great many changes are needed because the client desires a look and feel that requires a template to be created from the ground up, the customization process can be more involved.

One of the great advantages of a CMS is that if multiple users need access to edit the website, it does not require multiple copies of expensive propriety software to be installed on multiple computers. The system is installed on the website itself, and not on a local computer. Putting a website into a CMS does have an upfront cost, but if you shop around, it can be quite reasonable. Though some development companies charge thousands of dollars for the CMS license, other firms provide the license for free so that there is no recurring expense. In the course of just one year, you may save hundreds or thousands of dollars by using a CMS over what you would have to pay to outsource the updating of the site or to have it done by an in-house expert. The savings are most evident in the second or third year, but the CMS is likely to more than pay for itself within the first year.

The simplicity of updating a CMS website is truly remarkable. Content management systems do not require learning any new and complex software. Web pages are simply edited through any browser, which means they can be updated by anyone with the proper access level, from an office, home, or even a mobile phone! Changes to website content can be made almost instantly, and new pages can be added easily to the site. The actual editing process is similar to editing an MS Word document. If you know how to edit a Word document, you’re already halfway to where you need to be.

As a result, it is much easier to keep website content sharp and current. No matter how attractive a website may otherwise be, nothing looks more out-of-touch than a site with obviously outdated information. With a CMS system, that need never be the case. The site’s content can be kept as new and crisp as a hundred dollar bill minted five minutes ago. Furthermore—and very important—content management systems are organic. A CMS can grow and adapt to the organization’s needs. This is crucial because many websites don’t just change content. They evolve based on feedback from visitors and other indicators of effectiveness. Based on this feedback, the organization may decide to change the design of the site, for example, the way pages are organized and linked. With a CMS in place, this need not require going back to the web developer and asking for a major overhaul. Instead, deletions, additions, and other major changes can often be made in-house.

A CMS is built to be flexible for both the company it was built for, and for the web developer who installed it. Once a website is placed into a content management system, the job of the web developer is, for the most part, complete. Though there might be an occasional requirement for minor maintenance in the future, this is usually only the case if new, custom functionality needs to be added to the site. At this point, the web developer might need to step in. One great thing is that, even after the website has been launched to the public, extra modules can easily be added to increase the functionality of the basic CMS installation.

For Organizations and the Web Itself, the Advent of the CMS is a Big Step Forward

Content management systems are not for everyone. A CMS may not be necessary, for example, for a microsite or a website that will only exist for a short period of time. However, for most organizations, implementing a CMS is the right way to go. As you have learned, any firm whose website needs to be occasionally or frequently updated can benefit from a CMS. But it is especially beneficial to those who need blogging capabilities, or who have a calendar of events, a photo gallery, or some other type of regularly changing content.

Because of their efficiency and flexibility, content management systems are quickly becoming essential functions of the online marketplace. By making content management a much simpler process than ever before, these systems have greatly added to the ever-increasing value and sophistication of the uniquely powerful medium that is the World Wide Web. For most organizations vying for attention to their goods, services, and ideas, implementing a CMS in this increasingly high-octane online marketplace is a big step toward easy, flexible, and timely content management.

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About the Author: Scott Offord is the owner of Bytes and Sites, LLC, a small web development and IT consulting company in Brookfield, Wisconsin, that builds fully functional dynamic websites for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Bytes and Sites is dedicated to delivering appealing, well-functioning, and cost-effective web solutions. To that end, the company uses a free, open-source CMS, which helps keep website development costs lower. While many development firms will charge thousands of dollars for a CMS license and hundreds of dollars per month to host a CMS, Bytes and Sites does not charge a license fee or an extra fee for hosting the system.

A website is able to perform any of a number of important functions for your business. But simply throwing up a site without paying attention to basic principles will likely do little to fatten your bottom line. Here are four critical considerations to help you in creating an intelligently designed and well constructed website that works hard for your company now and in the future.

First: Clarify Your Website Objectives

Whether you already have a website or are still in the planning stage, the first question to ask and continue asking is: What are my objectives in gaining a Web presence? Hopefully, it’s not simply because everyone else is doing so and you don’t want to be “left behind.” That’s not reason enough. If you want your website to be successful, there need to be specific goals you want to achieve.

And please don’t just say your purpose is to share information. That’s too general. While facilitating communication is good, virtually all of your objectives will involve conveying information in one way or another. Dig deeper into your purpose by asking yourself a few questions: “With whom am I looking to communicate—existing clients, potential customers, our employees, our investors? And what do I want to communicate to them?” Your goal might be to increase awareness of a service you offer, to market your brand, to convince your visitors that you are experts in your field, or something else. Being clear on what you want to communicate, and with whom, is a precondition for honing sharp and effective messages that will engage your visitors.

Perhaps you have objectives for your website that go beyond simple communication. Do you want your site to serve as an online store? Or as a gathering place where customers can provide feedback to you, maybe through a blog or a forum? Here too, it’s paramount to understand your precise objectives. Realize that these may change as your web presence grows. “What is our website’s purpose?” should not be a one-time query, but rather an ongoing question your firm keeps asking as your site evolves.

