Your domain is a crucial hub for all of your marketing and business operations: web, email, custom software applications, business cards, postcards, television ads and public relations. Everything in some form or another points to your web site address.

Since domain registration costs are anywhere from $10 - $35 per year, it isn’t worth the expense or hassle to let the domain expire.

Save your registration information

Yes, I understand that you probably have way too many usernames and passwords with bunches of different sites. And I’m not going into a lecture about password security here. That said, make sure to actually store your username, account number, password, related email address and registrar provider in a safe place.

What happens when your domain expires?

Some registrars will give you a grace period of a few days or weeks, but once your domain hits the expiration date, expect any services related to the domain (web site, email, etc.) to stop working. And to add insult to injury, many domain registrars will point your domain to a link page with paid advertisements (Google AdWords) based on the keywords for your domain - which means that your competitors might actually show up as links on your domain!

If you catch it quickly, most registrars will let you renew without a penalty, but if you dawdle too long, you may have to pay a reactivation fee which could be anywhere from $25 to hundreds of dollars.

What you should do right now:

1. Determine who the domain registrar is (Network Solutions, Register.com, GoDaddy, etc.) using http://whois.domaintools.com/
2. Locate and test your account information (username & password) with the registrar.
3. Update your contact information. Don’t use an email address that is at the domain that you are registering. Use a domain that is very permanent or through a web-based service like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo.
4. Set your technical contact on the domain to your web developer or hosting company. When the domain registrar sends an notice about the domain expiring, all of the contacts on the domain receive the email notices.
5. Extend the life of your domain. If your domain is set to expire within the next year, add at least 1-2 more years. Some registrars offer deals for 10 years of registration for less than $100.
6. Put a note on your calendar with the URL for your registrar 90 days in advance of the renewal.
7. Print a copy of your domain registration information.

Free offer: If you email me [howard (at) wwwcomm (dot) com] with your domain name, I will send you a report that shows your current domain record and give you a quick suggestion as your best course of action with your domain name.

Companies that fit into this category include business involved with

• video games
• film or video editing
• advertisements
• online games
• online video

Even if your company is somehow involved in these activities, animation should be kept to a minimum on your home page, contact page, and “about us” page. Remember that the human eye is drawn not only to light colors, but also to movement.

If your business is focused on creating movement (as in the types of companies listed above), then you can use this to your advantage.  Otherwise, moving graphics or images can distract your customers and prevent them from finding more information about your product or services.  For some individuals this movement can be outright annoying and possibly distracting, causing them to leave your web site long before making a decision on whether or not to do business with you.

Keep in mind that not all consumers have computers that support heavy graphics.  If your effects are too elaborate and your customers have to wait too long for the page to load, this might cause unnecessary frustration and they might leave your site prematurely.

In general, keep your site elegant, simple, and focused on your business.  Unnecessary graphics can distract from the purpose of your web site and dissuade customers from returning.  In place of extensive animation, use colors and static designs that reflect the mission of your company and appeal to your target demographic.

This is the fourth and final article in a series of articles on “Making Your Web Site More Appealing.” 

In general, basic tabs and navigation menus need to remain consistent throughout your site.  This means that all tabs, menus, and tools look the same from page to page and can be found in the same location on every page within your site.  Your audience needs to be able to navigate your site from any page with ease and consistency. 

Every tab and menu item needs to link to a page that has information relevant to the title of the link.  For example, if your site has an “About Us” page, the page should have company background, mission statement, location, contacts, etc.  Simplifying or eliminating some of this information can lead to customer frustration and disappointment with your company.  Always deliver what you promise. 

Minimize the number of clicks it takes for your customers to find the information they seek.  All general information about your company, including contact information, background, company goals, and goods and services, should be no more than one click away from the home page.  The fewer the clicks, the quicker customers can find what they are looking for, and the happier they will be. 

Individuals and businesses working in visual mediums generally have a large number of samples or examples of their work.  These artists, media companies, and graphic designers generally have a lot of information to share and need to group their work into a web site that is easy to navigate.  If you have lots of examples of your work, be sure to split your samples into categories that allow your potential clients to find relevant projects with ease.

