Blogs
Tuesday
October 2, 2012
4:45 PM
Gary Richards,
Director
Director
Evaluation Associates aims to extend client base
A recent shift in the way independent consultancy company Evaluation Associates engages the schools market prompted a review of its marketing collateral with the aim of extending the firm’s client base and improving its professional image.
Evaluation Associates specialise in providing professional development and evaluation to the education sector, and was conscious that some clients don’t know about all the services the company offers.
Facilitator Allan Powell says Evaluation Associates consulted with Jag on how to market the company, including refreshing the logo, a new website and complete review of advertising and signage.
“Jag were quick to respond and they listened to us about what we are trying to achieve. During that process we benefited from their experience because they advised us on what would work, and what wouldn’t work.
“The result is a big step up from where we were before, and the on going consultation with Gary Richards at Jag is just fantastic.
“The website has so much more functionality, including the ability to advertise the workshops or seminars that we run and to send emails out to schools. There is also capacity for clients to register via our website,” says Allan.
Jag also created an advertising brochure for Evaluation Associates, managing the creative and production process form start to finish – including photography and printing.
“The work that Jag is doing puts us in a better position to market ourselves,” says Allan.
Tuesday
May 1, 2012
12:28 PM
Gary Richards,
Director
Director
Simple sells
Contrary to popular perception, customers do not like to be teased, intrigued, puzzled or captivated by mystery when they visit a website. In fact, they prefer not to think much at all – they want what they want, and they want it fast.
The simple truth is that the easier you can make it for your customers to buy or do business with you, the more sales you’re going to convert.
Simple sells, but setting up a simple website is anything but . . .
Most people live very busy lives and we want our information in seconds, but ironically, creating a website that is fast, intuitive and compelling requires a reasonable budget, a ton of thought and lots of hard work to create.
A good website that gives you a good return on investment quickly, and goes on working for you 24/7, requires professional design, copywriting, photography, and engineering, not to mention search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
Probably the biggest mistake people make is in believing that they’ve got to have a website presence – even if its quick and cheap – but having a website for the sake of it, is just as bad as not having one at all.
Here are five things to think about to ensure you end up with a website that converts more business quicker:
1. Know your customers. Who they are, what they like and what’s important to them.
2. Be very clear on your objectives. What specifically do you want customers to do when they visit your website? Buy, subscribe, pick up the phone…
3. Don’t leave it to the last minute. Haste makes waste.
4. Do be prepared to invest time and money in developing a professional business tool that does your organisation credit.
5. Think about how people are going to find you. Be prepared to market your website if you want it to work – that means promoting it through things like marketing collateral like business cards and brochures, vehicle signage, online and conventional advertising and content marketing.
Think about your website as a salesperson. It may cost you more to set-up initially, but the on-going costs are minimal while the website works 24/7, 365 days a year – and a website sells more too, and generates leads for your sales people to close.
Friday
October 14, 2011
9:25 AM
Gary Richards,
Director
Director
Why build a shop and not tell anyone you're open?
It is amazing how many people we meet that have great websites (or not) but are not necessarily generating much, or any income from their website . . . the reasons . . . there are many factors to consider including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), correct content, branding, visual impact, easy navigation, quick loading, great imagery and the list goes on.
Unfortunately it is not as simple as 'build a website and they will come' exercise. Like any good tools used to market your business you have to make sure it grabs the attention of your audience. If they don't know you exist, or where you are then they are never going to be a customer. There are no quick fixes, no short cuts, and there are plenty of SEO scams claiming results that are simply not going to create long term growth for your business online.
The process can be simple if you are working with someone who is interested in making sure that your website becomes one of the most powerful marketing tools in your business. A website can generate a significant proportion of new business and income if it is done correctly. Make sure the company you choose has had experience in generating these type of results. Ask lots of questions, make sure you are included in the process - get reports on what has actually needs to be done and how it will be executed.
To sum up, make sure that your website is working 24/7 for you and generating lots of new business for you. If it isn't, you'll need to question why not and then get in touch with someone who can change all that for you.
Tuesday
August 16, 2011
2:14 PM
Gary Richards,
Director
Director
Should I translate my website?
How often have you been searching the web for a product or service and have come across a website which is all in a foreign language and you can't make head or tail of what's going on? The product looks interesting and it would be great if you could read all about it. But, it is in Japanese or Chinese, so you leave the site and move on to the next one. That company has just recorded another bounce on their analytics.
So, if your client base is in a foreign country where English is not their first language, how many potential enquiries are you missing? How many bounces is your website recording, just because it is only in english?
Having a multilingual website means that all of your target market can view your website in their own native language. They can understand what your products or services are all about and can research the detail and then make an informed enquiry.
If you’re thinking about expanding your web presence into foreign markets, you need to make sure your website is properly localised. There are many factors to consider in website localisation. These include translation and localising the content.
So, in terms of translation, over 70% of web users worldwide so not speak English. So the starting point would be to translate the content of your website into the languages of your target market. The next important step would be to localise the content, thereby making the content applicable and suitable to the culture of that language. There may be content which may be offensive to another culture. The list goes on and it all depends on how far you want to take it.
Your website would need to use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to keep the content of your website separate from the design and layout. This becomes important when switching between different languages fairly seamless and does not jeopardise the design of your website.
Search engine rankings will greatly improve, not only on Google, but on search engines such as Yandex, Baidu, 123khoj which are top search engines in Russia, China and India respectively.
The amount of traffic your website will receive and the amount of new business generated will most likely be of some significance if done properly. So now you ask yourself about if you receive an enquiry in Russian, Chinese or Arabic, how are you going to understand the enquiry and how are you going to respond? Well that can all be taken care of quite simply, as you will receive your enquiry and use our translation tool to translate it into English. Then you reply in English and translate it back into their native language.
The next question you are asking yourself is how expensive is it to have a multilingual website and how hard will it be to keep the website current in all the languages? Cost wise, it is a lot more affordable than you think. Updating the other languages is very easy using our translation process and our Jojo CMS. As far as you are concerned, it is all completely automated. Behind the scenes, the updates you have done in your native language come to us and we translate them into the other languages and then post the new copy to your website.
Conclusion: Expand your current website into a full multilingual website and generate a lot more business. If you don't have a website, let us design and build a multilingual website for you. You can have 2 languages or 20 languages. The choice is yours.
Monday
August 8, 2011
1:51 PM
Gary Richards,
Director
Director
Online Retail - do you need to be online?
Let’s be real. The world is changing and the world of retail is definitely changing everyday. Customers who shop at busy malls where they will need to find parking, fight the crowds and battle the traffic is gradually declining. Customers also do not go to an online store just because it uses the latest technology or has stunning videos and graphics. They come hoping that the store will offer solutions to their problems and their needs. They are looking for good value and the ability to shop online in the comfort of their own home.
The stats say that Kiwis are likely to spend $2.7b at online shops this year. That makes $1400 per person shopping online this year. More than a third of that will be spent offshore.
Online shopping is expected to grow 12% per annum to a stunning $4.2b by 2015. The big attraction is clearly lower prices, a much wider range to choose from and convenience. A massive growth in mobile devices including phones and tablets, means that people can shop online wherever they are - on the bus, at the park - anywhere.
So, with these figures, you would expect an enormous growth in the economy? Perhaps, but let's not forget that nearly 70% of businesses in New Zealand don't even have a website. According to an article from TVNZ, the economy could grow by more than 5% per annum if all NZ businesses owned a website. Only 2% of businesses have 'gone online' in the last year. We would need to see a far more extreme change in the number of businesses investing in a website to be able to transform our economy.
Businesses with a website have reported a significant increase in new business. Some businesses who we have worked with have reported as much as 70% of new business is generated through their website alone. Even a larger percentage can be achieved by using various other tools in conjunction with the website such as blogging, social media, SEO and SEM etc.
Is the reason for this vast number of businesses not engaging in the web due to a lack of knowledge, expense, afraid of technology or simply unaware of what advantages there are by owning a website?
Any of these phobia's can easily be addressed and overcome. If it is the initial investment that is the deciding factor, our clients have reported anything between a 3-12 month ROI. Clients with a 3 month ROI are generally the type who have embraced the web and used all the tools such as SEO to ensure that they rank well on Google and other search engines. They are also the type of client who have professional branding and well written copy.
To sum up, the process of designing and building a website need not be daunting, and if done properly, your return on investment could be under one year. So if you want to be online, especially if you're in retail, take the leap and enjoy the rewards.
