Content is king.  The more searchable content you have, the better chance a potential customer will find you when doing keyword searches.  Updated design techniques are important as well, because a dated website can make your business seem less legitimate.

Below, I’ve provided a couple of big, scary, red flags for consideration.  If your current site has any of these items, then it may be time for a redesign.

Websites completely built in Flash

Flash websites are a dying breed.  They do not play nice whatsoever with search engines.  Flash is an embedded multimedia format, which is not indexed by search engines.  In Flash sites, your text is contained within this multimedia format.  This makes it almost impossible to have your content scanned and indexed properly.  Also, many Flash sites don’t have unique URLs for each individual page within your website.  This means it’s impossible for another website to link to a specific page on your site — only your landing page can be linked to. You may have the greatest content in the world, but if search engines can’t find it, and other websites can’t link to it, your website won’t be found. Additionally, Flash does not work on iOS devices (iPhones and iPads).  By staying faithful to your Flash website, you are essentially shutting the door on an ever-increasing number of mobile users who want to visit your site.

Websites designed as one big image

This SEO no-no is very similar to why you shouldn’t want a website built with Flash.  Text that is located within images is unreadable by search engines.  Your website’s style and design might be very attractive, but if all of your text is embedded within your images, search engines will be unable to index that keyword-rich content. Traditionally, the number of HTML-friendly fonts has been limited, but services such as Google Web Fonts and Cufon have recently made it very easy to add search-engine-friendly decorative fonts to your website. Using these fonts does not limit the indexing of your site, and your SEO remains unaffected.

An important thing to remember is that relevant text and specific keywords will help bring new customers to your site.  Outdated practices like Flash-based sites and websites that are essentially large image files are detrimental to your current and future online success.

To learn more about how Torx Media can help with redesigning your company’s website, just give us a call at 1-888-867-9633 (Richmond, VA) or 704-916-9733 (Charlotte, NC), or click here to contact us.

• 53% of Americans made an online purchase in 2011
• 58% expected to make an online purchase in 2016
• iPads and other tablets have greatly influenced online impulse buying
• Consumers feel they get the best deal by shopping online

With electronic commerce booming at an all-time high, do you have a plan of action to achieve your company’s e-commerce goals?  What steps should you take to get your e-commerce website up and running?

In terms of web development, it is critical to start with a visually appealing site with robust shopping cart functionality.   The navigation and purchasing process should be smooth and simple enough for customers to easily go from browsing to buying.

Like any professionally-designed website, an e-commerce site should accurately reflect your company’s branding and personality.  It may be tempting to choose a free pre-designed template for your e-commerce site, but you must ensure that your customers feel comfortable and confident purchasing from your online store.   Also, it is wise to avoid building an entirely Flash-based e-commerce site.  While Flash does serve a useful purpose in some web designs, it can be notorious for slow load times (if your site is completely Flash driven) and is not compatible with iPhones or iPads.  Given that tablets now influence buying decisions, why would you want to immediately reduce your potential customers?

Step one then, is to find the right web development team.  The right team will fully understand your business, your vision, and how to properly promote your brand online.  A strong development team wants you, the business owner, engaged during the entire process – from planning all the way through launch.  The end result – a great online shopping experience for your customers – will be well worth the time and money invested.

To learn more about how Torx Media can help with your company’s e-commerce goals, just give us a call at 1-888-867-9633 or click here to contact us.

Though Pinterest has become associated with having a predominantly female audience, it can be a great tool for your business, regardless of the demographics of your target audience. Below are just some of the reasons harnessing the power of Pinterest can be an effective marketing tool for your company.

• Pin your products – Pinning your products enables you to share with a specific customer base.  It’s a great way to market a particular product, whether the product is a best seller, a new item, or any product for which you want to generate a “buzz.”
• Great for SEO – Make sure to add your website’s link when you pin your products to Pinterest.  This, along with writing good descriptions with the relevant keywords will help improve your website’s search engine ranking.
• Customer interaction – Pinterest is a great platform for you, the business owner, to build an online community around your brand.  Always thank users when they re-pin your items.  Follow other users.  Pinterest can be a terrific customer feedback tool.
• Promote your brand – In addition to displaying your products and services, Pinterest can be useful for you to express your brand and your business culture through pictures.  Show your customers what interests you and your company by linking to other websites and following others.
• Sell your products – Pinterest can help you sell your products by creating price banners.  Users can follow a link to your website, where your products are available for purchase.  There, they can purchase the products they initially saw featured on  Pinterest.
• Market research – Use Pinterest as a virtual focus group.  Test new products and receive first-hand feedback.  Conversely, follow top bloggers and users with similar products or services to help stay up-to-date with what’s hot in your particular industry.

