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Once into the web, you’ll find it a maze of opportunities.
The key to successfully harnessing this essential marketing
tool is to ensure that good design and functionality underpin
your corporate objectives. Here Roger Taylor, Creative Director
at Montpellier Creative explains
that far from entangling a business web strategies can liberate
and provide new opportunities.
You may be a web novice, but if you don’t have a web presence,
then you are almost certainly missing out on sales opportunities.
At the very least a web portal, which by the way doesn’t
necessarily have to be an all singing all dancing Hollywood
production, provides the backdrop for all your other marketing
efforts.
If your competitors are on the web, then you should be too,
and with a different angle to stand out from the crowd. If they
are not, then get in early. Business is all about competitive
edge!
For those who have already started a website, there may be some
simple enhancements to bring it up to scratch, which a professional
can quickly put into place, and at a reasonable price. But,
more likely, you're faced with redesigning a website that isn't
functioning as well as it should. There are a number of critical
steps you need to go through and apart from ensuring that you
support the overarching business objective, you will need to
start with a site plan, followed by design and navigation. Embedded
words, such as meta-tags, will also help your web’s ‘searchability’
through browsers such as Google, MSN or Yahoo. This is such
a fast moving marketplace that you will necessarily need to
build in scalability. That also helps in terms of budgets, and
a phased plan can ensure that you start with PDF downloads of
brochures or catalogues and can later add SMS messaging, webcasts
and other more sophisticated tools.
Which ever route you choose, the key point to remember is that
your marketing efforts should cross refer. How many times have
you been frustrated by trying to find a contact number on a
website? Likewise your letters, brochures and advertising should
point to the web. As with so many things, keep it simple. For
examples of how webs work or impartial advice call 01242 211183,
visit www.montpelliercreative.com
and www.montpellierinteractive.com
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