Second: Understand Your Website Developer’s Crucial Role

A competent website developer knows the importance of understanding your online goals. If there is any doubt in your mind about what your website objectives should be, it is the role of the developer to ask questions that will help you clarify them. Once your objectives are out on the table, the developer can then discuss with you the various options for realizing them. He or she will be able to advise you on what features to include on your site, and create a design that is attractive and effective.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking of your website developer as a “computer geek” unable to address your objectives. Your developer is not just a glorified typist who makes things happen by punching keys that produce funny code no one else can read. Good website developers are “street smart” about the biggest and fastest road of our time, the Cyber Highway. They are knowledgeable about many aspects of the Internet, including how people use it. A professional website developer has the knowledge and expertise to advise you on how to fulfill your objectives, as well as to create attractive and informative web pages that engage your visitors’ attention.

Third: Make It Easy for Visitors to Find What They Are Seeking

One thing good developers know is how people approach web pages. They understand that most surfers skim a page for clues before reading entire sentences. Visitors may have a clear or only a confused idea of what they are seeking—but either way, they tend to make very quick decisions about whether you have something they are looking for. Upon first landing on your web page, they will quickly skim the page, jumping from photo to photo and paragraph to paragraph. As Steve Krug says in his book Don’t Make Me Think! “We’re thinking ‘great literature’ … while the user’s reality is much closer to ‘billboard going by at 60 miles an hour.’” Within three seconds, they will consciously or subconsciously decide whether the information is useful to them. If they think it is worth their time, they will begin to read the page again, but this time in more detail from top to bottom.

This quick-decision approach makes sense when you think of the enormous sea of information that constitutes the Web. If you stopped to read every word on every page that might be of some interest, you could quickly find yourself drowning in information.

The take-home message is that it’s vital to design your website to make it easy for your visitors to see, in a flash, just what information you have available on the site. It’s also essential to make it easy for them to access different areas of information. The easier they can get to what interests them—whether it’s news about your services, investment opportunities, or a product you are selling—the less likely they will leave your site frustrated, possibly never to return. Remember, your website visitors are driven by their goals, not yours. Not wasting time is as important to them as it is to you.

Fourth: Make Your Content Easy to Read and Understand

Not only do visitors want to find what interests them quickly, they want that information to be presented in the clearest, most readable fashion. Knowing how to optimize web pages is one of the main skills of an experienced website developer. For example, developers know that blocks of information should be relatively short, with sufficient white space included between and around paragraphs. They also know that for the great majority of text, the best color scheme is black against white. Sure, you can use a hot pink background with red lettering, like some teenager’s Myspace page. However, while it can be fun to take creative liberties with your site, it isn’t always the best way to get your important message across. The whole point of creating your web pages could get lost in overly complex and inappropriately contrasting designs. Consider how newspapers, books, and magazines have long been printed with black letters on white paper. The reason is simple—because it’s the color scheme that’s easiest on your eyes and your brain. And that’s what you want for your visitors—not to make them see pinwheels.

A competent developer will understand not only how to make your web pages easy on the eyes, but also the importance of professional sounding content. Here, “professional” doesn’t mean that you have to use a lot of big words to get your message across. On the contrary, it’s usually preferable to talk to people in conversational, easily understood language. Remember, web pages are relatively impersonal constructions. By creating text that speaks to your visitors as if they are your neighbors and friends, you can go a long way toward adding to the attractiveness of your site. This doesn’t mean “dunce-ing down” your web pages. After all, much of the greatest writing in the world is very easy to read and understand—think of Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway. Chances are high that whether your message is simple or very technical, it can be stated in clear, friendly, conversational language.

You may have someone in-house who is competent to write engaging and informative web pages at a high level. If not, your website developer may be able to assist you in that area, or to help you locate a competent writer. In any event, be sure to have your pages proofread or edited by an expert to insure there are no misspelled words or grammatical errors, either of which can seriously detract from your visitors’ perceptions of your professionalism.

The bottom line is that relevant and clearly presented information helps persuade your visitors to stay on your website longer. That, in turn, may encourage them to pick up the phone, send an email, or use your services. Web content presented clearly and professionally will also improve your reputation as your customers, employees, and investors will think more highly of you. And that can only help your company grow.

In sum, remember that your site will represent you day and night, and will speak to your audience when they are most ready to listen. It can be a great representative if you first of all understand your goals, and then work closely with an experienced developer to make it easy for your visitors to access clear, engaging, professionally presented content that furthers those goals. Follow these four principles, and you will ultimately make your job easier, because your website will be working hard for you twenty-four hours a day.

In a previous article, “Four Keys to Making Your Website Work for You,” I outlined four crucial considerations for creating a website that works hard for you night and day: (1) clarify your goals, (2) employ a competent web developer to help you fulfill those goals, (3) make sure your visitors can navigate the website easily to find what they are looking for, and (4) fill your pages with content that is easy on the eyes and clearly understandable. Now, let’s assume you’ve done all that and your website is in place. Is your job over? Not by a long shot. Don’t think of your website as something set in stone just because it’s up and people are finding you on the Web. To help make your site work its hardest, treat it as a developing entity that evolves over time. How can you determine the ways your website should develop? Some of the most relevant information will come from the feedback you get from your visitors, existing customers, and potential customers. In this article, I want to identify two major ways feedback can help you hone your website into a razor-edged marketing tool.

