Talk to your customers using video

These days every business has a website (or they should) so it's getting more and more difficult to make your website stand out from the crowd and entice visitors to your site to convert them to customers.

One way to differentiate yourself from your competitors is to use video on your website to "talk" to your customers. Video can be a great way to connect with your visitors on another level, and they can give your business a face and personality in an increasingly anonymous online world.

Here are 3 ways in which you can use video on your website:

1. Testimonials or Case Studies. If you've got some great customers why not ask them if they'll allow you to shoot a video of them talking about how your products or services have helped their business.
2. Promote your products or services. Why not put a real face to your online presence and have yourself filmed promoting the benefits of your products or services.
3. Provide general information. The more information you provide about your business the more likely people are going to convert from visitors to customers. If you have a physical office why not give your website visitors a virtual tour, or use video to introduce your staff.

There are also many reasons why you would want to use video on your website.  My top 5 reasons are:

1. Engage with your website visitors on another, more personal level;
2. They can give you credibility, especially when you have client testimonials;
3. Videos can increase traffic to your website, especially if your video goes "viral" on the Internet;
4. Videos are searchable via search engines so can help with your websites search engine ranking;
5. If you regularly update your videos or provide regular video content you can help create visitor loyalty and keep people coming back.

Those of you who frequent sites such as YouTube would have noticed more and more businesses setting up their own YouTube channel where they post video content for the world to see.  It really is a great way to promote your business, products and services.

Here are a couple of our clients who have done this:

Graphic Effects

Astute Buyers Advocates

If you're considering using video on your website why not have a chat to our friends over at Inspireworks who specialise in creating videos for businesses.

Websites are like fashion

I’ve been thinking recently how styles in many aspects of life change on a regular basis. Take the fashion industry where styles change on a seasonal basis and what was considered fashionable a few months ago is now out of date.  The same goes for websites, although not quite to the extent of changing with the seasons.

When I think back even 12 or 18 months in terms of what styles were “in” with websites it’s amazing to see what has changed. After reading and researching I’ve come up with a list of 3 things that are out of fashion and 3 current design trends.

Whats out…

Spash pages

Spash pages are those annoying animations that load before you get to enter the site. Not only do people find these annoying, but from an SEO (search engine optomisation) point of view they are really bad. Some splash pages have a link to “skip” by often they don’t and you’re forced to watch and wait.

Background music

I don’t know who ever thought having music playing in the background on a website was a good idea. Most of the time people look for the “stop” button, but unfortunately not all sites have one and you’re forced to either listen to it or mute your computer. Not only do you probably not want to listen to it, but the people around you probably don’t either. If you have music on your site make it an option for people to turn on.

Instructions on use of the site

Years ago when web browsers weren’t as sophisticated as they are today (or the website we just badly designed) you needed a particular browser to view it at its best.  These days all sites should (if built correctly) work in all browsers so the “This site is best viewed in <insert browser here>” text is not required.

Whats in….

Backgrounds

With larger computer monitors now we have all this extra real estate that can be used to enhance the design of a website. Current trends see the use of backgrounds that are either textured, such as wood, or using full photos.  Both of these design features you’ll see all over the web (our site for instance uses black timber panelling as the background).

Large headings

Using text as a design feature is in big time. You’ll not doubt have seen sites that have large headings. When used correctly they can look quite effective and add that extra “something” to the look and feel of your site. Of course they can be done badly, but that’s where a good designer comes into play.

Simple design

Simple design is the key to a great website these days.  People are more and more becoming time poor and don’t want to spend a long time looking for information on your site. Simple, clean and easy to navigate sites are they way forward, and are here to stay.

So when you’re looking around the web see if you can pick those that are keeping up with fashion and those that aren’t, and next time you’re ready to update the look and feed of your site keep these in mind.

Use Quality Images For Greater Impact

One of the things that I generally notice on websites is the quality of the images used throughout the site. Generally I find that people completely underestimate the importance of having great photos and images on their site.

As I’ve discussed several times before the two most important aspects of a website are how it looks and the information (content) you provide your visitors.  The fist thing that visitors to your site will do is judge your credibility based on how the site looks.  If it looks good and is well laid out they will then begin to read your content, and then you’ve got them (so long as your content is good).

One of the pit-falls of website photography these days is the urge to grab your digital camera (or phone with camera) and take your own photos.  I’ve seen all too often photos of staff that have been taken against the wall of their reception area or out in the car park, and the lighting is wrong, there is no consistency between the photos and they scream amateur.  Unless you’re a great photographer, understand what the components of a great photo are and have the right equipment, I’d steer clear of the DIY path.

So now you’re asking what the options are.  Well there are two main paths you can take.

Firstly you can engage a professional photographer who will give you great results and provide guidance on the kind of photos you should be using. This is the best option if you have the budget because you’ll get exactly the images you want, in the setting you want and they’ll be unique to your site.

The second option is to use Stock Photos. Stock photos are photos that have been taken by professionals who then sell them for use on your website or in your brochure. Prices can range from $1 to hundreds of dollars, depending on the quality (web v/s print quality), popularity and photographer. One of my favourite sites is istockphoto.com. When you have to head over there for a look around, but be careful! I’ve been known to spend hours looking for the right photo.

Here are my top 7 tips for website photos:

1. The first, and best option is to always use a professional photographer. You’ll get photos of real people, real products and real locations that your customers can relate to.
2. When using stock photos avoid cliché images such as people shaking hands.  Be a bit more creative.
3. Make sure the photo has a purpose. Don’t just use a photo for the sake of it.
4. Think about the style of your site and make sure the photo matches.
5. Fewer, higher quality images are better than lots of small lesser quality photos.
6. Make sure your photos are giving a positive image.
7. When using stock photos of people choose carefully. I can’t tell you how often I see the same people on websites!

So next time you’re updating the content of your website give some thought to the images you’re using, and whether or not they’re appropriate for your website or it’s time to update them.

Five Ways To Evaluate A Website

This week the quarterly magazine from my health fund provider arrived in the mail, and while flicking through it I came across an article about people who use the web for researching, and in some cases self-diagnosing, health issues.

Part of this article was a section called Five Ways To Evaluate A Website. Reading through this bit I thought they highlighted some great points that could be applied to any website, so I thought I'd adapt them for the web in general and share them.

1. Who is providing the information?

Take note of who is providing the information on the website. Has the owner of the site written the content, or do they just get it from somewhere else. It's not always easy to tell but generally if they are pulling their information from another source it should be referenced.

2. Is the information clear?

Knowing what the purpose of a website is will help you judge the information it provides. Websites should have clearly written, laid out and informative content, and provide the information you are looking for, and not make you search for it.

3. Does the website promise too much?

If it seems to good to be true then it probably is. When you're looking around to purchase something or engage a business for their services watch out for warning signs that include promising the world. Check reviews, testimonials and references if you're not sure.

4. Is the information up to date?

This is something I have spoken about many times. It is important for a website to be kept up to date. How often have you been to a site where their last newsletter or blog entry was over 12 months ago? If their blog is old it brings into question the rest of their site and information.

5. Are the links of good quality?

Many sites include links to other sites. This is good for several reasons, but unless they are linking to other quality sites and relevant content they are not much use. Google also takes into account the quality of the sites that you link to, so just linking to a site for no reason could be detrimental to your search engine rankings.

So next time you're doing some research on the web keep these five points in the back of your mind. It's also a good exercise to review your site with the same points and see how you think it stands up.

How Did We Live Without The Internet?

The other day I was thinking about all the things that I do on the Internet and started to wonder how I lived without it. I’ve been working with, and using, the Internet since it graced our shores, and over that time – almost 20 years (yes that’s right, 20 years) – it has become an integral part of my life.

When the Internet first started in Australia it brought with it email which is a great tool for communicating, and now everyone has an email address (even my parents). Then came the web, and websites, which were great for finding (and sharing) useless bits of information. Then businesses started to see that the Internet had greater uses and that having a website made them look good and on the cutting edge of technology.

Fast-forward to today, and most businesses have a website, but simply having a website doesn’t cut it anymore. Your website needs to be great, information rich and easy to use. If your website doesn’t tick these boxes then it isn’t really working for you like it should be, and could be costing you customers.

Think of all the things you use the Internet for:

• Finding information about anything
• Researching potential clients or suppliers
• Simply finding a phone number
• Seeing what’s on the TV
• Finding a restaurant to eat at
• Booking travel
• Banking
• And so much more…

It really is integral to our daily lives.

Now think about whether or not your website is working for you or is just lost in the masses of websites out there that aren’t performing.