By Brody Dorland — July 22nd, 2009
 It’s no secret that for years HR professionals have been checking up on job applicants’ reputations via such social networking sites as MySpace and Facebook. Ask any hiring manager and I’m sure they’ll be able to share a story about an applicant’s questionable photos or conversations that unknowingly killed their chance of being considered.
But let’s look at the other side of the social coin… Say you’re a small business owner trying to find a new marketing or sales professional. Should an applicant’s number of followers (Twitter), friends (Facebook/MySpace), connections (LinkedIn) or the overall size of their social graph come into play as an evaluation category? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: branding, facebook, graph, hiring, HR, job seekers, LinkedIn, marketing, media, Myspace, networking, online, personal, presence, sales, social, twitter
Posted in Social Media / Social Networking | 2 Comments »
By Brody Dorland — June 15th, 2009
 As a website developer, I am regularly talking with B2B clients about the various bells and whistles available for their websites. One particular whistle, adding a search function, can be a very powerful tool for a website, but it often gets left on the cutting room floor when budgets are tight.
I do my best to explain the benefits of site search to clients, but in the heat of the moment, I inevitably forget to mention a few key selling points. Here’s a more thorough explanation with examples that should help you see that having a site search is really a no brainer.
The 6 Reasons Why Your Website Needs a Search Function
- Without a search function, some people might just leave – Countless usability studies have found that more than half of all website visitors are “search dominant”, so you run the risk of losing visitors right away if they can’t search.
- People are lazy – Search engines have taught us to search. If visitors see a search box on your site, most will go straight to it rather than having to use their brain and traverse your navigation bar. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: analytics, B2B, customer, development, function, inexpensive, intent, marketing, search, site search, strategy, usability, website
Posted in Website Design / Development, Website Strategy | 5 Comments »
By Brody Dorland — June 1st, 2008
 Recently I was approached by a friend to provide an estimate on a new website for his company. During our initial discussions, we talked about his company’s strategic goals, their audiences and the markets in which they serve. Also during our discussion, he mentioned the fact that his boss, the owner of the company, was not necessarily sold on the need to invest much money on the website since referrals are really their primary focus for generating new business.
As the owner of a referral-based small business myself, I certainly understand the notion that making a significant investment in something that may not bring a return might not be a smart move. But as a website developer, I have also seen first hand how a solid website can be the soft-selling opportunity that gives prospects the confidence to pick up the phone and call you.
Sales & Marketing Are a Lot Like Dating
I find it funny how sales and marketing can be a lot like dating. As a confident guy, you feel like you have a lot to offer a girl and most of the time, when in social situations, you can get her digits, which may or may not lead to something. But she hears good things about you from her friends, so she decides to take the next step and try out your goods (bare with me here people).
But what happens when a nice girl, who has just moved into the area and doesn’t know a lot of people, starts her search on the web? She’s busy with her new job and doesn’t really make it out to the social scene. Other than the web, she really has no way of knowing you exist and might just be her soul mate.
So she starts her search and finds a lot to choose from. There are big guys, little guys, and cute guys with lots of flash, but not much substance. She’s determined to find the right guy that “completes her”, but since you didn’t make a proper investment in your website, this match made in heaven may never happen.
There are a few key points within this analogy that I’d like to drive home…
- You Can’t Be Everywhere at Once – While your personal networking efforts may always be your number one new business generator, you can’t be everywhere at once. Business growth really starts ramping up when you can duplicate your presence (your brand and your message) in many different, targeted mediums.
- Search Engine Optimization/Internet Marketing – The internet is the first place people go to source products and services. And search engines are the driver. Period. In order to capitalize on these buying opportunities, search engine optimization and internet marketing strategies should play an ever-increasing role in your marketing efforts.
- Perceived Value – First impressions are everything. If your site’s design and organization are subpar, your company will be perceived as the same, subpar. A proper investment in your website design and website architecture will go along way in raising the perceived value of your company.
- Content Expectations – Every time a new visitor stumbles onto your website, they are looking for something, and they expect to find it. If they don’t, they move on. A solid website is one that has been carefully engineered to quickly provide the content that your target customers will need to make a buying decision. And the most effective content is professionally written and delivered as if you were providing it in person.
All Alone on a Saturday Night
Bottom line, it doesn’t necessarily take a big investment to build a solid website that can be found on search engines. The key here is to make an appropriate investment to build a site that can help you reach your goals for business growth. Not investing enough may leave you sitting at home alone on a Saturday night waiting for the phone to ring.