Furthermore, your web site needs to have information about who you are and what you do somewhere on your home page.  A link to this page should be present on every other page on your site.  That way, if potential customers land on any page in your web site as a result of a general search, they can easily find more information about you and your company by visiting your home page.

A professional web design company should be able to help you organize and promote your information in the best way possible.

l Cool colors like blue and green are generally considered calming.

l Hot colors like bright yellow or red are associated with anxiety and frustration.

l Warm colors, like gold and orange, are usually associated with light, warmth, or autumn depending on your demographic. 

Sticking to a single color can look boring, but using a variety of colors can cause confusion.  While professional web design companies can help balance the effects, it’s important to know how mixing colors can work for you. Combining warm and cool hues not only help create a memorable web site, they can also reflect your brand and mission. 

Professional graphic designers and Web design specialists are trained to create web sites that promote your unique business in a way that generates repeat traffic. By using your company’s colors and mixing them with a palette designed around your target audience, Web designers can help you create a memorable Internet presence.

Always keep in mind that the human eye is attracted to light colors and contrast. If you want to draw your consumer’s attention to a specific part of your page, contrast a lighter color against a uniform dark background. For example, you can use a lighter color for your tab browsing while keeping a darker color for your background.  The content of each page should be the focus, however, so you want to be sure that the background of your article or graphic is brighter than the rest of the page. 

Lines and curves can work to your advantage, too. Your consumer’s focus will follow lines and curves until they end. You can use this to direct your reader’s eyes down the page to a specific video or graphic. Take a look at a web page that you like. There is a good chance you can see how the page uses contrasting colors and simple linear structures to keep your eyes focused on the content of the page.

Web designers specialize in creating color combinations that not only reflect your business but also keep the consumer focused on your product.

This is the second in a series of articles on “Making Your Web Site More Appealing.”  The next article will focus on Navigation and Menus.

For example, younger consumers tend to have shorter attention spans and gravitate towards websites with quick information and interactive materials.  Bright colors, videos, and shorter sentences appeal to this unique demographic.  The more you can engage them in interacting with your site, the better. 

On the other hand, older, more educated audiences, have a tendency to want the opposite.  Business owners and executives gravitate more towards quality rather than quantity and value sites that provide more information and less graphics.  Cooler colors, static pictures, and educational materials appeal to this audience. 

Age and education are not the only factors, however, and you’ll need to be aware of all the variables of your target audience before settling on a web site design.  Gender, income, and geographic location all play important roles in establishing the needs and desires of your client base.  In order to get a better feel for the types of sites that attract your target demographic, browse web sites and magazines that have proven appeal to that market.  News web sites, online networking sites, and dating sites all target specific audiences, and you can get a good idea of what appeals to your target market by studying the layout, color scheme, and navigation of these sites.  

Once you have a good idea of what appeals to your ideal customer, hire a web design company that can help you build a web site that attracts your target audience.  Certain web designers specialize in developing web sites that appeal to the specific demographic of your customers.

This is the first in a series of articles on ”Making Your Web Site More Appealing.” The next article will focus on Colors and Designs.

Some of the categories of products include Angels, Gifts of Jewelry, Inspirational Items, and products for Communion and Confirmation, Family and Friends, and Babies and Children.  There are also Seasonal and Sale items available.

The new site offers a very easy-to-use format for finding and purchasing products.  The company accepts all major credit cards.

Many of our clients engage in email marketing.  We know because we send out nearly 50,000 emails each month for them.  Many of our clients, of course, do it themselves.

One of the questions we hear quite often from those who send out email blasts is “how can we improve our response rates?”  Here are four “Best Practices” to maximize response rates.

Be repetitive – Give your readers multiple opportunities within your email to respond.  One link at the bottom of the email is insufficient because your readers might not scroll that far.  Be sure to place your links towards the top of your email.

Focus on what’s important – Focus your email on whatever it is that you think your readers will be interested in most.  I know this sounds obvious, but so often we start out our email newsletters with a lot of extraneous verbiage to lead up to the real message.  It is better to start right off with the offer or content that is most compelling to most of the people on your list.  Also, remember too many messages will confuse your readers.  Stay focused!

Include a call-to-action – Every email newsletter needs a call-to-action.  What do you want your reader to do?  Buy now?  Sign up for something?  Register for an event?  Make sure that your readers know exactly what you want them to do, and fashion the email so that they do it.

Leverage an expiration date – You can create a sense of urgency around whatever you are offering by including an expiration date.  If the offer is to attend an event, give a discount if they register by a certain date.  If you’re selling something, offer a discount for a certain period of time.  You can always improve the chances of people responding to your message by reducing the time they have to respond.

Email Marketing is an inexpensive, effective way to keep in touch with your existing clients and to generate new ones.

Using LinkedIn to Promote Your Business

Is it 12 or 73 invitations that you have received from LinkedIn so far? You have either ignored them or perhaps created an account. So now what do you and you 4 connections do next?

Learn to use LinkedIn to improve your reputation online:

• Create powerful connections for business networking
• Give and receive recommendations
• Promote yourself by answering questions
• Create opportunities for new business

What: Guest Speaker, Dinner & Networking
Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008
Time: 5:30-8pm
Location: Pyramid Club, 1735 Market Street, 52nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921
Cost: $35 advance registration/Pyramid Club Members; $40 at the door. Cash bar.

The Insurance Adjustment Agency is not an insurance company; rather, they work as your representative, authorized by you, to get you the maximum dollar amount on any insurance claim that you file.

Whenever anything happens to your property - whether it is fire, theft, vandalism, or other type of loss - you have to deal with your insurance company. Insurance companies are experts when it comes to paying your claim, but their goal is to pay out as little as possible. “Our goal,” according to Dan, “is the same as yours — To Get You as Much Money as Possible! Because we have extensive experience in the field and are an authorized, licensed and bonded insurance claim service, you now have someone on your side to fight the insurance companies - and our fees are based entirely on your recovery. No Recovery? You Pay Nothing!”

The Insurance Adjustment Agency offers a free, no obligation inspection and consultation service. They will even help you fill out all the proper forms and make sure things get done correctly and fast. Almost all of their business is through referrals and satisfied customers.

The new website shows why the CHRCC is now one of the five largest chambers in the entire Delaware Valley.  The CHRCC serves businesses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland with the largest core membership in Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester Counties (NJ).

Challenge
The goal with the Adelphia website redesign was to bring the personality and feel of the restaurant into the website itself. The old website certainly didn’t reflect the high-end experience that the Adelphia offers.

Solution
Working closely with the client, WWWC created designs based on actual elements found in the restaurant. Right from the opening, the website uses music and soft animation, capturing architectural elements in a smooth, quiet, complex animation that works hand-in-hand with the music. Adelphia has four distinctive environments, and the site invites visitors to each of these with a combination of sound and imagery that is distinctive and appropriate for each.

Our creative director, Tim Parrotte, explains that we “focused on the use of imagery, not just photography.” Elements included sculptures, wedding cakes, displays and painting styles.

In presenting photography, the website uses a new dynamic photo gallery. The gallery images are displayed on a dynamic layer on the page that includes smooth transitions between photos. Visitors can control their own experience and easily navigate from one gallery to another.

We also developed a menu system that allows visitors to see the actual menus in a PDF viewer, which enhances the user’s experience and facilitates perfect print formatting.

Finally, the website includes our ZipEdit™ CMS, which allows Adelphia to edit content in real time whenever and as often as it wants. ZipEdit™ Content Manager is a simple and convenient way to edit the content in your website. You do not need to learn HTML or any web design software. If you have ever used a word processing program, such as MS Word, you can edit your website with ZipEdit™. The ZipEdit™ Content Manager Component can be used to edit any of the static page content on the website.

