A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “That’s the ugliest baby that I’ve ever seen. Ugh!” The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!” The man says: “You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”

I love that joke.  But it’s also germane to this column’s topic.

First, I found the joke on Wikipedia.  I didn’t open the yellow pages. Nor did I go to the bookstore.  The internet is the new Encyclopedia Britannica.

Second, the joke is the product of research by Richard Wiseman, who created a website called LaughLab.  The purpose of LaughLab was to crowd-source the collection and ranking of jokes.  His mission was to find the funniest joke in the world – independent of culture, religion and socio-economic status.  Note:  The joke was the top joke in the UK.

Lastly, the joke serves as a good metaphor for your website.  You think your site is a cute baby, but actually it looks like a monkey.

If you want your company to stay competitive,  you must invest the time and resources into leveraging your company’s website.

This is what you need to know:

Yes, you need a website.

If you have a business, you need a website. Period.  Last year I met successful ‘old school’ executive who earns business the ‘old fashioned way’:  word of mouth.  That still works and should be encouraged.  But the world is bigger now and referrals may not span oceans.  The executive learned this the hard way when his company lost a big contract because the company on the mainlaind which was awarding the job found his competitors online but not his firm…because he didn’t have a website.  The bottom line is:  Your customers, vendors and even your competition have already moved online.  You have to do the same.

Action item:  If your company doesn’t have a website, go to GoDaddy.com and register a domain name.  It costs $15 per year.  While you are there, purchase the cheapest Linux hosting.  It’s cost $10/month or so.  Don’t buy any extras.  No need.  You can add more features later if you need to.

Keep it simple.

Internet users are like fast food junkies.  They want it and they want it now!  Don’t design your website like it’s the next Taj Mahal. Yes, it must be professional and it must capture your brand, but don’t over design it or over engineer it.

Too often, business owners approach web design with an excessive emphasis on design. They think more flash (pun) and more shazam is going to bring more business.  Wrong.  Web users want to find what they are looking for.  They don’t want to watch a splashy opening sequence and they definitely dont want to read paragraph upon paragraph of mundane text.

Skip the bun.  Just give them the meat.  Let the home page start selling right there.  Show the benefits of your product or service.  Ask for sale.  Make the call-to-action.

Action item:  Take an hour and pretend you’re a potential customer.  How would you search for your company’s product or service?  What do you expect to find on the website?  Decide your site’s primary purpose and make sure your it is solely focused on that target.

Go ahead, be crappy.

Voltaire said: “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.” The better is the enemy of the good.  I have seen clients spend a year trying to make their websites look perfect before launch.  Meanwhile, the competition got started with what they had and benefited from a year’s head start.

Your website will never be perfect.  There’s always something that you will want to change and improve.  But don’t let small things get in the way of big idea.  Example:  Facebook was conceived, coded and launched in less than six months.  Was the original version the same one currently used by 400 million people? Of course not.  It evolved over time.  Your site can do the same.

Action item:  If you have a site in the works, get the core of it done, make sure there are no bugs, fix all the typos and launch the damn thing.  Business is war.  Don’t waste time polishing the canon.  You can get to that later.  For now, just get going.

It takes three.

Who builds a winning site? Is it the graphic designer who makes the attractive comps? Is it the geek who takes that design and codes it into a real website?  A successful website actually requires three types of people.  And it’s very rare to find someone who has all three skill sets.

The first is the designer.  This is the person who chooses the right colors, fonts, layouts, etc.  He/she has a real talent for what the human eye likes to see.  Important.

The second is the web geek.  This is the person who takes the design and turns it a web page.  So if the designer is the architect, then the web geek is the engineer.  The web geek typically has no design sense but can program like a champ.

The third animal is the one with business sense.  Just because a site is visually attractive and just because it ‘works’ on the internet without hiccups, that doesn’t mean you have a good website.  At the end of the day, your website has to deliver results.  It has to perform.  The third person is the one who focuses on the user experience and the site’s overall utility. He/she weaves together the designer and the web geek to ensure the site meet its overriding purpose.

Action items:  Look at your site.  What are the calls-to-action?  Is it to sell something?  Or to capture an email?  Also, when someone new comes to your site, does he/she ‘get’ within a blink what your company does and how it can help?

You get what you pay for.

I have seen companies pay $15K for a site which was really only worth $5K and I’ve had people wanting a $5K site but willing to pay $500 for it.

Websites are labor intensive.  If you want quality, you have to be willing to pay for it.  But be careful not to overspend.

What should you expect in terms of cost?  Well, it depends on what you need.  If your company needs a professional site just to share information about your products and services, expect to spend $2000-$3000 for site which is search engine friendly and can be easily modified and upgraded down the road.

If you want to want ecommerce added to the site, budget another $1000.

And if you need a database running in the background so clients can create profiles,  manage info, etc, then you’ll need to allocate another $2000.

I have a client who wants to clone Groupon.com, an e-coupon site on the mainland.  That’s $5000 to do it right.  I have another client who wants to emulate the functionality of StudentsofFortune.com, where students can post questions and get answers.  The site may look simple from the end user’s perspective, but the backend (the guts of the site) is actually pretty big.  Expect to spend $6000 for something like that.