Remember, using Pinterest is just like any other social media platform:  In order for it to be successful you have to put in the time and effort.  That means you, the business owner, are responsible for providing regular updates and interacting with your followers.  It is a low cost/low risk way of reaching potential customers.

To learn more about incorporating Pinterest into your social media marketing strategy, just give us a call at 1-888-867-9633 or click here to contact us.

In a world where blogging and e-commerce websites are becoming more prevalent than ever, there are still business owners who simply want a basic, informational site.  Yes, the brochure site still exists!

The “brochure” site gets its name from the traditional print brochures everyone has seen over the years.  Historically, print brochures have been an effective way for a company to provide general information about their products and services to their prospective customers.  A brochure website emulates that very same concept.  It’s the same information that would typically be presented in a paper brochure; the medium is simply updated so that the same content can now reach that business’s customers via the internet.

How can you determine if a brochure site is right for your company?

• Your website is strictly informational.
• The content on your website isn’t likely to change, or updates are very infrequent.
• You do not need to sell any products directly from your site.
• You require fewer than 10 individual pages to showcase who you are and what you do.

As a business owner, if proceeding with the development of a brochure website, it is crucial that your site’s content delivers a message that is consistent to your brand and true to your business. Good web developers will often help you with your copy and content, by suggesting keyword placement strategies and other SEO techniques.

The most successful way to work with your web developer is to approach the project as a team. Your web developer will rely on you, the business owner, to provide the basic content that tells your business’s story, along with the copy that showcases the products and services being offered. And the business owner will rely on the web developer to design and build the new website, while staying true to your vision.

To learn more about Torx Media’s team approach in designing and developing effective websites, just give us a call at 1-888-867-9633 or click here to contact us.

1. What is the client’s budget for the website project?
2. Does the client have a marketing plan?

It is not uncommon to hear a prospect say that their website IS their marketing plan.  While a professional website is an integral part of one’s overall marketing strategy, it is still imperative that business owners consider and choose viable options to drive visitors to their websites.  To accomplish this, there should be a plan in place that encompasses the following:

• Developing and fine-tuning your brand
• Promoting (advertising) your company’s products/services

A well-designed and properly developed website falls into the first category – developing and fine-tuning your brand.  Your company’s logo also falls into this category as well.

To promote your products or services, the old cliché holds true that “you have to spend money to make money.”  Make sure you work with a competent digital marketing firm that will help and recommend a solid path to generate interest in your online presence.  Some examples of digital marketing initiatives to consider include blogging, email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising, such as Google AdWords.

Social Media marketing falls into both parts of the overall marketing plan.  Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are great ways to promote your products/services AND create brand awareness.  Be mindful of those following your social media posts, as you should balance sales pitches with good, general informative messages. Interact with those following your social media updates, and over time, those social relationships have the potential to generate leads and income for your business.

Treat your company’s website as the virtual counterpart for the traditional brick-and-mortar store.  While there will likely be some organic, word-of-mouth traffic, it is a good practice to always be thinking of a plan to invest back into your business.  The formula is simple:

Targeted Marketing + Brand Awareness  = More website visitors and increased revenue.

To learn more about how Torx Media can help recommend and implement a complete digital marketing plan for your business, just give us a call at 1-888-867-9633 or click here to contact us.

Google loves fresh content

As website content ages, it may degrade in Google search queries.  By creating a blog and updating it consistently with new thoughts and ideas, you stand a greater chance of Google rewarding that fresh content by giving you better search engine placement.  That improved placement will likely lead to more visitors arriving to your site.  Now more than ever, your customers are using search engines like Google to locate the products and services your company offers.  The more consistently you update your site, the more likely a customer’s keyword search will match the content from your blog.  Fresh, consistent content is an excellent way to drive more traffic to your website.

