First Impressions Count, in Life and with Web Sites

Several recent university visits with my high school senior son, who plans to play baseball in college, reinforced the concept that "First Impressions Count."

For most of the recruiting visits, we were treated fairly similarly: Meetings with the team coaches, a personal, guided tour and lunch with a baseball player or coach, and meetings with professors and administration officials. I was impressed with the personal attention of the recruiting process, though my son seemed less than so because of the sameness of the routine.

That is, until one particular visit. After driving for several hours, we were provided the briefest of meetings with the baseball coach, who seemed unprepared for our pre-planned visit. He then shuffled us off to the admissions office, where we were herded into a group tour with 20 or so other prospective students. Although the university is quite nice, perhaps one of the nicest we'd visited, the coach's poor recruiting effort (which seems to be reflected in his team's record year-after-year) left an indelible mark: My son was ready to leave the campus before the admissions tour even started. At the same time, the nature of the visit helped him realize how much more special the other schools were that he'd visited and as a result has narrowed down his choice.

Your web site is one of the most important "recruiting" tools your company employs. With it, you have the ability to reach and influence potential customers whose names you don't yet know.

What those potential customers see in their first visit to your site likely will make or break the opportunity you have to do business with them. If they don't like what they see in the first 30 seconds or few minutes, they can easily visit one of your competitors.

Aside from having a professional appearance, your site should speak to that audience in the way they want. You may want to limit the amount of technical information that your company provides online, but it's technical detail that business-to-business buyers say is most important in their expectations of a web site. Being able to buy online is way down the list of requirements; it's having the ability to access enough information about a company's products to determine the potential fit that is key.

Other ways to make a good, first impression:

• Have site content that clearly explains what you do on the home page, without requiring the site visitor to hunt around.
• Provide logical navigation to all areas of your site so visitors can easily find the information they need.
• Give a good call-to-action and a way for prospects to contact you on every page.
• Put your best foot forward with professional photography and graphic design - it may be the only chance you have to wow a prospect.
• Have your site tested in multiple browsers so that you know site visitors will get the experience you intend no matter what type of computer they use.
• If you have an e-mail contact form on your site, make sure someone within your company has responsibility for following up on all leads in a timely basis that come through that form.

Understanding what your potential site visitors want and delivering it to them is vital to making that good first impression.

For assistance in improving your site's "first impression", contact Pilot Fish at 877-799-9994 ext. 2104.

When a Site Redesign Can Hurt Your SEO

It's not uncommon for a site redesign to cause a few broken links as the site structure is altered and old pages are removed. But, even when those links are fixed, you could still have some underlying problems that could affect your search engine optimization and traffic flow.

Imagine what happens when a site visitor goes to Google, types in a keyword and finds a result that is a link to a page from your old site. You removed the page from your server, so when the user clicks on the link, it goes to a dead page, also known as an Error 404 page.

If there's no content on that page, or no links directing the user to the redesigned site, you potentially have lost the visitor, unless they're willing to go into the domain field and remove the page name to get to your home page.

The scenario is worse for search engines. As they continuously spider the web, they're likely to spider that link and come to a dead page. With no links to redirect them, their spidering of your site comes to a halt.

When it comes to site redesigns, we'll often suggest a client keep old pages on the server to avoid dead links. But, when that's not possible, it's important to optimize an Error 404 page to redirect site visitors and search engines to the new site.

An optimized Error 404 page will include site navigation that gets the site visitors and search engines to your new site. It also may include some content that helps the search engines appropriately associate you within your industry. Here's a good article on the subject.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Forget the Home Office Remodel, Add Another Bathroom

If you've ever sold a home, you're probably familiar with the real estate industry's guidelines about which home improvements will deliver the most return-on-investment.

A rule of thumb, for instance, is that remodeling a home office is a poor investment for home re-sale; however, an additional bathroom can make your house more attractive for quick sale.

As you consider which web site improvements to budget in this year, consider only those that likewise will increase your site's "sale value".

