Welcome to Hot Lemon's Web Design and Marketing Blog for small businesses.
This blog is very much focussed on small businesses. So whilst we might talk about some big real world topics and issues - some normally reserved for the big corporate boys - there will always be a small business slant on our posts. We hope you enjoy our blog, and find it both enlightening and entertaining.
Please leave us feedback, we would like to know if we're hitting the right spot or not.
Search engine marketing (SEM) is the process of promoting and marketing a website for a specific series of keywords in order to both drive appropriate traffic to that website and to get that website to rank more highly in search engines for those keywords (which in turn will generate more traffic). This article provides some useful background info on SEM to be read in association with our following article – Search Engine Marketing – top ten tips for small businesses.
Read More »
What type of website should a small business have?
What should a small business website look like?
What content should a small business website have?
The above are questions that many small businesses will be asking themselves when it comes to developing their own websites. They know they need to be on the web, they know that there is potential value to their business in being on the web, but their not quite sure how or what apart from the need for a website….
Read More »
Believe it or not, not all web browsers display web pages in the same way. These differences can be significant in certain circumstances and cause serious design issues – what looks good in one browser, may well look a mess in another.
To overcome this, the adherence to web standards and extensive multi-browser testing is an important part of the development of any professional website.
Read More »
Good websites have good navigation – simple.
The navigation of your website (the links / menus) is critical to making it a success. Good navigation allows your visitors to find the content they want on your website easily, understand where they are on your website, and above all is intuitive to use.
Read More »
Content is king! However, we have all heard the phrase – “style over content”.
In truth it’s a mixture of both! Websites with lacklustre content are successful because they look and feel good, whereas, websites with excellent content often fail because they “don’t look the business”. Great content with good presentation is the ideal we should be looking for.
Your website needs to look professional! It needs to look like you know what you are doing, and it needs to reflect the brand values of your business. First impressions count, and if your website doesn’t make a good first impression, then the visitors to your site are unlikely to come back.
Read More »
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process by which a website is adjusted (or designed) in order to gain the highest ranking as possible in search engines (such as Google, Yahoo and Bing etc.) this is often called “natural” or “organic” search and is considered the most powerful of web promotion.
Search engines are not perfect! Whilst the technology they use to search and categorise the web is increasing on a daily basis, they still need help in interpreting what your website is about. SEO is a collection of techniques and methodologies aimed at making a website easier to interpret and easier to categorise with a view of gaining a higher search ranking than your competitors.
Read More »
Content – the words, pictures and data you have on your website – is King! The content on your website is what will keep your visitors there, sell them your service, and in large part attract them to your site in the first place.
Search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.) are increasingly effective in interpreting websites to ascertain the content and purpose of those websites. The more relevant content you have on your website will be reflected in your search engine rankings.
Read More »
Any website, no matter how well designed, how good the content, how great the graphics is nothing if no one visits it. Traffic – the number of visitors to your website – is everything.
There are several ways of driving traffic to your website, most firms will use a combination of all of them, and depending on the context, some are better than others. These are:
Read More »
Your website, like everything else in your business, needs an objective!
Without a specific objective to the role and purpose of your website, it is unlikely to be successful for your business. Its design and structure will be harder to develop, its success or failure harder to measure, and the resources you need to put into it will be harder to quantify.
The objectives of your website could, for example, include:
Read More »
Google has, despite residual competition from Yahoo and Microsoft, become the world’s default search engine. Indeed, such is the omnipresence of Google, the word itself is entering modern contemporary language (“to Google”, “to have Googled” etc.). To have, or have not, a high page ranking in Google can mean the difference between success and failure for many businesses.
But how exactly does Google Google?
Bust the myths first!
One of the first things to get out in the open before any discussion about how Google Googles is that no one really knows for sure! (Well apart from those people which actually work at Google that is.)
