APN tried Sella.co.nz, and they’re a multinational media company with unlimited resources, both financial, and technical. They had a pretty hard time taking on Trade Me. I don’t know how many millions of dollars APN has poured into their challenge, but I’d guess a fair few. And they’re still struggling to take users away from the New Zealand equivalent of EBay.

In 2010 it was Facebook. I mean, if Mark Zuckerberg, one of the best programming minds to ever tap on a keyboard can do it, what’s stopping Dave from Taranaki? I mean, he has a couple of grand, and an idea, right? Wrong. Once again, even if you were to invest the literally millions of dollars it would take to build a social networking site, it’s only as good as the community that uses it. How are you going to get those Facebook addicts to become a Dave’s Book addict instead? Pretty tough I’d reckon.

And that brings us to 2011. The year of the daily deal website. And already we’ve got the bandwagon of internet millionaire hopefuls following suit. They want to take on Grab One, Treat Me, 1-Day Deals, and the plethora of second tier competitors flooding the market. In their mind, it’s basically an Ecommerce website with 3 products you can change yourself. I mean, how hard can it be? Let me break it down for you.

Firstly, a daily deal site is an incredibly complex beast from a programming perspective. As far as I know, Grab One now has around 10 full time developers working on the site, adding new features and functionality to make it the preferred choice for internet bargain hunters. Iphone applications, coupons, daily email marketing, social media strategy, referral system integration, accounts and payment systems for both advertisers and consumers etc. etc. etc. This stuff costs a lot of time and money.

Secondly, the site is only as good as the deals you can get on there. How are you going to consistently source a high calibre of advertiser, day after day, with products people want, and with deals that will get people buying. Why are they advertising on your website instead of on a website with truck loads more members like Grab One or Treat Me? Have you budgeted for your nationwide sales force to build relationships with advertisers, manage their accounts, and get them coming back?

Thirdly, how many daily deal websites do we really need? There are currently around 100 in New Zealand – have you heard of more than 5 of them? Clearly, this is a market that will be dominated by 3-4 main players. The rest will ultimately fall into the abyss of failed internet ventures. Now let’s be honest – Treat Me is owned by Fairfax Media, who own Trade Me, New Zealand’s most successful website ever. Grab One is a Joint Venture with the guy who started Finda, and APN, the mulit national who owns the New Zealand Herald. 1-Day Deals is another arm of 1-Day, one of New Zealand’s most popular Ecommerce websites. And Yazoom is owned by Brand Developers, the As Seen on TV guys – pretty deep pockets I’m guessing.

If you’re crazy enough to try and break into this already highly competitive space, you need to be a realist. You need at least $1 million to pay for a development team who may have some chance of catching up with all the developments and features already in the best performing daily deal websites. Then you need at least another $1 million dollars for a sales team, accounts team etc. And then you need at least a $1 million dollar marketing budget to quickly convince people to come to your website and buy your deals, so your advertisers want to come back and book again next quarter.

In my opinion, even then, I reckon you’re still screwed. The daily deal ship has sailed. The sites are up, and working well. The community has decided which ones they want to subscribe to. The advertisers have decided which deal sites they’ll form a relationship with. There’s just no room of a Johnny come lately, even if they had a few million to spend.

If you’re considering doing a daily deal site, stop. You missed the boat. Look forward – what will the big internet concept be in 2013? Pick that, and maybe you’re on to a winner. Now are you ready to invest the money to make it happen?

1) Google Places

When someone does a Google or Google Maps search for a business category that Google deems to be more relevant for locals (doctors, mechanics, lawyers etc) it gives local results. Google knows the geographic area that the user is searching from, so it shows a map of the local area on the search results page, with relevant business listings within that area. You don’t need a website to appear on these, although having a website will increase the likelihood of someone enquiring with your business, over another business that doesn’t have a website. To register your business with Google Places, visit the link below and follow the step by step instructions: www.google.com/ placesforbusiness

2) Google Adwords

Google Adwords is related to the sponsored links on Google, that appear in the yellow banner up the top of the page, and in the right hand column down the side. Adwords is an incredibly effective advertising medium for small businesses. In brief, the way Adwords works, is that a business writes an ad for their sponsored link, selects keywords they want to trigger their sponsored link when someone searches, selects a bid price that they’ll be willing to pay Google IF and only IF someone clicks on their ad, and also the geographic regions they want their ad to display in. The geographic region aspect of this means you can specifically target only local internet searches. You can also set daily budgets so you won’t spend more than you can afford. Obviously, the effectiveness of this medium vastly depends on the quality of your website, and its ability to convert your visitors into enquiries and sales. You can spend $100 to drive people to a fantastic website, or a terrible one. So if you’re spending the money, make sure your website is up to scratch. For an explanation on how Google Adwords works, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFzoM59bIQ8

To set up your Google Adwords account, visit www.adwords.google.com

3) Search Engine Optimise for Local Phrases

Finally, you can influence your website’s organic search rankings. A lot of this comes down to optimising the website for local phrases. In a basic sense, there are a couple of key things you can do. Let’s say you’re a mechanic, wanting to target local searchers looking for businesses like yours in the area. You’d use the local areas people may use in a search engine, in the copy on your pages. Google reads top to bottom, giving the words higher up in the copy more relevance than those at the bottom. Here’s an example of a well optimised opening paragraph:

“Jakes Mechanical Services is a full service auto mechanical workshop located in Wairau Park, Auckland. We provide everything from wheel alignment, transmition repairs, vehicle servicing, spare car parts, and clutch and gear box repairs. Our central North Shore location means we’re easily accessible from Glenfield, Birkenhead, East Coast Bays, Takapuna, and Forrest Hill.”