Keep in mind that the more fresh content you add to your site, the greater influence it can have on search engine placement.  These consistent updates, compared to similar sites where content does not change as often, result in your site receiving a higher score from Google.

Search engines are smart enough to tell the difference between a simple one-sentence change, versus a completely new and original blog entry.  Changing a single sentence within your site will not be looked at the same as a well thought out, informative blog full of great keywords.  As a business owner wanting more visitors to your website, you should faithfully invest time into your site’s content by blogging.

Seek out like-minded blogs

You can take blogging to another level by becoming active in not only writing your blog, but by reading and commenting on other blogs in your field of expertise.  Being active in the blog community will help bring readers to your blog, and those new visitors will in turn, comment on your fresh, new ideas.

Be mindful of your content.  Make it relevant to your readers and your business’s area of expertise.  The goal is to have people become aware of and participate in your blog, so that those readers/commenters begin linking your blog from their websites.  Google takes notice of the increase in link growth rates, which may be interpreted as a sign of relevance, thus potentially boosting your website in search results.

Google rewards fresh content in their search results.  Adding a blog to compliment your company’s website is a great way to increase your chances of being seen in those search results.  Better search results placement means more potential customers visiting your website.  If you are going to add a blog, remember to be consistent with your updates and write fresh content that either educates or entertains your readers.

To learn more about how Torx Media can help get your website’s blog up and running, just give us a call at 1-888-867-9633 or click here to contact us.

Some website owners will request a CMS that will enable them to manage ALL the content on a website, and while we can certainly implement an off-the-shelf content management system, we usually take a slightly different approach. Quite often, a website will contain some pages that are updated frequently – pages such as “News & Events”, “Press Releases”, “Photo Galleries”, etc. This same website will probably also have some pages that don’t change for months (or years) at a time – pages such as “About Us”, “Mission Statement”, “Contact Us”, etc.

We tend to recommend applying CMS functionality to only those parts of a website that are updated often. There are several benefits to this method:

1. Much lower overall cost for the client.
2. No need for the client to learn a complicated off-the-shelf CMS.
3. Less programming for the web developer means a quicker turnaround time for the project.
4. Clients can make content updates on their own, without relying on a web developer.
5. Need to update the website at 3am? The custom CMS is available 24/7/365.

For those who aren’t sure if a CMS is necessary for their website, hopefully this article has pointed you in the right direction. Needless to say, there are still many small decisions to be made when considering a content management system. We’re here to help, and we are more than happy to answer any CMS-related questions you may have.

Ok, you’ve just launched your shiny new website. You’ve spent months working with a web developer on design, copy, and layout. Perhaps (hopefully) you’ve taken the additional t

ime and effort to begin driving traffic to your website using methods like social media, print marketing, and search engine marketing. But how will you know if any of those efforts are working? How will you be able to tell if anyone is visiting your website?

There are a number of online services that can help you track the success of your website. But, the best service we’ve found is the incredibly popular and free Google Analytics.

Once properly installed on your website, Google Analytics will provide all of the typical statistics that you would expect: visits (the number of people who have visited your site) and pageviews (the total number of pages that have been viewed). But, did you know that you also receive a vast array of additional data that can help you further improve and market your website? Here are a few examples of the types of data that Google Analytics provides:

Traffic By Source

Using the “Traffic By Source” report, you can find out how your visitors arrived at your site. Did they type your URL (website address) into their browser’s address bar? Did they find your website linked from another site? Or did they find your website using one of the many available search engines? This report will show you the exact number of visitors for each method. You can even dig deeper into each traffic source to view which website was the referring site, or which keywords your visitors used to find your website.

Map Overlay

The “Map Overlay” report answers the question, “From where (geographically) are all of my visitors viewing my website?” A world map is displayed so you can see the various countries from where your visitors are located. You can click any of the countries to zoom in to see additional city- and state-specific information as well. In each of the zoom levels, you can view the total number of visits, pageviews, etc. that originated from that specific location.

