Displaying items by tag: website

Building a successful website is not as easy as putting something out there, hoping for search engine robots to crawl them and everything else runs smoothly. A website’s potential to be successful starts from the planning phase. From the time that a company decides to have a website, we always recommend a careful analysis and strategic planning based on what they want and what their business needs.

Here are some of the common reasons why websites fail to gain revenues.

Website is built without proper planning

Some websites are built without any strategic objective or only exist to serve as an online brochure to customers.While there is completely nothing wrong with that, it is sad to know that some businesses are missing out huge opportunities of being able to generate business leads and provide improved service to customers with their websites.

Everything starts from planning. Understanding what the people would seek in a website is a good head start. Business owners should take advantage of their website’s ability to improve their business and customer service.

Poor SEO

Nothing is worse than having a website with poor or completely no SEO—it’s just pointless.  Good SEO is what brings a website out there. It improves the prominence of a website or webpage in search results that helps gain exposure and leads. SEO plays a crucial role in internet marketing and many companies are now realizing its worth. SEO is an investment and when done right, it gives great returns. Understand more about SEO, its application and how it builds online presence, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Lack of content

Failing to place updated content leaves an implication that a company is delivering a poor, low quality or outdated information. This usually drives people away and could drag website rankings down. Content management is necessary to ensure that a company constantly gives out fresh information about their latest products, services, news and other promotions. Most businesses also make use of effective content marketing strategies to reach desired audiences and pulls in potential customers.

Poor design

Web design is not about how business owners want their website to look; it’s about how their customers will use it. A well-designed website is not only about having sophisticated graphic elements but also having user-friendly properties such as right navigation placement, neat and functional design.

No Social Media

Not having at least one active social media outlet is unhealthy for businesses most especially if they aim to generate leads and revenue from their websites. Social media helps a business reach a wider number of people, gain loyal visits and build networks. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are helpful when it comes to announcements and promotions while LinkedIn is the best channel to look for a more niched and professional network. Ignoring Geo Targeting Geo Targeting is a method of setting up a website's intended audience by specifying its target geographical areas. Geo Targeting helps businesses drive online local traffic and also allows business owners to add target centric content in their website. For example, if someone based in the Philippines is on one webpage with a specific geo-targeting set,  he will only be shown content that are targeted to the Philippines or have no targeted set. Ignoring Geo Targeting decreases a websites potential benefits such as increased conversion rates and ROI. It could also result to confused searchers, angry customers and even  lawsuits.

Unresponsive customer support

Having a good website is meaningless if good customer service is not given. They can deny it but some companies lose a lot of money because of a single unanswered call. The purpose of having a ‘contact’ section in a company’s website is to make it easier for people to reach them. If the company fails to give a prompt response, people will more likely resort to the competition. A company should always give attention to how they handle communication with their customers. That way, they are not only giving people a reason to come back but they are also making their company deserving of referrals.

The Northern Office Innovative Marketing acts as a support system for Marketing Departments of different expat companies worldwide. TNO provides a complete range of marketing consultancy services and website design services that ensures lead generation and continuous conversion. Need help with your website? Talk to us at (045) 499-1082 or e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Consultation is FREE!

With the modern society’s dependence on the World Wide Web as a reliable means of getting information, web sites became the next big thing to companies when it comes to introducing and presenting their business to the world. More companies and entrepreneurs have started to invest on solid and professional-looking websites that increased their income potential.

Here we have listed some things why business owners must have a good website :

A good website establishes business’ credibility to the world. Website serves as a global online sales kit. It presents the company’s profile, products and services to the world anytime, anywhere!

Having a high quality business web site reflects the company’s credibility, trustworthiness and professionalism in terms of giving services to customers.  And when a company has successfully established customers’ trust, they are more likely stay.

It could mean MORE MONEY. Having a website opens a lot of opportunities. It builds a brand and most importantly, it also attracts prospective customers.