Tags: brody dorland, internet marketing, marketing, networking, new business generator, perceived value, referral based business, sales, Search Engine Optimization, search engines, small business, soft selling opportunity, Something Creative, strategic goals, target markets, website, website architecture, website content, website design, website developer, website investment
Posted in Marketing Strategy, Website Design / Development, Website Strategy | No Comments »
By Brody Dorland — March 1st, 2008
 In today’s business environment, every company needs a website. And if you’re a small business with a limited budget, a low-cost solution may be tempting. But what if your website was a real-life salesperson? Would your lack of investment in them set them up for failure?
I’m forced to use this analogy more than I would like these days. While I can’t do anything about the people/companies that offer so-called high-quality website development services for dirt cheap, I can try to help small businesses understand why you need to make an appropriate investment in your 24/7 sales workhorse.
You Get What You Pay For
Developing a high-quality website from scratch takes most, if not all, of the items listed below. Completing these items is time consuming and takes a lot of creative and technical talent. So how do the cheap service providers charge so little? Simple. They don’t offer many of these services…
Website Strategy – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
Like any successful marketing initiative, proper research and planning need to be the first step. Getting website marketing experts involved early on will give you an outside perspective and help you profile your audiences, define their needs and adapt your corporate growth strategies to the web.
Content Strategy – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
Once you have a good handle on what your customers need, your content needs to feed those needs and keep them coming back for more. A content strategy helps to keep your content fresh and establish internal or external processes for ongoing content development and website promotions.
Information Architecture – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
Website users can quickly feel lost if placed within a space that is not well organized. Information architecture focuses on usability and designing an effective site organization, navigation and nomenclature, all of which are best handled by professionals.
Custom Design – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? Kind of.
Do you consider customizing a pre-designed template as “custom design”? I almost can’t wait to be contacted by a company that was told their site was “custom”, only to come across another site that looks suspiciously similar.
Website Production Standards & Compliance – Included in Low Budget Solution? Probably.
I’d bet that a large majority of the cheap service providers out there are actually programmers (not marketers), so your website will probably meet compliance and compatibility standards.
Professional Content Development – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
You can dress up an attractive salesperson in a custom tailored suit, but if his sales pitch stinks, he’s not going to convert prospects into buyers. Heck, he probably won’t even make it past the receptionist. Writing engaging copy for websites is an art and a science and getting a professional website copywriter involved is a very wise investment.
Content Management Tools – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
Many low-cost providers don’t provide content management options because they are banking on the recurring revenue your website will provide.
Search Engine Optimization – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? Kind of.
Ask any professional search engine marketer about submitting your site to search engines and optimizing your site’s Title and Meta tags and they’ll tell you that those techniques are important. But if you ask them, “Will this get me to #1 on Google?” They’ll probably laugh at you. These few techniques are all you’re going to get out of cheap website service providers.
Website Analytics Integration – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
Since many low-cost providers are also programmers who are probably running their own servers, they will probably include some basic traffic statistics for your site. But this is only the tip of the iceberg when you integrate free tools like Google Analytics into your site that will provide so much more user behavioral analysis and conversion tracking.
Internet Marketing – Included in the Low-Cost Solution? No.
With so many internet marketing tools at our fingertips, developing and launching your website is only the beginning. Now it’s time to go fishing.
Conclusion
A small business need to think of their website as a salesperson. A salesperson with vast potential. When you provide that salesperson with proper training (website and content strategy), a sharp business suit (great design), an engaging sales pitch (great content) and great connections to a huge network of potential customers (SEO and internet marketing), you may be surprised at how quickly your investment is returned, and then some.
Tags: analytics, CMS, compliance, content, content development, content management systems, custom, development, high quality, information architecture, internet, limited budget, low cost, marketing, salesperson, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, small business, strategy, website
Posted in Website Design / Development, Website Strategy | No Comments »
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I’ve been presenting on social media marketing quite a bit around Kansas City and it’s neat to see so many folks getting excited about the opportunities that these tools and technologies provide. But I’ve noticed something that’s consistently happening during my presentations. As soon as I throw out the word “blogging”, I see eyes roll and shoulders drop throughout the audience. Geez….You’d think I was a Yellow Pages advertising rep at a search engine optimization conference.
Part 4: RSS Feeds Will Go Mainstream
