If it’s been a difficult year, you’re not alone. Now more than ever it is essential to maintain the visibility of your business while finding ways to reduce operating costs and stretch your online marketing dollar. Start 2009 off right with these simple, cost-effective steps to web planning in the new year.

Test New Ideas

It doesn’t make sense to start a diet without weighing yourself first. By testing your online audience, it becomes easier to make informed decisions on where your web site needs to change in 2009.

• A/B Testing
  Google Analytics makes it easier than ever before to test visitor response to your web site. By creating multiple, unique homepages or by placing cross-selling ads throughout your site, Analytics can measure which changes are more successful before committing to one strategy.
• Realignment
  A redesign is aesthetic-driven, while the desire to realign is purpose-driven. Rather than starting over from scratch, consider realigning your existing design and content to suit your current web strategy.

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Cut Costs

Synergy is the name of the game. Combining systems of data and payment collection will reduce administrative costs and maintain consistency of message and product.

• eCommerce with Payflow Pro
  The hassle of maintaining payment information in several different systems can be avoided. By processing payments automatically with a merchant account, you’ll receive funds quickly and efficiently.
• Intelligent Integration
  By marrying your enterprise system with your web database, your web site and in house operations can finally be in sync reducing time spent managing data and inventory.

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Increase Traffic

New year, new business. By moving traditional advertising budgets online, your web site can play a whole new role in creating sales and leads and reach a larger audience than you ever thought possible.

• Paid Search
  By utilizing Pay-Per-Click advertising, Starkmedia can create focused, online marketing campaigns to fit any budget. Best part is there are no long term commitments to individual ads, keywords, or target markets. Paid search allows the freedom to test keyword and regional interest and receive the measurable results your team needs to be successful.
• E-mail Marketing
  By cultivating a solid list of prospects and delivering compelling content directly to their inbox, creating new sales and leads is less expensive and more measurable than most traditional marketing vehicles.

Now is the time to prepare for a successful year online. Call 414.226.2710 or contact Starkmedia to get started.

The web is now task-focused. The best web sites get to the point. They focus on helping people complete key tasks as quickly as possible. Today, people don’t have time to surf the net. They scan pages looking for something specific. Most people have absolutely no interest in links such as “What We Do” and “Who We Are.” They only care about what you can do for them.

Virtually all web sites have a persuasive purpose: to convince a visitor to subscribe, register, inquire or purchase something. Focusing on the task, on the action that you want visitors to take, is a great way of achieving clarity. Before, every visit represented an opportunity to persuade a visitor to become a customer; now every visit represents an opportunity to persuade a visitor to take an action. One of our clients put this philosophy into action.

HEAT USA

HEAT USA, the largest heating oil buying group in the United States, recently launched their newly redesigned web site. Designing their site to attract new members and retain existing ones was the main goal of HEAT USA. By utilizing simple, but intuitive graphics, the sign-up process is now easier than ever. Content was limited on the home page, however information about the program is readily available for interested visitors, answering their questions throughout the process. To expose business value and articulate it in a way that mattered to the customer was an accomplished challenge.

The days of surfing the net are ending. Replacing heavy, informative content are task-focused solutions. Most web sites are built to address the general needs of their customers or potential customers first, usually with lots of content. When visitors arrive at a site it’s usually to either learn or act. If you want your visitors to act here are a few tips:

• Keep it Simple
  The goal is to direct the viewers to the ‘call for action’ thus, do not add up loads of unrelated images and contents. They will just make the viewers confused and go stray.
• Keep it Concise
  Information available should satisfy the visitor’s cravings. Do not bombard the visitor with heavy-content but rather write action compelling content.
• Smart Design
  Apply the principles of web design by utilizing color and image relative to your content or in the manner that calls to action.

To find out if this method is right for your site, learn about your visitor. Learn who they are, what motivates them and how they are using your site, and then write and design to their needs.

To learn about how Starkmedia can custom tailor a site for your business, call us at 414.226.2710 or contact us.

Signing on with the right web hosting solution is a crucial decision. Whether you are running an online business, an information resource, a discussion forum, or are sharing views on a hobby or interest; you must use a web hosting service that will allow everyone else to view your creation. It is web hosting that empowers you to share information, sell products and services, and interact with people through a web site. Trying to choose a web host can be a very confusing exercise, especially when you consider the growing number of web hosts and their confusing advertisements. Therefore, it is important that before jumping in, you go through some sort of a research process for selecting the most appropriate web hosting company for your Internet presence.

