Name: Nikki

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Web Site: http://www.gmlconsulting.co.uk

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    Over or Under Indulging your Online Marketing?

    April 4th, 2012

    Have you considered all the tools available to you on the web? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. are the obvious, but are you using email marketing, blogging, YouTube, Google +, and pay per click advertising to your advantage?

    The most value can be gained from the free tools available, but you should first assess which tools to concentrate on, that not only suits your business, but also gains you the most, with the least time spent.

    If you are a B to C business – then Facebook is a must for you, it’s free; it’s powerful, and can reach people you could never reach by traditional methods. It is worth investing some time in getting your Facebook page right for you. Make your new Facebook timeline look interesting, you want to engage your visitors and encourage them to ‘like’ your page. There are plenty of guidelines free on the web to help you out. If you want to go deeper and add some interactive pages, you will need some technical knowledge or techie person to help out. That’s where companies with online marketing experience (such as GML) can help, either as part of a marketing package or as a one off service. Facebook also has a powerful pay per click advertising scheme which can be drilled down to target specific customer types.

    If you are a B to B business, don’t rule out Facebook, as a presence here is definitely beneficial, but much business now is done via Twitter and also LinkedIn. Although you want to attract businesses, you will find that people buy from people, so you need to build your relationships on these platforms to gain the trust and confidence with your potential clients. Use LinkedIn to fully engage with your audience, you can optimise your profile, just as you can your website with relevant keywords to ensure you are found in the searches.

    More and more we are seeing videos increase in popularity. It is a great way to get a message across whilst also giving an insight into your personality as an individual, a company or both. People like to ‘watch’ these days rather than ‘read’. Videos can be placed on YouTube, your website, as links on Twitter or emails and are an extremely powerful way of getting a message across. You don’t need Steven Spielberg’s ability to produce an interesting video, find your topic, get a camera and get rolling.

    Google+ for business is growing fast. The difference between this and Facebook is that you can categorise your friends and business acquaintances into difference circles, and post specific material to each circle. This enables you to target your marketing to a specific business sectors and post messages relevant to them only. Google Hangouts is a feature that enables you to invite specific contacts or circles to a video conference, where you can promote your products and services directly to them without a physical meeting needed.

    Lastly, blogging is something you should not ignore. Any business can benefit from this and usually a blog page is added to your website. You can send links to your blog on all of the above social media platforms which will drive traffic to your website which you can turn into customers.

    To sum up, not all the above may suit your business, so take some time to evaluate the benefits of each and make a decision to concentrate on the mains ones that you believe will benefit your business. If you would like any assistance in deciding the best methods to suit your business, we are always at the end of the phone to help.

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    Top Tips to Gain More Business from your Website

    January 12th, 2012

    You have a website, you have traffic to the website, but are you getting any business? The following tips for increasing enquiries or sales are simple yet effective.

    Contact methods

    Make a decision on how your potential customers should contact you. Should they fill in a contact form, pick up the phone, email you, register or sign up?  Every business has a preferred action they want visitors to complete on their website.

    A reason to act

    Next, you want to make your visitors complete that action.  Why are they on your site?  Identify the problem or requirement they have and present a product or service that gives them a solution.  Communicate the benefits that will be given if they respond to that call to action.

    Be focussed

    Too many options are confusing, focus on the main actions you require.  Every site will be different in the amount of actions needed.  For example the options could be, ‘sign up for a free trial’, and ‘see a demo’, or another site may have simply ‘call’.  You can create a sense of urgency with phrases such as ‘limited offer’ or ‘offer expires on.’

    Positioning your calls to action

    Where you place these are important, you need them to be in the top portion of the page so there is no scrolling needed. Don’t over clutter the area that these are in, leave some space around to draw the attention. Put them on every page not just on the home page. Central positions are good as this is where the eye naturally falls.

    Necessary information

    Don’t over complicate things. Look at the information you are requiring your visitors to give you. Are you asking for personal details that you don’t need? The more information that people need to impart, the less likely they will be to act.  The easier it is for visitors to complete the action the better results you will get.

    Presenting your product or service

    Simplify your website’s navigation.  Your home page should give a clear message of what you provide or sell.  If your home page is not clear, your visitors will simply leave.  Entice them to stay and want to go deeper into your site.  Your main products or services should be easy to find. Aim for one click away from the home page.

    Dealing with your enquiries

    When you have your enquiries/orders flowing, do you act?  You need to make a rule to respond within a reasonable amount of time. People expect a fast response from the internet. If they don’t receive this they will be off to your competitors to see what they can get there.  Don’t lose out by being lazy. Set up automatic replies where you can to keep their attention.

    Achieving the above is simple, not costly and could increase your profits.  Give us a call to see how we can help you achieve more business in 2012.

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    How to ensure your website project succeeds

    August 31st, 2011

    When it comes to website design the customer is not always right – we are.

    Now let me explain that rather bold statement.

    Would you rewire your house yourself and still expect a safe end result?  No, you would call in a professional, (unless of course, you are a professional electrician!).  Many web projects are unfortunately DIY, but are they successful?  Can your customers find you? We are able to rescue you from the murky depths of Google and with your help on the following points we can ensure the success of your project.

    If you consider and act on the following you will achieve far greater results:-

    •    Assign a single point of contact for the project, and stick to it
    •    Supply a list of likes and dislikes of other websites in your trade
    •    Supply text content, but don’t worry about the quality, we can get clever people to reword it but you do know your business best
    •    Supply realistic photos, logos etc for your artwork – our designer is better used being a ‘creative wiz’ than tracing off tiny logos
    •    Think about the market you want to appeal to so we can make sure your planned site will connect with this market
    •    Ensure that you supply a list of your ‘best sellers’ and any seasonal products
    •    Think about the methods you are contacted by most,  phone, email,  the enquiry form on your site or by a direct sale if e-commerce  – we can design the site to entice your customers to act
    •    Decide whether you need to be able to update your own site or whether you require it managed for you
    •    Think about whether your website could be used to automate part of your business process – thereby increasing time to be spent on other areas of the business

    Over the years, we have seen it and done it (I won’t mention the T-shirt) and, excuse the direct statement, but we know what we are doing!

    If you are still pondering on the route to take, just take a moment to think about the following..

    •    Does your website improve your business?
    •    Does your website give out the correct message?
    •    Are you getting more sales?
    •    Can new customers find your website?
    •    Can your existing customers find your website? – repeat business is key

    I’ll leave you with this quote:-

    Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.
    Robert Louis Stevenson

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