Here's a list of the do's and don'ts for companies on a limited budget (aren't we all?):

• New content: Do. Review your site's current positioning on the major search engines and create content for important terms with which your site is not performing.
• Search engine optimization: Do. If it hasn't been, have your site optimized for the keywords that your customers and prospects would use to locate you on search engines.
• Link-building program: Do. This is an important way that search engines measure your site's importance in your industry.
• Web site audit: Do. A comprehensive audit will check to make sure that internal and external links work, contact forms are operational, your site's performing on search engines, etc.
• Foreign language pages: Do. If you routinely do business outside the U.S., devote pages to the language of your other markets. It'll help position your site in foreign search engines.
• Technical data sheets: Do. Give your prospects enough information about your products to want to do business with you or contact you for more information.
• Site redesign: Do. If your site hasn't been professionally designed, it's time to ante up for the good paint.
• New site navigation: Do. If you're site looks like it has Bandaids all over with buttons and links that were added after the site was launched, it may be time to re-do the navigation to make it more user-friendly and attractive.
• Back-end applications: Do, if it improves your company's ability to serve your customers in an efficient manner. Don't, if you're trying to cut out customer service by making your clients do all the work.
• Flash: Don't, unless you've already done the do's and have money left over.
• More images: Don't, unless the graphic conveys information better than text.
• Videos: Don't, unless your video shows something that would be difficult to describe or illustrates a significant difference in how your products work or are used compared to competitors.

For assistance in planning your web site project, fill out this form or call 877-799-9994 ext. 2104.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Results requires attention to user needs

A successful web site is less about what you want to put on the Internet and more about what your customers and prospects want you to put on the Internet.

Now that you've successfully jumped into the Internet pool with both feet, it's time to become a proficient swimmer. That means taking a hard look at what you're doing online from the eyes of someone that might want to buy your product and providing the information they want in the format they need.

Henry W. Royal, VP/Director of Sales for H.M. Royal Inc. of Trenton, N.J., explains the process he went through in redesigning his web site with Pilot Fish, a web design and SEO affiliate of Polysort.

"Prior to moving our web hosting to Pilot Fish, our web presence was little more than an electronic line card. Pilot Fish has been a creative and resourceful partner, starting with the initial interview process. They have worked hard to capture the essence of our business, and using a consultative approach, have developed our site into a 24/7 information resource for our customers, global supplier partners and sales team."

"I am especially appreciative of the innovative ideas Pilot Fish has brought to us, which have improved our ability to narrowly target our products and services to prospective customers." "I believe that we are just beginning to scratch the surface in learning how we can utilize the web to support the needs of our customers and employees, and I am confident that Pilot Fish is the right web hosting and design partner for HM Royal, as we continue to develop this important resource."

Visit H.M. Royal's site.

For assistance with your web design project, contact John Inama at call 877-799-9994 or fill out this short form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Web site investment helps firm grow

When Mark Burns, president of Independent Energy Consultants of Aurora, Ohio, decided to launch his own energy consulting company, he knew that one of the first things he had to do was develop a professional web site that would appropriately highlight his more than 20 years of energy industry experience.

After recently signing agreements to develop and administer the natural gas aggregation programs for three communities in southern Ohio, Burns is convinced he made the right decision by hiring Pilot Fish to build and manage his web site.

Burns credits the Akron, Ohio, web site development and search engine optimization firm with recommending features that would help site visitors learn quickly about his expertise and the results he had provided other clients.

"Pilot Fish recommended that I put a testimonial right on my home page, which helps set apart my company from others from a credibility standpoint," Burns said. "They also helped me select a domain name for my site that focused on the service I provide, rather than a company name that initially would be unfamiliar to most people. Pilot Fish helped write all the content and developed the design, which enabled me to stay focused on growing my business."

IEC's site, www.naturalgas-electric.com, has earned first page placement on Google for significant keyword terms like "municipal aggregation" and "utility buying groups."

Recently, the company signed contracts with Springfield, Colerain and West Chester townships, to develop and administer the communities' natural gas aggregation programs.

For more information on natural gas and electric municipal aggregation programs, contact IEC at 888-862-6060.

For website design or search engine optimization assistance, contact Pilot Fish at call 877-799-9994 or fill out this short form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment