Once you have designed your website you should check out how it is viewed by Google (the most used search engine) and compare it with the best competitors in your industry.
Using the search, site:www.yourwebsite.com/co.uk in Google, how many pages does Google know that exist on your website?
How many pages do your competitors have listed?
Using the search, link:www.yourwebsite.com/co.uk in Google, how many pages does Google know that link on your website?
How many links do your competitors have listed?
If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Monday, 14 January 2008
More Website Tips
Following on from my last post here are a few more tips to help ensure that you start your website off on the right track.
Good practice is to have the menu down the left hand side.
Do not have too many levels of information for each heading on your menu i.e. any element should be only 3 clicks of the mouse in.
Use lots of white space on the page too busy and it won’t get read.
As for page content, the page should have at least 120 words of content on it
Use bullet points and summaries.
More to come in later posts.
If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Good practice is to have the menu down the left hand side.
Do not have too many levels of information for each heading on your menu i.e. any element should be only 3 clicks of the mouse in.
Use lots of white space on the page too busy and it won’t get read.
As for page content, the page should have at least 120 words of content on it
Use bullet points and summaries.
More to come in later posts.
If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
More Website Tips
Following on from my last post here are a few more tips to help ensure that you start your website off on the right track.
Good practice is to have the menu down the left hand side.
Do not have too many levels of information for each heading on your menu i.e. any element should be only 3 clicks of the mouse in.
Use lots of white space on the page too busy and it won’t get read.
As for page content, the page should have at least 120 words of content on it
Use bullet points and summaries.
More to come in later posts.
If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Good practice is to have the menu down the left hand side.
Do not have too many levels of information for each heading on your menu i.e. any element should be only 3 clicks of the mouse in.
Use lots of white space on the page too busy and it won’t get read.
As for page content, the page should have at least 120 words of content on it
Use bullet points and summaries.
More to come in later posts.
If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Websites Some Basic Steps Before You Start
A lot of businesses that I help have a website but in many cases they have spent money before asking themselves some basic questions. This preparation ensures that the website does what it should ie attract visitors and gain business.
So here are some questions to get you started:
Why do you have/want a website?
What is your websites call to action?
Who are your potential website visitors?
Who might buy your products or services or be interested in your website information?
Now having established the basics how do you arrive at the right keywords for the search engines to find your website? They can then form part of the copy in your pages.
Which search terms (phrases) do you think are important to your target market?
Now put them in priority order.
Use the overture tool to see how often those terms were searched under.
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
You can also check using the Google Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=64886&hl=en_GB
You should now be on the right track to see what words will be effective.
More website tips to come.
If you require more individual help in growing your business check out my website or contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
So here are some questions to get you started:
Why do you have/want a website?
What is your websites call to action?
Who are your potential website visitors?
Who might buy your products or services or be interested in your website information?
Now having established the basics how do you arrive at the right keywords for the search engines to find your website? They can then form part of the copy in your pages.
Which search terms (phrases) do you think are important to your target market?
Now put them in priority order.
Use the overture tool to see how often those terms were searched under.
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
You can also check using the Google Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=64886&hl=en_GB
You should now be on the right track to see what words will be effective.
More website tips to come.
If you require more individual help in growing your business check out my website or contact me via email or telephone
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Friday, 11 January 2008
Knowledge is Power!
When I start working with clients one of the early pieces of work I do is to ask them is to provide me with what they know about their market, the size, growth, trends and what they understand about their competitors.
Guess what in many cases if they do have anything written down its out of date, often it’s in their head or is just gut feelings. So I always build a small amount of research time into the project proposal.
But the worst thing is that up until now these clients business management or business planning (if they do any) is based on this lack of knowledge.
When I talk to businesses in the first place the comments I get are:
We don’t need all that, we just want more sales
Well we don’t have time for research.
We don’t need/can’t afford a marketing manager.
We don’t have anyone with that expertise in house
We can’t afford to pay someone like you to carry out research
Let’s take the first comment
Trying to plan or run a business without research is crazy. To use an example that’s like driving a car blindfold down the fast lane of the motorway without any idea of your destination, that would be a pretty stupid thing to do.
For instance if the long term trends in your market means that its going to change radically you need to know about it.