So we’re covering our search terms for both services, and geographic locations, so when a search engine reads the page, it’s picking up these key words. Lastly, make sure these key words are in your title and meta tags in your website, as well as in your alt tags for your images.

If you’re wanting to target local internet searches, these three things will help you find the people in your own back yard, on the world wide web.

I realise a web design company writing about the importance of getting a website, may appear slightly biased. Of course we’re huge advocates of the impact that high quality web design can have on a business – we see it every week within our own business, and those of our clients. But I’m realistic; I know you’ve got a lot on your plate. My hope is that the below points will help you establish where on the list a new website fits for your business against everything else you’ve got going on. Here are some points to consider:

Your website is the back bone of your marketing activities

If you’re currently spending money advertising in local newspapers, the Yellow Pages, and direct mail flyers, and you don’t have a quality website, STOP! Times have changed. People who get your other marketing, need more information before getting in touch. This is where the website comes in. The return on investment will go through the roof if your marketing is directing prospects to a quality website. Get the website first, then get marketing!

Someone’s coming up when they Google – is it you?

Google has replaced any other marketing medium as the number one way people search for businesses. When they type in your industry, who comes up? Is it you, or your competitors? Every day you’re not there is another day you’re giving perfectly good enquiries to your competitors. Time to put a stop to it?

Things are quiet – perfect!

Conundrum – one of these situations will apply – “I’m so busy I don’t have time to get my website sorted!” or…”I’m too quiet, I don’t have the cash to get my website right now!” I’m not going to lie, getting a website doesn’t just happen by magic. You’ve got some work to do. You need to look at competitor website designs, go through website design consultations, and write your website’s content. If you’re business is going through a quiet patch, don’t sit there and wait for the work to come in, because when it does you’ll be too busy to do this stuff. Accept that a website is a valuable business tool that will generate more business when it’s done. Take a deep breath. Now use that quiet patch to work on your business and prepare yourself for busier times ahead.

As I said at the beginning, I know you’re busy. I’m a business owner too, and I know how it is. But I also know what impact a quality website has on a business. Take a look at the to-do list, put the website where you think it should go. You can always do it tomorrow, but you won’t get the impact on your business today. Food for thought.

Released just over a month ago, the new Ecommerce product has already proved a hit with the 10 new clients we’ve worked with. For those who don’t have the technical expertise to build an Ecommerce website themselves, or the significant budget required for a full custom Ecommerce website solution, our product brings quality design, ease of use, and affordability together – just what the small New Zealand business owner needs.

The end result is a high quality website design, with a simple, easy to manage admin panel for the shop owner to manage their Ecommerce website. In the back end, the shop owner can easily manage their product lines, invoicing, order fulfilment, shipping, stock levels and website performance.

For our clients, ease of use is key. Other content Ecommerce Content Management Systems, especially based on open source platforms, are complex to operate, especially if the user doesn’t have programming knowledge.

Aside from the intuitive back end layout, there are a few other surprises under the hood. Things that other systems require manual effort for (like resizing product images, sending customers invoices, or creating packing slips for example), the 123 Online system does automatically, saving the shop
owner time and headaches.

Small New Zealand business owners have historically had three pretty undesirable options in regards to Ecommerce Web Design:

1) Build it yourself
2) Pay a freelancer for a poorly done job
3) Pay big money for a quality custom job done by a Web Development company

The 123 Online system finally makes a quality Ecommerce website solution affordable for small New Zealand businesses.

If you’d like to talk to us about selling your products online, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to give us a call on 0800 891 123 and we’d be happy to discuss your requirements, and ways we can help you.

“Thanks 123 Online you have made the daunting task of getting a new website very pain free! The content management system is simple to use and your online videos are very helpful and easy to understand. Big thanks to all your team.”

You can check out their website here.

James (aka Captain Diplomacy) will play a key role in our customer support team. He’s an exceptional communicator with great IT knowledge – the perfect skill set to help our customers when they get stuck. Next time you call for technical support, you’ll be lucky to have a guy like James on the other end of the line.

Shaun Ong is a talented and dedicated web developer. His expertise is vital in the implementation of our new Ecommerce product. If you’re selling products online, Shaun is the guy behind the scenes making sure that your online shopping website is fine tuned and functioning perfectly.

