Month: March 2014

WEBSITE DESIGN FOR TRADE UNIONS THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA

5 REASONS WHY YOUR TRADE UNION NEEDS A NEW WEBSITE DESIGN

 

1) Is the look of your website likely to attract members and encourage them to join up? If not then it is time for an upgrade. Union members are still browsing on the internet and if they do not like what they see and find it difficult to join, then the chances of them exiting your web site are far greater.

2) Are you fed up with a clunky, out dated, un manageable content management system (CMS)? Have you been putting up with your CMS for years and have never bothered to ask your web developers to change it? Is your trade union CMS built on a customised platform that you are tied into? If all this sounds far too familiar then we can design and build you a completely new website on an open source WordPress CMS platform – they are so easy to use and will make web updates and site changes a breeze!

3) Does your website work on a mobile phone? That is, are members ale to easily navigate your site using their iPhone or tablets? If not, again it’s time to ditch the old site and get a new one built specifically for all devices. Known as responsive web design, your web interface can now automatic resize to the screen size.

4) Has your website got all the social media plug ins? Are you blogging and publishing content on a regular basis? Do the words Pinterest, Instagram or Google+ seem foreign ? If so, then your trade union movement is missing out on some very effective marketing platforms that can be integrated into your website. All trade unions should be reaching out to their members and updating them with information on these very handy and accessible platforms. Blogging and posting news to your trade union members has never been easier on one of our WordPress websites.

5) Lastly, are you just fed, bored and fed up with the look of the current site? If nothing has been done to spruce it up in years then it’s really time for a website overhaul, especially with the design elements, user interface & content.

 

WHY SHOULD YOU ENGAGE HOPPING MAD DESIGNS TO WORK ON YOUR TRADE UNIONS WEBSITE?

 

The answer is simple. We feel that we offer a design style that can really elevate your online profile. We have years of experience working with all types and sizes of businesses and organisations throughout Australia, giving us the creative edge your union website needs to be SUCCESSFUL.

Many of the websites that we have built are large and complex, with deep business and customer/member focused integration.

A large portion of websites are business-critical PLUS we provide full support for our clients to keep their websites going and succeeding.

We are FAST to respond to all inquiries, serious in our approach, easy to deal with, extremely customer focused, and LOVE what we do.

Simple as that!

IS YOUR TRADE UNION LOOKING TO ATTRACT NEW MEMBERS?

 

Can your website be found easily on Google?

Can you members type in courses you may offer and the relevant pages come up within your site on the search engines?

If the words SEO mean nothing to you then you really need to speak with us ASAP to turn things around.

Getting found online and promoting your Trade Union is CRITICAL

We have industries best search engine experts working in-house. Our in depth knowledge of the online environment will result massive benefits and increased revenue for your union.

The more potential members that find your site online for a whole range of industry specific keywords – the more likely they are to sign up and join – it’s a no brainer!

SEO is a powerful marketing tool and should be implemented at the beginning of the website design planning phase.

DO YOU WANT MEMBERS TO BE ABLE TO JOIN ONLINE?

 

If so, we have the technical know how and expertise ti implement seamlessly a full online shopping cart that will allow members to join up, pay their fees as well as manage monthly or yearly membership renewals. All of this can be automated, totally implemented online and save you heaps of time, money and frustration dealing with this task.

PLUS we are able to capture their information in a database that you can use to send out monthly or quarterly newsletters.

If you are still undecided or have some questions regarding your TRADE UNIONS WEBSITE, call me on 02 9360 8514and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the website.

5 Warning Signs Your Website Needs an Overhaul

The internet and especially the latest online applications and technologies are always changing. Things are moving so fast in this online environment that if your website as not up to speed on the latest and greatest then your clients will notice this. Any company or business, no matter the size that is perceived as ‘old school’ will eventually pay the price for this negligence. An old website is a huge turn off! In some cases it might be a quick solution, but like everything you do need to speak to web marketing and design experts.

So following a 5 easy to understand tell tale signs that your website is in need of a massive overhaul. Even if you do not identify with all 5, having just 1 sign is bad enough and should be sufficient motivation for you to get in touch with us here at hopping mad designs. 

 

1. Out dated Flash intros

Go back a decade and flash introductions to your website were all the rage. I remember our clients really going for this and the more flashier the intro the better. Ahh how times have changed. If your website is now sporting a cool flash intro then it’s time to get rid of it.

What was once a favourite eye candy piece for your site, has now become and absolute hated add on. This is because it delays website downloads, most browsers will not support this, it is totally search engine unfriendly and in most cased on the go time poor site visitors on mobile sites cannot see this.

So flash intros are a huge no no. Get onto this asap. Get in touch with who ever created your website and tell them to hit the delete button and do it fast. While you are doing this, it would be a good idea to take a good, hard look at the rest of your site and look at a design and content refresh. Chances are if you have any flash what so ever on your site, then you probably haven’t looked at it in ages.

Tell your web developers, if you are still keen on having that impact that HTML 5 is the way to go. It’s got a massive array of options and possibilities and should be considered as a real alternative to flash.

 

2. Clutter over simplicity

I see some websites that are simply over cluttered.  What has happened in the past is that business owners have decided to cram as much information, images and everything about their business on the home page. Its got moving images, heaps of phone numbers, lots of text, staff profiles, customer testimonials etc etc. Its overkill and customers are fed up with this. Users want to get to a web page, find out the information that they want and then be guided through the site to their final destination.

Lets do this test. Open your home page and look carefully at the top half of the site. If you cannot see exactly what you are offering in less than 3 seconds then something is wrong. Ideally, you should be able to land on any page of your site and be able to find what you are searching for immediately. Site exits and bounce rates are a huge problem. Users need to be converted into buyers once they hit your site. Clutter will only increase the issue and drive potential long term clients to your competition. Advice here is to clean the entire site up. Clean, contemporary design will work wonders for you. Give it a shot and see the difference.

 

3. Brochure style approach

Does your site look like your corporate brochure. Put the two side by side and compare. If this is the case then there are issues. Brochure style sites were great years ago when that was all you really had to do but nowadays sites that read like a brochure, with a focus on heavy text rather than real interesting content is going to drive people away.

Having great content with stylish graphics – even info graphics are more likely to keep people on your site and in turn create the sale or inquiry. Pages of text, useless photos, hard to read paragraphs are a thing of the past. Users demand graphical interfaces that answer questions. Scrolling down pages and reading useless content is an issue.  People scan pages now and there is absolutely no motivation on their behalf to read everything on the page. In fact, if they don’t like what they see by the end of the first paragraph, they will be gone. Your web team will be able to address this and combine a graphical website with well written copy to catch customers attention.

Sites that are over 2-3 years will not have refreshed their copy and this is certainly a great reason for a complete web overhaul.  Point to note here is that the search engines are looking for new content, so if you want to rank on Google, them my advice is to get onto this today.

Websites need to be content-focused instead of text-focused, meaning that having great content and information is key. Text-heavy websites will put off visitors, as they will have absolutely no motivation to comb through your essays of text to find the information that they need. Websites are also meant to be more interactive than brochures; give your visitors control over what they want or don’t want to see through the use of easy navigation and a user-friendly interface, and encourage them to take the next step with clear calls-to-action.

 

4. Lack of a social media

I can bet anything that your old website is devoid of social media. Being part of the online world and being perceived as a modern company now means that you have to be active in the social media space. Yes there are many platforms to choose from but go with the popular ones and start engaging with a new untapped market.

Sharing, liking and communicating in this space is all about Web 2.0 and all new websites are actively participating in these platforms. Personally I love Instagram. It’s fast, easy to use and you can get a following very quickly. Its very fashion able and if you are in this space, your credibility will skyrocket.

Having social media icons on your website is easy and these can all be linked. To what ever platform you like. Again, if you are active in these spaces, even blogging ( as I do), this will have an impact on your SEO and overall online ranking. Dominate your market and industry by setting up a blog and start to publish content. This is part of a social media strategy as people start reading, sharing and liking your topics. Once this begins happening and you start putting more content out their that people like, you will over time see a greater increase in web traffic. This is proven! So if your site doesn’t have a blog then you need to get one.

 

5. Mobile friendly websites

Mobiles sites are here to stay. Get used to this. It’s not a fad or passing trend this is a reality and if your website is not viewable on a hand held device or mobile phone then watch out big time. This will be a serious issue for your business and the sooner you get on board with this the better. It’s a no brainer. If you can see your website on a phone, why are they going to stay and buy. This is magnifies when it comes to eComemrce websites. Give users what they want. Implement a responsive website design so that its viewable on all devices. It is as simple as that. There should be no excuses moving forward.

Make your site responsive now and whilst you are doing this give it a complete overhaul as well.

A few big myths about running an e-commerce store

Everything needs working on, from management decisions to merchandise procurement, website maintenance to online marketing still needs a real human calling all the shots and making those important calls. Don’t forget about the search engine optimisation on top of this as well. The list is huge and if you are serious about succeeding online, then you need to be committed from the start of the exercise.

Following are some of those huge myths and misunderstandings about having an online store .

 

1. The website will easily run the entire business or company.

If you have a great idea and think that by simply setting up and eCommerce website, the dollars are going to start rolling in then forget it. Sure the idea may be great, but hold off on those airline tickets to the Carribean as there is a lot of work and a sprinkling of luck that needs to be done before you start to see the results.

News Flash: Someone needs to physically be there and pack the products and mail them to the customer. Ecommerce websites if designed and marketed properly can be an awesome transactional tool, BUT someone still needs to be there and do the actual work. If it’s a new business then you have got to be personally involved with this for at least a couple of years. I really hate to break this sad news to you, but this is the reality in the online world. Because, the goal posts are forever changing and competition is always coming on board, you really need to be on your game if you are going to get those sales. Involvement, tenacity, drive and marketing know how will be the key to your success.

A point to note: if you think that by implementing a CRM or customer relationship management system, whilst this may help in the management of client details and product management, automatically modifying inventory down as customer orders are placed, charging and invoicing the client as well as communicating orders back to you as the site owner in real time, will not mean that you can leave your eCommerce website to run itself. Sure you may have a CMS system to manipulate and change content/products, but again this will not liberate you from working on the website.

At least for the short term, you will need to work on an an e-commerce site such as looking for new products, change the website to reflect these new products, ship new orders out to clients, manage stock levels, answer customer inquiries and complaints, manage refunds and again as mentioned before; SEO.

2. There are expenses for an online business

There are many advantages to running an eCommerce store over an actual shop. Rents are obviously much lower, staff level can be taken down plus a whole range of fixed costs associated with running a premesis. However, a shopping cart website will also have many on going fees and costs; including search engine marketing ( getting the website to rank on Google for all the products),  Eway fees, hosting costs, phone bills, 1300 numbers, shipping fees, the cost of designing and building the actual site plus web maintenance costs as well as other fees in running a basic business. There is no such thing as an expense free business. There are operating and daily costs involved, so be warned, a eCommerce site if you want it to be successful, will cost money.

 

3. Websites require no maintenance at all.

A website over time needs to be updated. Sure you can have a website and leave it for a year or two, but eventually you are going to have to face the fact that you need an overhaul or a redesign. This is a fact of the online world and something that needs to be budgeted for. Things also go wrong with a website, upgrades to software happen, links break, graphics need updating and this is all part of the wonderful updating process.

A great example of this is to see if your website works on a mobile phone. That is, is the site responsively built to fit on most screen sizes. Most older eCommerce websites will not have this function and this another technological maintenance issue that needs to be addressed. Older sites that don’t work properly, that look out dated, will actually harm your business. Think about it, a potential customer will want to be wowed by a great looking website and not by a site that was designed and developed in the 90’s.

Her are some common mistakes that are often left on websites that need to be FIXED FAST!

  • You have left the Christmas sale price on the site and its now June. Come on, get this changed ASAP – this is a massive turn off and people will expect to pay Xmas prices all the time.
  • You have large images on the home page that has meant that the site keeps crashing and you have never bothered to change it – time t0o get proactive and delete those large unnecessary images.
  • Swapping you bank three months ago, and you have forgotten to change your merchant payment gateway details within your website CMS. How many sales have you lost because of this
  • You have a new 1300 number and have not put this on the website – OUCH!!!
  • Forgot to change the email address on the contact us page, when you changed all your companies email addresses. An absolute killer.
  • You haven't even touched your social media in years and all your social media links are deactivated.
  • Customers are getting an ‘out of stock’ message because you have been too lazy to update the new inventory arrival in your CMS. This is a massive reason why you need to be vigilant when it comes to managing your sites systems and inventory levels.

If you are thinking about starting and ecommerce website design, why not give me a call and we discuss how we can make your new website every bit as successful as you would have hoped for. It is not as easy as it looks, this is why we are here to help you out and guide you down this sometimes mysterious path known as the 'online world'.

5 Big Video Marketing Statistics and why it’s time for your company to take the plunge

Your clients love video

# Big Marketing Statistic 1
Video consumption already accounts for 50% of online mobile traffic and this figure has been predicted by Forbes to reach 90% of all internet traffic by 2017.

The consumption of video is driven by the increase in engagement of a visitor to a website with video. Visitors stay, on average, on a website with video for up to six times the amount time spent on text only sites. This means visitors engage longer – putting them closer to doing business with you.

# Big Marketing Statistic 2
Online video marketing has superseded all other marketing methods to become the fastest growing marketing medium in history – and this growth has all occurred in the last five years.

The reasoning behind the phenomenal growth of video marketing is a combination of three driving factors. Firstly, it is clear that customers love to watch video. Smart marketers offer their customers a choice. If you did your own survey you would quickly find that your colleagues, friends or family will all attest to having a preference in the way they absorb information: some will prefer to read, some will prefer to watch, some listen; and most will tell you it’s a combination. If you don’t offer your customers a choice, you are going to alienate those who simply prefer video. It’s clear that the demand for video is there.
 

Meanwhile two other factors have enabled businesses to meet this demand: production costs of video have come down and video download speeds have increased rapidly. Do you remember when a video had to be viewed on a VHS tape? And do you remember when video did finally hit the net, waiting an hour for a few minutes of video to download? Things change quickly in the information era.

# Big Marketing Statistic 3 – Video Sells
52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in their online purchase decisions. (Internet Retailer, 2012, USA) Video drives conversion and traffic to your website while reducing returns and service costs

At 1 Minute Media we recently completed an online ad for Harvey Norman. The product sales were split tested in the early stages of the marketing launch – there was a website landing page without our video and there was a website landing page with our video. The above statistic was proven to be conservative in this test. The page with our product video produced a 200% increase in sales.

# Big Marketing Statistic 4 – Video Increases Email Open Rates

In a study produced by “Marketing Sherpa” it was found that just having the word “video” added to the email title caused a double in the rate of email opens. It’s clear that many consumers want to be informed, educated and/or sold to by video. For companies who use email as an integral part of their marketing strategy the advice is simple – add a video.

#Big Marketing Statistic 5 – Australian business investment in video is projected to continue to grow beyond 2014

Online video is projected to outperform all other online advertising such as banner ads, advertorials, sponsorships and e-newsletters. Frost & Sullivan predicts a strong market growth to reach $442 million in 2017. (‘Australian Online Video Market 2012’ report)

The key take-away for businesses is this: if you are not utilizing video in your marketing you are risking letting your competitors reap the benefits. Consumers will stay longer on their sites and make more informed and therefore confident decisions about their products and services.

In 2014 it’s very easy to get started and simplifying the process of professional video production is our specialty at 1 Minute Media.

 

Guest Post by Kathy Moran, Director and Owner of 1 Minute Media

Kathy Moran – Business Journalism and Corporate Video Production

Kathy is a new media entrepreneur and combines a background in sales and marketing with a comprehensive understanding of online media. Kathy’s business objectives are to ensure businesses grow their market share using a unique strategy combining business journalism and corporate video. For video production Sydney contact Kathy and the 1 Minute Media team