Sensible concepts for those ready to expand their website and search engine marketing.

1) Content will always be king…make sure your content is top notch and don’t just focus on the pretty pictures, you’re visitors aren’t. Wether it’s copy, audio or video, invest as much as needed to get it right. If you’re trying to convince someone to believe or do something, then always test your content and keep working to one-up the current set. Refine and grow.

2) Brand loyalty is tough to come by on the web. When I say loyalty, I mean, for the most part, no one will suffer through a site just because it has a logo they know on it. Only a handful of sites have extremely loyal customers. Make sure your site is relevant, easy to use, and gives visitors what they’re looking for. Poor site design and usability sends me looking elsewhere. Why waste time trying to figure a website out when I can find the company who did this for me and buy from them?

3) Web design is much more than colors, font selection and creative juxtaposition. Good design determines how easy a site is to use (intuitive), builds trust (almost instantly) and serves as a guide for visitors. Great design takes online marketing into consideration in the planning phases to create maximum customer conversions.

4) When talking about design, replace the word custom with targeted. Custom design is not a strategy, it doesn’t know the right audience for you, and it can’t understand anything about what they want…it sure does look good, but instead of moving you closer to your audience, it can just stall the process and lead you in circles. Make sure you take the time to build personas for your audience. Get to know them and put it on paper. That is the best way to experience the site through their eyes.

5) Search engine marketing is much more science than art. Oh it’s hard work, but consistently doing the right thing will get you the exposure you want. Learning this has been an amazing process for me. If you have control search engine marketing, you control the money on the internet.

6) Search is about convenience. Search is called pull marketing. Someone enacts a search for a plumber, Joe’s Pluming Service appears and the visitor is pulled in. What happens next? They click on the link (PPC or organic) and they go to the site and expect the same convenience they found in their favorite search engine. Is your site ready to convert? Do you know what it means to be ready to convert?

7) You need a minimum of 12 months to execute your online strategy. Stop thinking about the money rolling in when the new site is pushed live. That is where it all begins. For the sake of your investment, have capital ready to spend on a monthly basis for search marketing. This is imperative to proper execution of your online strategy.

7.5) Build the right team for the job. It always amazes me about how companies select a firm to use for their website design and marketing strategy. If you consider this a long term (minimum 12 months) strategy, then paying 50% more upfront for the right team can pay 500% more in dividends in the end. Make sure you run these numbers before you sign off on that contract.

I certainly can’t take credit for these ideas, as myself and my team has picked these up along our journey. Take this info to heart! It’s a shortcut to your success.

Rise Creative Group delivers dynamic website design and internet marketing strategies for companies in need of  Orlando website design.