Ranking in search engines is definitely one thing business owners should aim for if they want to get the most out of their website and earn from it. We highly advise companies to make use of the "white hat (Google/Bing friendly) way of doing SEO in order to get the best results.

It’s easier to tell how business is doing. With the help of modern tools for monitoring web performance, it is easier to track if the website is doing well. It tells which service pages are mostly visited and clicked and which are not. In short, the advantage is that it helps business owners identify its strength and find room for improvement.

It generates potential customers. Few months ago, we published a blog post that tackles about the basic needs of a website in order to become successful; and in that article we made mention of having social media links and share button to make it easier for people to make recommendations. For example, a simple online sharing through social media can result to more traffic; and more traffic would eventually increase until it becomes a lead.

The Northern Office – Innovative Marketing is a marketing consultancy firm that handles professional website development, redesign and optimization services for different companies worldwide. Need assistance with your website? Contact TNO at (045) 499-1082 or e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.for a free consultation. 

2013 is dubbed by Mashable as the year of Responsive Web Design. And what better way to end the year by creating a series of blog articles, looking into this design practice. The part I of the series focuses on its growth through the years.

Today, consumers are technologically adept; jumping from one device to the other when doing everyday transactions. Trip planning, financial managing, Internet browsing, and online shopping are some of the most common activities done across multiple devices. Plus the fact that people are always on the go, wanting to do things as quick as possible and receive needed stuff and information with just one click. This fast phase of life has given birth to a screen revolution, we now experience.

The Birth of Responsive Web Design It all began with the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). But it received a lot of negative criticisms because of its poor performance. Mobile devices then started offering internet access, but have limited browser capabilities. But developers were able to come up with a simple solution through HTML. By the time iPhone was out, mobile sites tend to have a separate and different code from their desktop counterpart. Developers had to maintain two different sites.

But people expect to experience the same look and feel on a website even if they use a desktop, a laptop, or a smartphone. This situation resulted to the idea of having a responsive website. The term “responsive web design (RWD)” was coined by Ethan Macrotte in May 2010.  He was inspired how architects are able to plan and create a technology that enables it to interact and influence the elements in the surrounding area such as humans and its environment

Defining Responsive Web Design

RWD refers to the ability of a website to bend and adapt to different screen sizes and mobile devices. According to Macrotte, responsive design has three distinct parts:

1. Flexible Grid is all about the adaptability of the components into different environment or in this case the screen sizes.
2. Flexible Images is about having a media that are versatile in context and can be controlled by overflow or fluid.
3. Media Queries is important since it is the final layer in creating a responsive web design. What it does is make sure that the design is optimized on a variety of viewing contexts. This also helps to easily notice the errors present on different screen resolutions.

Without all the technical jargons, a responsive design is about not being boxed and restricted into one size. A web design should always wear the idea of one size fits all, or in this case one look fits all.

Why Care About Website Responsiveness?

It is important for brands and companies to adapt to the changing times. This is why from the traditional media; they are now using the new media or the Internet in reaching out to their audience, industry, and the rest of the world. Things have gone global. The same idea applies to a website’s success and survival today.

A website that is able to adapt into different screen sizes and types of devices is meeting the global demand. In doing so, companies are able to increase their credibility and provide people good user experience when scrolling the site. But remember that not all website needs to have a responsive site. Web responsiveness has put the playing field of web marketing into a new whole level. Consumers are likely to engage more on a versatile site than a one that isn’t.

To compete globally, The Northern Office-Innovative Marketing makes sure that their client’s website is responsive. If you need help contact us+63 45 499 1082 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
 

A study conducted by Google and Ipsos OTX concludes that 81% of smartphone users around the world use their mobile phones for internet browsing. It is very possible that after a few years, more users will browse the web through mobile devices than PC’s.  Due to its demand and functionality to the increasing smartphone users worldwide, the digital online world has embraced the mobile optimized concept.  Businesses are now beginning to recognize the value of providing mobile web users with excellent browsing experience through a mobile-friendly responsive site.