Secondly time invested now can pay dividends and prevent expensive mistake or more importantly the knowledge gained can give you the edge over your competition.
Lastly costs money or time spent should be seen as an investment not a cost.
If you are a start up business and really have no money you can do it yourself for free.
You don’t have to spend a large amount of money. I don’t buy market research reports for instance. In the UK we have the library’s service and most counties have a least one which is designated as the County Business Library.
I am a great fan of these facilities. For instance they hold copies of Keynote Market Research Reports. These are major pieces of market research that have been funded by big businesses/organisations and you can view them for free either in hard copy, (or on the computer in my County library).
I spend a lot of time there making notes and you can take some limited photocopies.
I could of course examine Keynote reports via the Keynote Website but you can only see the executive summary to get the rest costs sometimes thousands of pounds, but why would I want to do that?
Of course you can also use the internet and do some free research.
So no more excuses, let your competitors stay in blissful ignorance and steel a march on them.
Do it today!
For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Guess what in many cases if they do have anything written down its out of date, often it’s in their head or is just gut feelings. So I always build a small amount of research time into the project proposal.
But the worst thing is that up until now these clients business management or business planning (if they do any) is based on this lack of knowledge.
When I talk to businesses in the first place the comments I get are:
We don’t need all that, we just want more sales
Well we don’t have time for research.
We don’t need/can’t afford a marketing manager.
We don’t have anyone with that expertise in house
We can’t afford to pay someone like you to carry out research
Let’s take the first comment
Trying to plan or run a business without research is crazy. To use an example that’s like driving a car blindfold down the fast lane of the motorway without any idea of your destination, that would be a pretty stupid thing to do.
For instance if the long term trends in your market means that its going to change radically you need to know about it.
Secondly time invested now can pay dividends and prevent expensive mistake or more importantly the knowledge gained can give you the edge over your competition.
Lastly costs money or time spent should be seen as an investment not a cost.
If you are a start up business and really have no money you can do it yourself for free.
You don’t have to spend a large amount of money. I don’t buy market research reports for instance. In the UK we have the library’s service and most counties have a least one which is designated as the County Business Library.
I am a great fan of these facilities. For instance they hold copies of Keynote Market Research Reports. These are major pieces of market research that have been funded by big businesses/organisations and you can view them for free either in hard copy, (or on the computer in my County library).
I spend a lot of time there making notes and you can take some limited photocopies.
I could of course examine Keynote reports via the Keynote Website but you can only see the executive summary to get the rest costs sometimes thousands of pounds, but why would I want to do that?
Of course you can also use the internet and do some free research.
So no more excuses, let your competitors stay in blissful ignorance and steel a march on them.
Do it today!
For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Successful Business Bucks the Trend
Earlier this week I had a review meeting with a client that I started working with just 12 months ago. The small independent business operates in the home improvement retail sector.
The business owner had hit the classic growth plateau, the business had been running 5 years was doing OK, but the owner was running around like mad and missing time with his family. He wanted to grow the business further but was unable to see how this could happen.
After carrying out a free diagnostic I identified that the business could grow with the right growth and development strategy but that he also needed to work on the business and not in the business. Also the business needed to work smarter not harder.
I worked with the owner to put together the clear vision, strategy and tactics to grow the business and rethink how the business operated. This was then translated into a robust business plan containing SMART objectives and accurate financial forecasts so that we could accurately measure costs and sales. The forecasts also allowed us to track the impact of strategy and tactics.
We also repositioned the business to concentrate on the higher net wealth clients and to turn away the lower value business to the big chains that were in the usual aggressive price war. The secret was to avoid competing on price and spending lots of time producing design layouts for business that would not be closed or if won would be on lower margins.
We projected a reasonable growth of 20% and to retain a good gross profit margin.
So how did this approach pan out?
We just examined his final end of year results he achieved 68% growth and exceeded the targeted good gross profit margin by 1%. The changes we made has meant that he is now able to take an extra day a week off, plus several breaks. He is relaxed, happy and is now looking at planned expansion funded out of profit. He now gets a very large proportion of business from recommendations and is spending a lot less on advertising.
The business is expected to hit the five year growth target that we set at least 1 year earlier.
Meanwhile his competitors both the small independents like him and the large national chains are all struggling even harder and fighting over low profit business.