From a recent Q&A…
“I’ve had my blog on business and innovation for 9 months now. It hasn’t been doing badly, but it hasn’t gone viral yet…Are there any smart strategies for clawing out of the long-tail faster than the 1-yard-at-a-time I am able to maintain now? Or is it just a long slog of just keeping at it?”

The simple answer is patience. Start by writing good content - that is the key. Also, link to others with related content and use the trackback links. If you can get a “guest post” with more popular blogs, that will also help.

Many bloggers are not writers, so the content issue usually becomes more challenging over time, typically when you start getting some results with Technorati and Google.

That said, I’ve seen some companies “team blog” (as we are doing here) with several people contributing on a regular basis. This way no single person is burdened with the entire task.

Some additional tips:

1. Personalize your blog - If your blog looks like every other blog out there, some people will assume that you aren’t completely serious about your content. It is definitely worth it to hire a professional to create a custom blog interface. The default templates are overused and stale.

2. Answer every email - Blogs are all about conversation. If someone takes the time to comment on your blog, make sure to continue the conversation and thank the person for the comment.

3. Check Google Analytics for trends - If particular posts on your blog are gaining popularity, continue posting new content about these topics.

4. Be social with your blog - There are a number of plug-ins to help facilitate posts to other sites such as DIGG, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. Make sure to go where your community is going.

5. Don’t get tired - I see blogs that start with fire and then fizzle into the night. I think that after 100 posts, you start to develop a habit. If it is too much work, you may not be cut out to blog. At the very least, pick a schedule and be consistent.

6. Schedule posts - I also schedule posts usually at least 5-10 days ahead of time. This way if I have a couple of busy days with no time to post, I still have things going through the air waves to keep the momentum going. Then when I get a chance to catch up, I don’t feel like my readers (all 2 of them) have gotten bored.

Documenting standards for applying business rules can help save a great deal of aggravation and confusion. Business rules are a big part of what transforms captured raw data into usable information. The transformation process needs to be defined for everyone within the company.

Uniformity basically means having a sameness quality in the data. A good example of uniform data is the use of the same customer number for the same customer in different systems. If you sell widgets to John Doe, Inc. and you record the sale under customer number 25, you’ll want to make sure your shipping system also shows that customer number 25 is John Doe. This helps to insure you can link your data correctly.

Adherence refers to legally required information. If you make a sale, you have to have a method to capture it for sales tax, income tax and perhaps other criteria. By making sure there is a process by which all legally required information is captured in a uniform and cohesive manner, you can save yourself plenty of headaches down the road.

Click here for the complete conversation on LinkedIn…

Business intelligence does imply the use of technologies, but it encompasses so much more. It defines a methodology of how a business captures data and turns it into information that can be used to make decisions. Although businesses use this process on a daily basis, most businesses don’t put standards to the process to ensure the quality of their information. In my next few posts I will talk about capturing data, applying business rules and making decisions.

1. Keep it professional.
The goal is to make you look good in a professional networking environment. So don’t be a troll. No one likes trolls. (Except, perhaps other trolls.)

2. Do not add your entire contact list.
LinkedIn has tools for importing your address books from a variety of software and services. Don’t do it. This generates a huge amount of junk mail with your name on it. Unless you are a recruiter and depend on a HUGE database of names or loose connections, you don’t need to connect with everyone you have ever gotten a business card from.

3. Only invite people that you know and trust.
If you would feel strange about calling someone on the phone and having a conversation, perhaps you shouldn’t invite that person to connect.

4. Just because someone invites you doesn’t mean you have to accept.
If you don’t know the person well or at all, perhaps you shouldn’t connect. Call the person wanting to connect and schedule a time to have coffee or something to strengthen your relationship.

5. Don’t be a stalker, or even a little bit creepy.
Use Facebook or MySpace to look up old friends. Once you have rekindled a trusted relationship, invite the person to LinkedIn if it makes business sense.

6. Recommend people and get recommended.
If you have done business with someone and would recommend that person to a friend or client, write a nice recommendation on LinkedIn. We know how lukewarm testimonials sound, so don’t write one unless it is meaningful.