We have put together a list of advantages on having a mobile optimized website that are worth considering:

Enhanced browsing experience.

The key elements of having a mobile friendly website are compatibility and convenience. Users use their mobile or handheld devices for browsing because they are handy and easy to use. They expect to make handiness count by browsing through a website that is accessible and WORKING on their devices. Mobile websites are specifically intended to give better user experience on hand held devices in terms of speed, usability and scalability.

Faster Loading Time.

Mobiles or handheld devices usually have slower connections; however, users are expecting sites to load as fast as they do on their desktops which is why mobile optimized websites are designed to load quickly while providing the same quality, functionality and security as s typical desktop sites does.

User engagement is easy.

User engagement is easier to push since you can always initiate interaction because of its mobile-specific features such as share, click to call, QR code scanning, mapping functions and a lot more.

Reach growing mobile audience.

Mobile devices are widely used because of their ability to immediatelybring online media as it opened the doors to constant connectivity and opportunity to connect with other users.Having a mobile friendly website helps lessen the barrier between you and your target audience and builds up your mobile presence as it opens up opportunities of being shared and be accessed by a wider range of target audience. With the increasing number of smartphone usage, mobile optimization has now become an important factor in building websites.

The Northern Office – Innovative Marketing Support can help make your website turn out well for viewing on mobile platforms such as IOS and Android devices. For more information, email The Northern Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call +63 45 499 1082.

 

1. Everything looks old and outdated. If you haven’t done any updates on your website for years after its creation, then I am sure there’s no need to ask if you should go for a redesign or not. The thing with websites is that once they are created, updating will always be a continuous activity. As technology quickly changes, so is your website’s need to go with these changes. Take this as a step to a better corporate/brand/business identity.

2. It’s dry and boring. A blog article entitled How Design Drives Your Website explains how design helps attract more people in visiting your website. With the world paying a huge attention to visual content nowadays, the necessity of design in websites is definitely something not to be ignored about. Read the article on Seven Website Design Rules and learn some tips on how to build nicely designed websites.

3. It doesn't work well. Nothing can get worse than having a website that exists but does not work. There are a lot of reasons why a website would not work well. Top reasons are: a) Poor coding b) Poor SEO c) Poor design d) Poor hosting service While there’s nothing wrong with relying on free services, professionally made websites often go for full-service (paid) services because they provide the complete services and maintenance that website needs that result to better outcomes.

4. User interface is not friendly. One of the things you should consider when you’re deciding whether to have a website redesign or not is the functionality of its user interface. The article Ten Things Your Website Should Have mentioned the importance of easy navigation to users as these serve as guides that should take your visitors to the information they are seeking for quickly and easily.

5. It does not serve its purpose. A website does not serve its purpose when: a) it does not generate traffic, b) it generates traffic but does not gain sales. If either of the two is happening to you, then it is time to take a step forward and do something about it. This may be a good time to find rooms for improvement and analyze if you executed your marketing objectives very well. Here are some good questions that will help you determine your website’s problems.

• Were you able to get your customer’s attention?
• Do you give worthy and helpful content on your products/services or put whatever is available?
• Do you give opportunities or actions to engage them, like special offers, trials, tips, etc..?
• Were you able to provide help or assistance?
• Do you give an explanation of your products/service benefit or you’re just focusing on the features?
• Do you use other platforms or link building methods to add up on your web presence?
• Do you give visitors any means to contact you?
• Were you able to answer your visitors’ FAQs?
• Does your website look trust worthy?

NEED OUR HELP? Send us an email right now and tell us about your website’s needs and we’ll advise some tips on how we can help.Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call at (632) 499-1082 to avail our free consultation.For years, The Northern Office – Innovative Marketing Support has been creating, developing and managing ranking websites for different companies across the globe and in the Philippines. TNO provides a complete range of website development services, SEO, inbound and outbound marketing, multimedia marketing service and sales support.  Visit www.thenorthernoffice.com.