Author: Ross
Checking your website for errors
If you have had a new website then you will realise the importance of checking it before it goes live to the wider public. Setting a site live that has issues where parts of it do not work or display as it should have a negative impact on your business and it is therefore not advised to do so. You are better to delay the site for a few days whilst you fix the issues before setting it live.
If your website has been running for a number of months or years then there is still no harm in checking it for errors as things often come up with new browser updates and changes to the content management software you are using.
You can, of course, check the site manually by clicking links, filling on contact forms etc but you should also use one of the many tools out there that will check through the code of your site for errors. These sites can often pick up on issues with the robots.txt file, for example, supplicate content and broken links which you may have not easily been able to see yourself. Fixing errors such as these may also help your rankings on the search engines.
Think carefully before outsourcing your emails
Many companies decide to outsource the management of their email accounts as they may find it a little bit above what they understand. This can often free up a lot of time which is often wasted trying to sort out email problems but also comes with its own risks.
When outsourcing your emails they are often managed by another company who will be responsible for setting up new and maintaining your existing email accounts. If you are using a server then they will also be able to set the emails up to go through that and link them all on a network. This can be great if you need to set up groups for certain email address or want to be able divert email traffic quickly. The issue may come when you have a problem with your emails or exchange server and the company you use are not open. Some businesses work during different times and therefore there may be periods when you simply cannot get hold of the people you need to and therefore have a certain amount of time without emails. Always find out if there is an on call number you can call should you have a major issue with the emails which needs to be rectified immediately.
How can a CRM system help with marketing?
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and is essentially a system that businesses use to store information about previous, current and potential customers. A good CRM system is vital to the marketing of any business and the more you put into it the more you get out of it. There are varying degrees of CRM systems, from the ones that you just enter name, addresses and email/phone numbers to create a record to others that store information relating to previous purchases, can tell you balances on their account, even down to their interests and hobbies. A very small percentage of companies actually use their CRM systems to their full potential and this could be costing them in sales.
With a good CRM system and quality data, you can extract lists of specific groups of people to target. For example, if you own a car garage, you could extract data to show the people who bought a new car three years ago and contact them to ask them if they would like to change their vehicle now it is getting to the stage where it will be out of warranty.
CRM systems can allow highly targeted emails, telesales and mail outs which usually have a higher conversion rate.
Ensuring comprehensive backup of your PC or laptop
Many of us have a computer that we use either for work purposes or for personal use. Often we store thousands of documents, photos and files on our computers that are vitally important to us, yet many of us do not back these up.
There are a number of ways in which you can back up your computer, and often people are turning to cloud-based software such as Dropbox to accomplish this. It is a great idea to have your documents and files on the cloud, to allow you to access them from anywhere, but you do need to be concern about the security and also the safety of your files. If the cloud software or website is hacked, then your files may fall into the hands of the wrong sorts of people and you may not only lose it but also find that it is being sold on or used fraudulently.
You should have your files in at least two different locations before you delete them from the original one and also back up on a regular basis. You can buy USB sticks or external hard drives which makes backing up very easy and you can often set up schedules to run the back up at certain times.
Having your own content management system
If you are in the web design and development industry then you may consider having your own content management systems. Many web development companies say that off the shelf content management systems simply do not always offer the flexibility they need and that they find them hard to work with. With this in mind, many of these companies go on to develop their own content management system. The beauty of this is you can build it how you want and add to it as and when needed. You will own the licensing for it and are able to lease the use of it to your customers.
The downside of this is that you will be solely responsible for maintaining it and ensuring that it is secure and updated regularly. This can be a huge responsibility and one which some agencies simply do not want to have. There will also be a large upfront cost to the business of developing the software, but this will be recouped over time.
If you are finding that the off the shelf content management systems such as WordPress simply are not doing the job for your clients, then it may be the time to start looking into other options.
Mac or PC, that is the question
As long as Mac and Pc’s have been about, there has always been an argument as to which one is better. Historically Macs were always favoured by designers as they seemed to be much more advanced in this area but now there is a bit more of a mix and many pc users have been converted to Macs. So what are the main differences between them and which one is best?
It really is a personal choice but below are a few things you may wish to bear in mind when making your choice:
- If you want a computer that is going to link up to your phone seamlessly than you may opt for the Mac and the iPhone. If you have a windows computer then you would need to choose a Windows phone and they do not have such a good reputation
- Macs are more protected against viruses, in fact, it is very hard to get any sort of corrupt data on a Mac.
- If you are used to using a PC then you may want to stick with what you know. Learning how to use a Mac can be quite difficult and some people simply cannot get on with them.
Using Google Adwords Marketing for your business
When it comes to online marketing, it can be a bit of a minefield, there are so many different avenues in which you can invest in that you can end up investing a lot of money in the wrong places or not investing enough in the right and therefore seeing very little return on your investment.
Google Adwords is a form of online marketing also known as Pay per Click or paid for advertising. It allows a business to create online adverts that may appear on the search engine results pages or other websites when the advert is clicked, the visitor is taken through to the advertiser’s website or it will display their phone number. Each time this ad is shown or clicked (depending on your settings) you will be charged a certain amount. This amount varies massively from a few pence to hundreds of pounds depending on the competition level for that keyword, the area you want to target and the quality of your website that it’s pointing back to.
This is a great way of getting more traffic to your site quickly, but it is vital it is set up correctly to ensure that you get the most out of it as it is very easy to accidentally waste money that way.
What is the use of a CRM system?
A CRM system is a customer relationship management system that allows businesses to manage and analyse customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. The idea of this is to help them improve business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving more sales and enquiries to the business.
There are a number of different CRM systems on the market and some businesses use their own methods rather than an off the shelf marketing systems. Also some businesses chose to have a bespoke system created to allow them to add in all the elements they want to. Some CRM systems are used only for marketing and keeps a record of each customer. Within this record there is usually contact details such as addresses, phone numbers and email addresses as well as previous sales and marketing preferences. Other CRMS systems are set to do a lot more, they can be integrated in to an invoking system to allow all invoices to be created and sent from the system. It is possible to include account details and even a payment gateway system.
Some systems are bought outright and others can be leased on a monthly basis, often charged per user.
Marketing to the local area
If you have a business and want to market to your local area or areas, then there are a few ways in which you can do so. Having a press release created and putting it in the local paper is a great way to attract local people and can be a free way of advertising.
Many companies have exciting news that simply does not get out to the general public as they do not know how to advertise it. Another way of advertising locally is to do leaflet drops. With so many companies doing leaflet drops you need to invest wisely in your choice of words and pictures for your flyer to get it read. Printing leaflets can cost a lot of money so you may want to start on a small scale and check if it is effective first before investing more money.
Hiring a local PR company (especially one that is linked with the local newspapers) and asking them to write a brief article about the product / event or service you wish to promote often does not cost as much as you think. This article can then be distributed to all the local newspapers and literature to boost the reach of your customer base. This article can also be added to your website and social media sites to ensure you get the best out of it.