Once you have decided what web hosting services you require, it is then time to make a list of certain web hosting features and options you must consider. Here are some of the most important aspects of web hosting:

• Tech Support
  One of the most overlooked features when shopping for web hosting is the actual help that the web hosting company can provide. Prompt, helpful, 24/7 service – whether by telephone or email – is essential if you’re running a large web site. Even if you have a small web site, shop for a web hosting company that can provide you with telephone, email and technical support. Starkmedia provides Access 24 that enables clients to access non-business support 24 hours a day.
• Uptime
  The more uptime, the better. 99% uptime is the minimum acceptable standard. At Starkmedia, we exceed the standard. If your site is down, we are notified immediately via email and paging devices. Our team of System Administrators will get you back up and running in very little time.
• Disk Space
  Size does matter. Do you know how big your web site is? Does it have a lot of graphics, audio or video components? Is your site dynamic or database-driven? You must logically figure how big your current site is and allot more space for above factors.
• Bandwidth
  This factor is usually overlooked until the bandwidth limit is reached. If you are running a site with lots of downloads, or a site with lots of images such at a photo post site, your bandwidth will be a lot higher than a site with mainly text. Reputable web hosts will provide you with bandwidth usage data and give you the option to purchase additional bandwidth if necessary.
• Statistics Program
  A good stats program is handy if you want to keep an eye on how many visitors you are getting, where they are coming from, referrers, top entry and exit pages and so on. Some companies offer excellent stats programs as standard while others offer basic stats but you have to pay extra for advanced statistics. At Starkmedia, we provide 24/7 access to your site’s statistics that update daily.
• Data Centers
  Web hosting providers both big and small need a central location where they house their servers and equipment. It is important to have some idea as to where these systems are located. Starkmedia hosts sites both internally and through a secure facility in Texas.

There are many other factors to take into consideration such as hardware and operating platform, back-up systems and FTP access. Also, remember each company may offer different features from plan to plan, so before entering into a hosting package make sure to research your options and find a solution that fits your company’s unique business.

To learn about Starkmedia’s hosting plans, call us at 414.226.2710 or contact us online.

In today’s highly competitive world, it is important that businesses retain their customers that they have strived so hard to attract. Think about it. How many people have visited your website since it first opened for business purposes? 500? 200,000…a million? How many of them could you target if you wish to advertise your latest marketing campaign? Probably, not many. If you have no way of establishing contact with all these customers, you have let them slip through your fingers. All the effort that you spent building your website and attracting customers to visit it, have not been productive.

It is essential for a successful website to be able to keep in contact with its customers. By publishing an e-newsletter, you’ll keep yourself in the minds of the people who subscribe to it. Plus it’s a way for you to feed their need for useful information and, in the process, establish yourself as an expert in your industry. It’s also a great tool to acquire new leads as you’re keeping them in the fold of your current business adventures.

Swimtastic
One client who’s conquering both objectives is Swimtastic. Their newsletters serve multiple purposes. They are built to inspire current clients into registering for swim classes and educated them on the many benefits of swimming especially for youth. By providing franchising opportunities and information Swimtastic acquires genuine leads.

Additional benefits of producing an E-Newsletter beyond inspiring and acquiring include:

• Enhancing your company’s reputation
• Increasing the lifetime value of your clients is a very cost-efficient and cost-effective communication channel with your clients
• Leveraging your marketing efforts
• Providing instantaneous, trackable results including impressions, click through rates, and customized conversion tracking
• Opens the opportunity for your clients to easily and immediately interact with you and for you to promote dialog with your clients
• Receiving a higher response rate by delivering to a more receptive and qualified audience
• More cost efficient than a printed newsletter because of the significant savings in time, printing and mailing costs
• Serve as a positive reinforcement to the media
• Quickly identifies undeliverables so an effort can be made to correct them and resend them

E-Newsletters have remained as a formidable tool for businesses to maintain contact with their customer and build lasting relationships. If you’re serious about using the web to market your business then you ought to take a look at what E-Newsletters can do for you. Contact us today to get started.

Blogs – For companies that want to connect with their customers!

Depending on the company or your business model, corporate blogging can help your company feel more human to the world and it is a way for your company to become intertwined with the Internet community. With 51 million blogs in existence and 10 million people blogging each day, isn’t it time that your company joined the blogosphere?

Podcasting and Vodcasting – For companies that want to be on the cutting edge!

Delivering audio and video on demand is beginning to make a presence on corporate sites. This new form of authentic communication works well for companies that want to display a different side of their company and truly show their personality.

Some of the most used podcasting applications are:

• Customer Support
  It is possible to find plenty of feeds in any business podcasting or vodcasting directory that will give you information on customer support. Tutorials for people in the professional world who want to learn how to deal with customers as well as customers themselves can listen to (and watch) podcasts or vodcasts dealing with this topic.
• Press Releases
  Podcasting has now been discovered as one of the ways with which a press release can be spread successfully. A feed for a press release can be added to an online directory, included with news feeds and can be put up on a business website for interested customers.
• Product Development and Launch
  News and knowledge about a new product can be released on to the market in the form of a podcast. GM’s North America President, Gary Cowger, put out the first blog by any major corporation. On the podcast, he merely introduced the new Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne luxury sedans, at the Auto Show in Chicago. However, this method of delivery can be used throughout the conceptualizing, targeting and development processes.
• Training
  Training is always a big problem in corporations – namely, how to give your employees, or staff the training they need without hurting your work force. The solution? Podcasts or vodcasts that will allow the training to be done at the employees’ leisure.
• Communication
  This is another need for any corporation – when you don’t have time to call a meeting. Simply record a podcast, make it known to those concerned and allow them later to log on and get the information they need. Being able to increase the amount of communication between management and employees, between directors, and even between fellow employees, could definitely make your corporate team more effective.

This subscription based service can provide customers with new content without them returning to the site keeping them always in the loop.

Mobile Websites – For forward thinking companies!

The whole point of mobile applications is to give timely, relevant information to your customer that is personal and actionable. As media usage fragments and disperses out of the home, mobile devices can follow us across this new pathway of consumption.

To ensure a better, more reliable Internet experience with sites specifically for the smaller screens .mobi, a domain created for mobile users, was launched in 2006. Over 100,000 domains were purchased in the first four days during general landrush alone. With the anticipated use of the mobile web equal to that of the world wide web, this alternative avenue will allow you to reach your audience on a whole new level.

E-mail Marketing – For any and all companies!

In the midst of all the new media vehicles, e-mail marketing has a tendency to be forgotten (after all it’s been around for 20+ years). But this conventional method still is the most used application on the Internet and provides the best sales conversion. With over 600 million e-mail boxes worldwide revisiting this marketing avenue may be right for your company. A good email campaign can help your company:

• Generate Repeat Sales
• Up-sell and Cross-sell Products and Services
• Gain Valuable feedback from your customers
• Drive web users to make offline purchases

E-mail marketing gives your brand an edge in a tough market. Daily, weekly, or even monthly e-mails will keep your brand in your target consumer’s mind. Finding a $9.6 billion business that comes close to all the benefits that email marketing offers is nearly impossible.

One thing is certain, these vehicles are here to stay as a permanent part of the media landscape, mutating in response to cultural changes and grassroots opportunities. Contact Starkmedia if you’re interested in a testing a new vehicle for your site this year!

Starkmedia can provide the right solutions for you and your company, contact us for more information.

As the size, scope and influence of weblogs continue to proliferate, companies are faced with an increasingly important question: how to make their voice heard above the crowd?

According to a research project conducted by Pew, there will be 51 million blogs by the end of 2006. These blogs range from the completely ignorable to the regularly consumed and widely trusted. With the popularity of blogs on the rise, companies have moved beyond the simple question of “to blog or not to blog.”

The Corporate Blog
A corporate blog is one published by, or with the support of, an organization to reach that organization’s goals. The idea is that an independent voice can give its views on the world in a conversation with other independent voices. From a business perspective there are several potential reasons to blog. Blogs are mainly about stronger relations with important target groups. They are no different from channels like video, print, audio, presentations and so on. They all deliver results, but of varying kind.

Based on your organizational goals, a blog can provide support in the following areas:

• Become the Expert
  Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business or market.
• Customer Relationships
  In a forum where your main objective is not to sell, you’ll have a more personal relationship between your company and your customers. Blogs are a fast way to join the customers’ discussions, provide tips and insights, or receive feedback.
• Media Relations
  It’s every PR-consultants dream to create a channel where media regularly check what your company has to say, instead of media just being passive or indifferent recipients of press releases.
• Internal Collaboration
  Use blogs as a workspace where project members keep each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.
• Knowledge Management
  Blogs work in two ways. First, they’re an easy way for the readers to find information and resources they want or need, something that is beneficial to organizations that utilize blogs internally. Second, blogs are a kind of “university light” for the blogger. Blogging is on-the-job learning.
• Recruitment
  If you establish your company as a thought leader, people in your industry will pay attention. They’ll read and discuss what you have to say. Chances are good they will see you as an attractive employer.
• Test Ideas or Products
  A blog is informal. It’s part of a conversation where people (often) can comment, and the blog can provide you with a measure of value. Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?
• Rank High in Search Engines
  Well, this has nothing to do with relations, but Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that have many inbound links. Start a blog at your regular site and your ranking will boost.

Like PR, a blog’s returns may not be fast. A blog needs time to build readership. Not every entry yields buzz, and you can’t control which ones do or whether the buzz is positive. Blogging is a form of strategic PR to raise your brand’s or company’s salience, not a carefully timed marketing promotion.

Contact Starkmedia for more information on bringing your business into the blogosphere.