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
The business owner had hit the classic growth plateau, the business had been running 5 years was doing OK, but the owner was running around like mad and missing time with his family. He wanted to grow the business further but was unable to see how this could happen.
After carrying out a free diagnostic I identified that the business could grow with the right growth and development strategy but that he also needed to work on the business and not in the business. Also the business needed to work smarter not harder.
I worked with the owner to put together the clear vision, strategy and tactics to grow the business and rethink how the business operated. This was then translated into a robust business plan containing SMART objectives and accurate financial forecasts so that we could accurately measure costs and sales. The forecasts also allowed us to track the impact of strategy and tactics.
We also repositioned the business to concentrate on the higher net wealth clients and to turn away the lower value business to the big chains that were in the usual aggressive price war. The secret was to avoid competing on price and spending lots of time producing design layouts for business that would not be closed or if won would be on lower margins.
We projected a reasonable growth of 20% and to retain a good gross profit margin.
So how did this approach pan out?
We just examined his final end of year results he achieved 68% growth and exceeded the targeted good gross profit margin by 1%. The changes we made has meant that he is now able to take an extra day a week off, plus several breaks. He is relaxed, happy and is now looking at planned expansion funded out of profit. He now gets a very large proportion of business from recommendations and is spending a lot less on advertising.
The business is expected to hit the five year growth target that we set at least 1 year earlier.
Meanwhile his competitors both the small independents like him and the large national chains are all struggling even harder and fighting over low profit business.
To quote a character from the TV programme 'The A Team,' " I love it when a plan comes together," (and so do my clients)!
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
Company Website’s, Some Basic Preparation
With regularity I meet clients who believe that if they set up a great website it will bring in lots of sales and solve all of their problems.
The problem is that before you launch a website you need to start much further back.
Why do you need the website, what is it going to do?
Is it a just a sales brochure website?
Will customers want to order from it via an e-mail?
Is a full e-commerce site what’s needed and if so how will your customers pay, and what payment/credit cards will you accept and what’s the cost?
But more importantly often the website is built in isolation from the rest of the business.
Have you got the ability to handle a large increase in sales admin, dispatch and delivery wise? What about returns?
Can your suppliers handle the increase in sales have you got back up suppliers? If it all takes off as you hope can you cash flow the big increase in sales? More businesses fail through running out of cash as they expand than you would believe.
Does the website conform to the legal requirement’s, in the UK under trading law websites must have certain information in place.
Four vital elements that must be on every the website are:
Terms and Conditions, (accessible form every page)
The VAT registration number
The details of the company registered office.
If you are a Limited Company you must also show the Company Registration Number.
Lastly you can’t just show a non geographic phone number i.e. 0800, 0845, 0870 etc. you must also prominently show a normal non geographic phone number
All of these are requirements under UK law. If your website does not comply it is recommended that these compliance issues should be addressed with some urgency. After all you don’t want to Trading Standards Officers giving you a hard time
More to follow!
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
The problem is that before you launch a website you need to start much further back.
Why do you need the website, what is it going to do?
Is it a just a sales brochure website?
Will customers want to order from it via an e-mail?
Is a full e-commerce site what’s needed and if so how will your customers pay, and what payment/credit cards will you accept and what’s the cost?
But more importantly often the website is built in isolation from the rest of the business.
Have you got the ability to handle a large increase in sales admin, dispatch and delivery wise? What about returns?
Can your suppliers handle the increase in sales have you got back up suppliers? If it all takes off as you hope can you cash flow the big increase in sales? More businesses fail through running out of cash as they expand than you would believe.
Does the website conform to the legal requirement’s, in the UK under trading law websites must have certain information in place.
Four vital elements that must be on every the website are:
Terms and Conditions, (accessible form every page)
The VAT registration number
The details of the company registered office.
If you are a Limited Company you must also show the Company Registration Number.
Lastly you can’t just show a non geographic phone number i.e. 0800, 0845, 0870 etc. you must also prominently show a normal non geographic phone number
All of these are requirements under UK law. If your website does not comply it is recommended that these compliance issues should be addressed with some urgency. After all you don’t want to Trading Standards Officers giving you a hard time
More to follow!
Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
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