Sadly you don't have the opportunity to meet every prosective customer - it would be great if you could - but your website does!
Your website is the first impression people have of you and your business, not the great furniture you have in reception, or your firm handshake, or your passion for great customer service.
How your website looks reflects your attention to detail and your attitude to business.
How fresh it is and how quickly it gets updated reflects your agility and responsiveness to customers.
How relevant it is shows how you may understand your customers, clients or prospects.
A website communicates an essence of what a business is all about - make sure your website is communicating the right message.
If you would like to chat about your website, give us a call.
Telephone: 01625 821072 Mobile: 07784 128016
Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Monday 26 October 2009
Your Website - It's about first impressions
Why is a website so important to a business?
People do judge books by their covers - and websites too.
"Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second), according to research. In the blink of an eye, web surfers make nearly instantaneous judgments of a website's appeal."
Users who arrive at your website may have no idea who you are, how good your products or services are or what your company values are - but the first few seconds on your website will influence that.
Make sure they get the right impression on their first visit. Is the quality of your website consistent with the quality of your product, service and people.
If you need some advice on your website's first impression give us a call.
Telephone: 01625 821072 Mobile: 07784 128016
Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
Source: websiteoptimization.com
People do judge books by their covers - and websites too.
"Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second), according to research. In the blink of an eye, web surfers make nearly instantaneous judgments of a website's appeal."
Users who arrive at your website may have no idea who you are, how good your products or services are or what your company values are - but the first few seconds on your website will influence that.
Make sure they get the right impression on their first visit. Is the quality of your website consistent with the quality of your product, service and people.
If you need some advice on your website's first impression give us a call.
Telephone: 01625 821072 Mobile: 07784 128016
Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
Source: websiteoptimization.com
Friday 23 October 2009
Permissions required for Email Marketing
Email marketing is fast becoming the way that companies contact their clients, customers and subscribers to let them know what's happening. It's cheap, quick and funky to use this type of communication, but what permissions do you need to keep within the law?
First of all, let’s clarify what spam is, and then what kind of permission you will need to use email marketing safely. What is spam? and how do you avoid it?
Spam is any email you send to someone who hasn’t given you their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the email.
Permission is a fuzzy word open to interpretation. Let’s get into some specific scenarios so it’s clear what does and doesn’t constitute permission.
You can only email subscribers if you obtained their permission in any of the following ways.
They gave you their business card.
If someone gives you their business card and you have explicitly asked for permission to add them to your list, you can contact them. If they dropped their business card in a fishbowl at a trade show, there must be a sign indicating they will be contacted by email about the specific topic.
They purchased something off you in the last 2 years.
By making a purchase from you they have provided their permission implicitly. Feel free to email them but at the same time, we think it’s always better to ask anyway, so why not include an opt-in checkbox as part of the checkout process.
Scenarios that DON’T equate to permission.
Basically, anything outside the examples above doesn’t equal permission, but here are some examples to make sure it’s crystal clear.
You obtained the email addresses from a third party.
Whether you purchased a list, were provided one by a partner or bought a bankrupt competitor’s customer list, those people never gave YOU permission to email them and they will consider your email spam. No matter the claims of the source of this list, you cannot email them legitimately.
You haven’t emailed that address for more than 2 years.
Permission doesn’t age well. Even if you got their permission legitimately, they won’t remember giving it to you. If you haven’t sent something to that address in the last 2 years, you can’t start now.
First of all, let’s clarify what spam is, and then what kind of permission you will need to use email marketing safely. What is spam? and how do you avoid it?
Spam is any email you send to someone who hasn’t given you their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the email.
Permission is a fuzzy word open to interpretation. Let’s get into some specific scenarios so it’s clear what does and doesn’t constitute permission.
The type of permission you MUST have:
You can only email subscribers if you obtained their permission in any of the following ways.
They opted in via your web site.
This could either be through a newsletter subscribe form or by ticking a checkbox on another form. This checkbox cannot be checked by default and it must clearly explain that checking it will mean you will be contacting them by email.
This could either be through a newsletter subscribe form or by ticking a checkbox on another form. This checkbox cannot be checked by default and it must clearly explain that checking it will mean you will be contacting them by email.
They completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed.
If someone completes an offline form like a survey or enters a competition, you can only contact them if it was explained to them that they would be contacted by email AND they ticked a box indicating they would like to be contacted.
If someone completes an offline form like a survey or enters a competition, you can only contact them if it was explained to them that they would be contacted by email AND they ticked a box indicating they would like to be contacted.
They gave you their business card.
If someone gives you their business card and you have explicitly asked for permission to add them to your list, you can contact them. If they dropped their business card in a fishbowl at a trade show, there must be a sign indicating they will be contacted by email about the specific topic.
They purchased something off you in the last 2 years.
By making a purchase from you they have provided their permission implicitly. Feel free to email them but at the same time, we think it’s always better to ask anyway, so why not include an opt-in checkbox as part of the checkout process.
Scenarios that DON’T equate to permission.
Basically, anything outside the examples above doesn’t equal permission, but here are some examples to make sure it’s crystal clear.
You obtained the email addresses from a third party.
Whether you purchased a list, were provided one by a partner or bought a bankrupt competitor’s customer list, those people never gave YOU permission to email them and they will consider your email spam. No matter the claims of the source of this list, you cannot email them legitimately.
You scraped or “copy and pasted” the addresses from the Internet.
Just because people publish their email address doesn’t mean they want to hear from you.
Just because people publish their email address doesn’t mean they want to hear from you.
You haven’t emailed that address for more than 2 years.
Permission doesn’t age well. Even if you got their permission legitimately, they won’t remember giving it to you. If you haven’t sent something to that address in the last 2 years, you can’t start now.
If you need any advice don't hesitate to contact us.
Telephone: 01625 821072
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