7. Answer questions.
LinkedIn’s Answers section provides an opportunity to show your expertise. Answer with the intent to provide useful information. The person asking acknowledges good answers and you can receive added credibility to your profile.

8. Remove stale connections.
Once a month, browse through all of your connections. Consider removing people that you simply cannot remember. LinkedIn doesn’t alert the other user, so the other person probably won’t notice at all since they probably cannot remember who you are either.

9. Make connections part of your referral process.
If someone gives you a good referral, part of your thank you process should be connecting on LinkedIn. And if you give a referral, ask to connect on LinkedIn.

10. Share your connections.
Those that are connected to me know that my connections are trusted, not flimsy. So if they need an introduction, they know that I can facilitate not just online, but in the real world.

Be Quiet
The most damaging thing you can do while on a sales call is talk too much. If you do, you run the following risks:

• Not learning about your potential client
• Offering half-baked ideas
• Giving the client the opportunity to prematurely judge if you are able to solve his problems

Listen
You will learn almost everything you need to know by listening. The client wants to share his pain with you. Let him! If he says something you don’t quite understand, write it down so you can ask for clarification later or, better yet, suggest a follow up meeting, when you can bring a team member with you.

Look
When visiting a client’s office you are given the opportunity to take a glimpse into his world. Be observant and try to learn as much as you can. What you see can contribute to offering a solution that best fits the client’s needs.

Question
You listened so now you can ask questions. Ask for clarification on items you may not have completely understood. Ask about what you observed while walking through the office. Show genuine interest and ask probing questions about the client’s business. Most people take pride in their business and appreciate insightful and provocative questions.

Validate
It is now time to validate that you understood what the client told you. Hopefully you took good notes. Describe to the client your understanding of his situation. The client will correct you if he thinks you misunderstand something. Incorporate the client’s corrections or insights in your description.

Define Next Steps
It is very important that your meeting be brought to a meaningful close. Don’t walk away without defining the next steps. The client will want to know what the process is and how and when it begins. Show him positive movement by setting up a follow-up meeting or promising a prompt delivery of a proposal.

Be quiet, listen, look, question, validate and define next steps. If you can do this you have a good chance of turning a prospect into a client.

Actually, our blog was the last result on the first page. Well, today I looked, and it had moved up to #3 – yes, third place on the first page of results. Remarkable!  Indeed, blogs can be a cost-effective subsitute for expensive SEO.

That said, I frequently hear, “Okay, so I have an account and a couple of people have connected to me. What can I do with LinkedIn?”

Recommendations - start by recommending people in your network and then ask to be recommended. You control what appears on your profile, so only good things will appear on your profile. It’s about making others look good and asking for the same in return.

Prospecting - if you are trying to make contact with a particular company, you can search for people who might have connection with a person the company. Once you have created enough connections, you will often find that you are one or two connections away from a potential client. You can then request an introduction or go all old school and pickup the phone to your contact and ask for a referral.

Questions and Answers - LinkedIn has an active Q&A section where members post questions and others reply with answers. Answering questions is a way to show your expertise, as members can mark the answers as “good” or “best” which earns you some LinkedIn “street cred.” We’ve actually gotten some business opportunities as a direct result of answering questions.

Groups - there are a whole bunch of professional organizations, alumni groups, etc. that provide another way to link to members. And you can even start your own interest group if it make sense for your organization. The groups feature in LinkedIn is still maturing, so keep watch for what happens there.

In the article Kevin also talks about our company’s expertise in integrating Salesforce.com. He briefly explains how we integrated Salesforce.com into the website of Advanced Snow and Ice Solutions so that when visitors enter callback information it is automatically recorded into a leads database that can be worked by their sales team. These leads are flagged to clearly indicate the time they arrived and that they are from the website. As sales people close sales, conversion reports are configured to show the ratio of number of visitors to number of sales conversions.

So why am I telling you about this post? Because a few days ago we discovered that if you search in Google for “salesforce conversions” Kevin’s blog entry appears on the first page of results. This is a home run for us because we are proactively seeking businesses that need Salesforce.com integration. So one, the blog establishes us as experts in the field; and two, it receives excellent search engine placement in Google for the exact keywords that we are targeting. A home run, indeed!