Read More »
Marketing in a recession: three reasons to keep on marketing
It’s a recession! How many times have you heard that recently? The answer: probably thousands. Every newspaper and news programme seemingly has an unending list of recession related stories; “the longest recession ever”, “the deepest recession since records began”, “the worst recession on record”.
Batten down the hatches, cut costs!
The approach taken by many businesses in a recessionary environment is to batten down the hatches, cut unnecessary spending, reduce non-essential investment, eliminate waste and focus on the key priorities of the business. Believe it or not, these are good things! They help to develop leaner more responsive, more profitable businesses for when the good times return – call it natural selection for businesses if you like – only the good survive.
Read More »
Many people confuse branding with identity and therefore, dangerously, consider they have a brand when they only have an identity.
A brand, in short, is a company identity that has been successfully associated in its customer’s minds with positive, usually emotional, values that add value to the business that owns that brand (a brand can either be associated with a business or a specific product). For example, some of these values could be; value, trust, style, professionalism, forward looking, cutting edge, good value etc.
Read More »
Whilst strictly not a specific marketing discipline in its own right, professionalism is key. A lot of the building blocks of marketing within this “basic” section of the guide are about creating a professional environment (or at least the perception of a professional environment) for your customers and potential customers.
Many organisations overlook the importance of “professionalism”. However, your customers don’t. It is arguably one of the most important hygiene factors they will employ when deciding if they are to do business with you. Simplistically, the more professional a company, the more your customers will trust you to provide a competent service or product.
Read More »
Data is sexy! Well perhaps not to everyone.
In this context, we are talking about customer data, in terms of names, addresses, purchase records, queries and other personal data. In other words the daily interaction you have with your customers.
However, the collection, interpretation and use of customer data is one of the most important ways a business can improve its sales and profitability. By collecting data you can begin to understand your customers, by understanding your customers you can start to anticipate their needs and wants, and if you can do that, you can sell to them more effectively.
Read More »
For the vast majority of businesses having an online presence in the form of a website is no longer an option. Far too many customers now either shop directly online, or research their purchases and business partners online for business not to have an online presence.
Indeed, it is arguably the most important hygiene factor that your potential customers will use when deciding whether to use your business, be that either researching your product offering, checking your opening hours, finding out where your store is, or assessing whether you are capable of providing a professional cost-effective service for them.
Read More »
All businesses require collateral in some form or other. It is one of the key means of creating and maintaining a good first impression and also of communicating your professionalism in your chosen field of operations. Good collateral will do more than just communicate the basics of your business, it will give your customers a feel of your organisation and its ability to meet and exceed their needs.
Not just the obvious
Read More »
In terms of identity, we are talking about how your business presents itself to your customers. This is everything from your company name, logo, your print and marketing collateral, your website, your premises, vehicles, invoices and other administrative paperwork.
The importance of presenting a strong professional identity to your customers and potential customers cannot be over-emphasised. It is one of the most important, and easiest, of the ways to present your business as being professional, established and a good partner for business.
Read More »
A customer proposition is a clear and concise definition of what your business offers your customers. It is in effect your promise to your customers – “do business with me, and this is what you will get”.
It is in effect the reason you are in business, you have identified an opportunity in the market, and developed a service or product to meet that opportunity.
Why is a customer proposition important?
A customer proposition is important because it crystallises why customers should use your business rather than your competitors. This is important both internally (for your own staff) and externally (for your customers) as it highlights and reinforces the gap you are targeting in the market and any unique capability that you may have.
Read More »
Marketing for many, in simplistic terms, is the process of taking your product or service to the market. However, marketing is a much broader discipline, and in its wider sense encompasses the whole process of researching, developing, producing, distributing and promoting your product or service.
Regardless of your company’s size and structure, whether you are a start up, or an established company, marketing can help you and your business. Marketing can help you increase your sales, your margins, develop market share, create new markets and develop new products and services. Also, even if you do some marketing activity already, a review of your marketing activities can bring significant benefits.
Read More »