Use Customer and Visitor Feedback to Determine Content

No doubt, you have already used the Customer and Visitor Feedback principle to some extent in designing your website. For one thing, you probably used what you already knew about your customers’ typical interests. You may have also employed sound information about how website visitors tend to read a page. But now that your site is up, it’s time to consider, in greater depth, how analyzing customer and visitor feedback could continue shaping the development of your site. Such feedback typically stems from two main sources: comments and questions that arise from the site itself, and calls and emails directed toward other aspects of your business.

Let’s take these in reverse order. Phone calls and emails you receive from actual or potential customers and clients are liable to ask for information about any of a wide range of matters. These might include, for instance, the prices of your services, your guarantees, or your policies; or, if you sell products, their available styles, colors, sizes, or uses. Keeping a record of these inquiries would enable you to discover what kinds of questions keep cropping up. If questions about some aspect of your business arise again and again, that aspect may be ripe for addressing on your website. By doing so, you not only provide a new source of information to your customers, you may also reduce the number of time-consuming phone calls and correspondence you must address on a daily basis. Online text that speaks to your customers’ concerns could substantially enhance your customer support process, saving you many hours of having to repeatedly answer the same simple phone and email questions. How you arrange website text that speaks to frequent inquiries will depend on the types of questions you are answering. In some cases, it may be necessary to address various issues on separate pages. In others, a Frequently Asked Questions page may do the trick. In either case, make sure to let the principles of clear navigation and clearly written content guide your approach.

In determining how to develop your site, it’s also very important to pay close attention to comments and questions that come from your website visitors. This feedback may uncover problems with the website you have overlooked. For instance, if visitors are emailing you to ask for information that is already on the site, this indicates that they are not locating the information. Examine the site through the visitors’ eyes and try to determine why they are not finding what they are seeking. Is there a missing, malfunctioning, or difficult-to-find link? Is the information somehow obscured, perhaps buried on some page where your visitor would not expect to find it? Other comments from visitors may tell you something about difficulties in navigating the website or about the clarity of your site information. Any feedback that points you toward problems so far unnoticed is online gold. To mine that gold, be sure to make it easy for visitors to send you their comments and questions through prominent email links on the site.

One other major benefit of online and offline feedback is that it’s free! But don’t for one moment let that lead you to suppose that the feedback isn’t very valuable. Visitor and customer feedback is one of your most important tools for developing and sharpening your website, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing efficiency.

Analyze Traffic to Determine Your Visitors’ Website Behavior

Another very useful kind of feedback consists of web traffic analysis reports, which provide important information about your website visitors’ behavior. Traffic analysis begins by telling you how many visitors you are receiving each month, along with the total and average number of page views. This is important information, but it’s only the beginning of the useful statistics you can find when analyzing website traffic.

For example, it can also be illuminating to know where your visitors are coming from. Did they find your website by doing a Google search? Yahoo? MSN? What search engine links are working best for you? Are any visitors arriving after clicking on banners you are paying for on various sites, or via pay-per-click links you are purchasing? If not, it might be useful to rethink your site marketing strategies in these areas.

Website statistics can also tell you how long your visitors are remaining on your site, what pages they are visiting, and how long they are staying on each page. What pages do they stay on the longest? Which the shortest? Do these numbers correspond with what you would expect? Or do they indicate that visitors are spending relatively little time on pages that are important for your message to get through. If so, these pages may need to be redesigned—perhaps the content that you thought was so well written is not capturing your visitors’ attention the way you planned.

Traffic analysis begins with raw information, but that’s only the start. Gleaning insights from that information is where the real value begins. Interpreting the information and comparing it to what you received in previous months can tell you whether your website marketing strategies are working and whether the website itself is doing its job. Traffic analysis is another area in which a competent and experienced web development company can be of great service. The company should have the ability to provide you with comprehensive reports that help you determine not only the usefulness of your website, but also the effectiveness of your offline and online marketing efforts.

If your website is up, it is already collecting potentially vital information at this very moment—information that can help guide the evolution of your site. As I’ve written before, a well-developed website will be flexible and able to expand as your company grows and as feedback suggests it should. Your new website should already have been built so that when you start to see areas needing improvement, existing content can be easily edited and new pages can be added quickly.

Bringing it All Together

Understanding what your customers and visitors are looking for, and presenting them with the information they are wanting is the key to a successful web presence. The crucial role for both kinds of feedback outlined above is to tell you what you can be doing more effectively on your website. Feedback in the form of comments and questions can help tell you whether your website is providing clear and pertinent content to your existing and potential customers, and what content to add. Feedback in the form of intelligently interpreted website statistics can help you understand whether your pages are engaging visitors and how well your site marketing strategies are working. Your responses to both kinds of feedback can help hone your site to razor sharpness. The likely results are increased sales, happier customers, and a more streamlined customer service process.