What struck me about Issue 2, Volume 1, which is the first issue I saw, was the fact that two of our clients – Linda Kester, President of Institute for Conscious Development, and Frankford Umbrellas – graced the cover of the magazine.

This particular issue even has an article on blogging called “What’s All This Fuss About Jogging? Blogging? Oops. Never Mind…”  Sometimes I think there are more articles on blogging than blogs – it’s such a hot topic.

Glad to see also in this issue there is an interesting, light article entitled Adventures in Mid-Life Dating, written by Jackie Pantaliano, owner of ImPRessions’ public relations firm in Voorhees, NJ.  Jackie is our PR person, and she does a wonderful job.

Good luck with the magazine. 

“If you build it, they will come” is likely the most memorable of all the famous lines in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner. If you’ve spent marketing funds to build a website but are waiting for customers to arrive you’ll understand why the title of this article is “Search Engine Optimization is NOT a Field of Dreams.” Building a website requires planning to address the online marketing objectives of the organization. If objectives have not been defined it is time to do so.

Many of the business owners of small and medium-size companies I’ve spoken with proudly point to their website. Some have wisely allocated marketing dollars with professional site developers to create their online presence but wonder why there are not hundreds or thousands of daily visitors. Others have enjoyed good traffic levels but have not generated much business. If Tiffany’s were to open up a jewelry store deep in the Pinelands of New Jersey or in a densely populated but economically depressed city would it be successful by Tiffany standards? No way!

The same is true of the online world. A site may be state of the art design, but if no one sees it or if those that do are not good prospects the investment is wasted. But in the online world there are tools available so that the owner of any website can attract qualified prospects and measure defined conversions with accuracy.

A fundamental tactic frequently overlooked by small businesses is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). There are thousands of self-proclaimed SEO experts, and there are also articles available from true SEO experts cautioning about do’s and don’ts when selecting your SEO vendor. It isn’t simply keywords and Meta tags. Sound SEO requires planning, attention to detail, and continuous follow up. A guarantee of top rankings should be an alert flag. Unlike the magic formula “If you build it, they will come,” there is no easy, one step SEO solution to get to the top of natural search results.

If you build it, they will NOT come unless the site gives them reason to do so. SEO is important because, if done effectively, marketing tactics such as paid search, Internet yellow pages, local networks, directory submissions and email can be minimized. The visitor WILL arrive because the search engines know the purpose of the site. The purpose of the site is driven by the online marketing objective. So when you plan a website or look to enhance an existing site, rely on trusted professionals for necessary assistance and do your homework. If a site is optimized they WILL come.

Besides featuring updated content and several new areas, the redesigned website utilizes a handful of tools provided by World Wide Web Communications:

• Email this Page to a Friend – this is an excellent addition to the site.  It is called Send-a-Link.  It encourages site visitors to email a page to someone else. While browsing your website visitors click on a button, which appears on every page, and within seconds emails the page to a friend.
• ZipEdit™ Content Manager is a simple and convenient way to edit the content in your website. You do not need to learn HTML or any web design software.  If you have ever used a word processing program, such as MS Word, you can edit your website with ZipEdit™.  The ZipEdit™ Content Manager Component can be used to edit any of the static page content on the website.
• ZipEdit™ Article Manager stores a database of articles with posting and expiration dates, keywords, linked documents, and linked web addresses.  Articles can be assigned to multiple categories and marked as featured to appear on the homepage of your site.  You can specify the order of the featured articles too.  The ZipEdit™ Article Manager also has its own search functionality.  Editing the articles uses the same powerful tools found in ZipEdit™ for a full WYSIWYG experience from a supported browser.  The ZipEdit™ Article Manager also features RSS feeds of content, globally and by category, allowing visitors to subscribe to the content of your website.
• HTML Email Newsletter Template – we designed this for Katz/Pierz, which they are using with a third-party email newsletter system for email blasts to their opt-in list.