AJ Paul is the newest member of our growing sales team. His energy and enthusiasm has already made a huge impact. He’s exceptional at understanding clients’ needs, and finding ways to fulfil them. He’s also great at explaining the web design process without all the jargon – he keeps it simple.

It’s really gratifying to have these guys decide to join our team. They could have worked anywhere – we’re just glad they chose us.

The website design is like the shop itself. Is it well laid out with eye catching signage? Easy to find what you need? Dazzling product displays and exceptional service? The kind of store you want to spend time in?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and online marketing is like the location of the retail shop. Is it on high street with great foot traffic? Or, is tucked away down a back alley nobody can find without a compass, and the latest GPS app on their Iphone?
Having a high quality, well designed website without a well thought through online marketing strategy is like having the perfect retail shop, hidden away from its customers. It could have the best products, prices, service, layout, and displays, and it would still be out of business in a month.

We’ve been designing websites for small businesses for the past 4 years. Although the question of “how do I get people to my website” seems to be coming up more as time goes on, the vast majority of small business owners seem to be stuck in the “if I build it, they will come” paradigm.

The sad reality, is that for most small business owners, simply getting a website is the businesses entire online marketing strategy, not just one component of it.  As a result, business owners are spending a good amount of money on the design and build of their website, only for it to fall well short of the mark from a results perspective because nobody is coming to it. This leads them to the conclusion that websites aren’t the valuable business marketing tool they thought, and that the whole internet thing is something scary and mysterious.

When we started our website design company, we had next to zero capital. We were a humble beginnings enterprise – pretty typical of a lot of small New Zealand start-ups. But we had one thing – a basic understanding on online marketing. We used that basic understanding to create a website with a high visitors to enquiries conversion rate. Then we ran a Google Adwords campaign, and Search Engine Optimised our site to drive people looking for businesses like ours to our website.

Later on we looked at social media, blogging, banner advertising and a whole bunch of other stuff. But with just those two basic initiatives we were able to pull in over 50 qualified leads per week, with a cost per lead of under $30! Our business took off.
I guess the point I’m making is that small businesses are slow on getting the picture. Both the website design and the online marketing strategy need equal investment and attention to get a result. One without the other is like a canoe without a paddle, or a paddle without a canoe – you’re not going to get very far without both.

The fact that so few small businesses are willing to invest or explore online marketing gives a huge opportunity to early adopters. While your competitors are still throwing money at all the traditional forms of marketing, it leaves the online space relatively easy to dominate. The less people competing on the search engines or Google Adowords auction, easier to climb to the top.

So after your website’s built, don’t just think “great, got my website sorted. The end.” Your only half way there. The next step is to talk with an online marketing company about how to drive the right traffic to your site, and to make sure your website is converting those visitors into enquiries. Pretty simple right?

People form a major part of any business. Any effective website should plainly and truly represent those behind the scenes, for the benefit of those enquiring. Some visitors will want to see first-hand who they are dealing with, while others won’t care so much, but by personalizing your website you will cast a wider net and cater for both parties, which in turn can greatly increase your website’s conversation rate.

So where to begin?

Staff Profiles
Key for personnel in any customer-facing role, individual staff photos literally put a face to a name. When coupled with a short biography, they allow you to effectively market your personnel. An often overlooked benefit is that a good profile will make your staff seem more friendly and professional, and in turn less robotic – an important facet of the trust building exercise.

Team Photo
Similar in purpose to staff profiles, group photos portray cohesion within the company, collectively showing that you are a team.

Copywriting
The way your website’s copy is written says a lot about your organisation. Write with flair, and in a way that represents the “vibe” of your company. Think of it as a conversation with your target customer. What’s the tone? What words do you use? What’s the feeling you’re trying to convey?

News/Blog Section
A typical blog differs from a news section only in that it consists of opinionated articles (versus unbiased dispatches) but the two generally have the same purpose – to relay important industry changes, events, and relevant information, whilst creating a sense of community within your target audience.

Contacts Page
The addition of a contacts page is vital for any business wanting to add credibility to their website, as it shows that the company is local, and provides a means of communication if all else fails. Maps are also of value where applicable; cafes, restaurants, mechanics, retail outlets etc.

Hopefully this quick guide has shown you that the personalization of your website doesn’t require hours upon end, and can be achieved with a few minutes, and some of outside of the box thinking.

To read more on how “trust” can impact your website, please click here: http://www.123online.co.nz/webdesignbuzz/can-you-trust-me-2

“The whole process from start to finish was incredibly easy and the concept phase was particularly great as I didn’t exactly know what I wanted the site to look like to start with, but as JT so expertly guided me through the process, it became really clear in my mind what the final product should look and feel like.

The website reflects my company extremely well and am very proud of it.

I would recommend 123 Online to anyone wanting a website for their professionalism, price and encouragement to get the site completed and live!”

Have a look at what we came up with at www.roofworks2010.co.nz

We think the website we designed for them really captures what Christmas is all about.  Check out what we came up with…

http://www.cachristmascards.co.nz