Time On Site and Average Pages/Visit

These two reports provide beneficial information about the amount of time your visitors are staying on your website. “Average time on site” is the amount of time that a visitor remained on your site before leaving. Likewise, “average pages/visit” refers to the number of pages that an individual viewed during their visit.

Both of these metrics can be very helpful in determining how effective your home page (or an additional landing page) is at keeping your visitors engaged in your website. Another metric that is provided by Google Analytics is called the “bounce rate”. The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who arrived at your website, viewed just one page, and immediately left. A lower bounce rate typically means that your visitors are remaining on your site because your site’s content is relevant and engaging.

Visitor Information

The “Visitor Information” report provides useful data about your visitors. For example, what web browsers are my visitors using? What screen resolution is being used? Do my visitors have Flash installed? What percentage of my visitors are using a mobile device to view the website? Using this information, you can make informed decisions about the future design and functionality of your site. For example, if you find that a significant percentage of visitors are using mobile devices to browse your website, it may be beneficial to create a mobile version of your site.

In conclusion, the amount of data that Google Analytics provides is staggering. Best of all, you can set up automated email reports so that you don’t have to remember to manually check your statistics.

Utilizing Google Analytics is one of the easiest decisions you can make for your website. We install it on nearly every new site that we create, and we also frequently install it for new clients’ existing websites as well. Contact us today to find out how we can install Google Analytics and help you discover the effectiveness of your website!

Your logo should be recognizable and make your company stand out from the crowd. A unique and easily identifiable logo has the potential to bring you new clients and customers, and your branding strategy should be associated with a positive value that your business offers.

Always remember to keep your branding consistent throughout all of your business’s online marketing and print marketing campaigns. Using a variety of logos or no branding at all only helps create confusion amongst your customers. A great logo triggers a customer to recall
good experiences that he or she had when dealing with your business previously.

A well-designed logo and brand name recognition can increase your profits by 10-20%, and Torx Media can help you achieve those results. We’ll work with you closely to understand your business’s personality and its goals. And based on that information, we will create a series
of unique, professional logo designs that will guide your new brand.

If you have any questions, or if you would like additional detailed information, we’d love to chat with you about your business. Click here to contact us, or to obtain a complimentary estimate.

Business owners should be mindful that simply launching a new website isn’t a sure-fire way to get visitors to
that site; it is only the very beginning of a new online marketing endeavor. A major part of marketing your
business via your new website is making sure that your site’s content and copy is “fresh”. Just as traditional
brick-and-mortar stores continuously update products, store layouts, and in-store promotional displays,
website owners must do the same in order to stand out amongst competitors.

Here are some items to keep in mind, related to keeping your website content fresh:

1. Keeping your website’s content updated informs your customers that your business is keeping up with your
   particular industry. Don’t give your customers the impression that your company is stagnant.
2. Your website is part of your public image. Just as you probably wouldn’t want to let a brick-and-mortar business
   appear run-down, it’s also important to not let your public image depreciate due to an abandoned online storefront.
3. Everything else being equal, offering fresher and newer content raises the bar over your competition.
4. Search engines sometimes penalize websites that have stale content, and this often leads to reduced visibility
   of your business. Original, updated content is very attractive to search engines.
5. If you have “News” and “Events” pages on your website, be sure to continuously update those sections of your site.
   If you are still displaying press releases from a year ago (or more), for example, this gives your customers the
   impression that your website has been abandoned.
6. Don’t underestimate the intelligence of your customers and website visitors. They can definitely tell when a website’s
   content is stale, and they will often seek a “fresher” alternative – your competition.

7. Even something as simple as a copyright year in your website’s footer can play a role in how your customers
   perceive your business. Be sure that the copyright date displays the current year. (This can easily be automated
   via scripting languages such as PHP, ASP.NET, and VBScript.)

8. Make sure someone in your company is in charge of your website’s copy and content. Confusion over who is
   responsible can often lead to a neglected website.

9. If updating a website’s content via HTML is too cumbersome, consider implementing a content management
   system. While there are several off-the-shelf solutions available, Torx Media specializes in highly-tailored, yet
   affordable, custom content management solutions.

10. In addition to website content getting stale over time, your website’s actual design may also get stale. Web design
    trends change – often quickly – and it is important to show your customers that your business is not stuck in the past
    with a stale website design.