In general, the more complex the site, the more it’s going to cost and the longer it’s going to take to get the job done.

Action item:  There are good website designers and then there are beginners.  Look for responsiveness, professionalism and quality work.  Most will want a 50% deposit at time of order and the balance due upon delivery.  Make sure you own (control) the hosting, the domain name, and the site itself.  Get a backup and all relevant passwords when work is done.  Keep everything in your name.

Avoid subscriptions.

A number of web design companies offer subscription based solutions. You basically lease your website.  The upside is you don’t have to pay get going.  The downside is you don’t really own the site and over the long run you will spend more money.  Although subscription business is smart business, I don’t recommend it.

One of the biggest reasons is control.  Most subscription business models give you only limited control over the website itself.  This means you may not be able to optimize the site for search engines, add multiple languages, integrate metrics, etc.  The bottom line is you ultimately need autonomy.

We have a dental client who signed up for one of those subscription based solutions.  They signed a three year agreement.  Unfortunately, it isn’t workng out well for the dentist.  All changes to the site must first be approved by the vendor and often it takes a week or more for the vendor to respond to requests.  Not good.

Action item:  Cost of ownership must factor in lost opportunity.  It may be cheaper to get started with websites you can rent, but ultimately you want to own instead of lease – especially if you expect your business to thrive.  Make sure you receive a complete backup of your site from the web designer, make sure the domain name and hosting is in your name, and make sure you have all logins and passwords:  domain name registration, hosting control panel, and FTP.

And consider using WordPress for your website.  WordPress is free, open source, and fully featured.  It’s a terrific content manager, meaning you can use it to update your site and create pages without having to know any techy stuff.  Cnn.com, NYTimes.com and SuperGeeks.net are done in WordPress.

Test. Measure. Repeat.

The neat thing about internet business is you can change things on the fly. Amazon.com is always experimenting with slightly modified layouts and color schemes, new features, special offers, etc.  You should do the same. Did you know you can automatically serve different versions of your website to potential clients?  The visitor won’t know the difference.  The good news is you can measure conversions (how many people accept the call-to-action), look at the metrics and determine which layout and which message generates the best results.

Action item:  Add Google Analytics to your website. Google Analytics is a free tool for measuring how many people are visiting your site, where they are coming from, what they’re drilling into and how long they stay.  It’s super critical info.  Takes only 10-15 minutes to install and configure but the data is invaluable.  Let me know if you need help installing Google Analytics.  I will gladly do it for you free of charge.

Also, check out Bit.ly.  Bit.ly will enable you to create ‘smart’ hyperlinks, so you can get data on who is clicking on your links.  This is useful when posting content online.

Socialize it. Participate. Share.

Social media is the new rock and roll.

First there was the phone, then the telex, then the fax, the copier, and email…Now there’s social media.  It’s a powerful tool for nurturing business relationships and – like it or not – it’s here to stay.  Regardless of whether you understand it or not, just jump in and started using it.

The way we market and sell has changed dramatically over the last few years.  Traditonal marketing like TV and radio was deliberately disruptive.  The idea was to grab your attention and say, “Here I am.”

Contemporary marketing is all about social media.  It’s more like honey.  The idea is create compelling content and share it with everyone.  Be the expert.  Be helpful.  And the sales will come.

Action item:  Create Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube accounts.  Use tools like Ping.fm and HootSuite.com to weave all those accounts together so you can reduce the workload.  Do more by doing less.

Create a Facebook business page.

After you create your Facebook profile, be sure to create a page for your business.  It takes only a few minutes to get started.

Facebook has some 400 million users.  About 50% log into their accounts on any given day and spend an average 55 minutes there.  You can’t afford to miss those eyeballs.

Action Item:  Facebook will let you create a vanity page once you have 26 fans.  A vanity page has a vanity URL, like Facebook.com/yourcompanyname.  For example, ours is Facebook.com/supergeeks.  A vanity page is easier to promote on your biz cards, packaging, store doors, etc.

Also, take a look at customizing that business page.  Facebook offers lots of free software to make your business page do what you want, like offer coupons, play an intro video, show an online registration form, and much more.

Brand it.

With everyone scrambling to be everywhere online, it’s more important than ever to stand out in the crowd.  What makes your company different than your competitors’?  What’s your story?  How will people recognize your company in a blink?  All of these things must be answered over and over again.  This is especially true online, where there’s a lot of noise and where web users have the attention span of gnat.  Be clear, decisive and bold.

Action item:  Customize your social media accounts so all of them carry the same look and feel.  Make sure your slogan is prominent and easy to understand.  Really spell out what makes your business different.

All roads lead to Rome.

Your website is your best salesperson.  It speaks 13 different languages, works 24/7 and doesn’t need worker comp insurance.  Make your site the epicenter of your marketing campaigns.  It’s OK if all those roads leading to Rome are unpaved.  Web users will take dirt roads.  Just make its easy for people to stumble upon and follow those roads.

Action item:  Go to Google Business Listings (www.google.com/local/add) and add your company.  Take the time to customize your listing.  It will appear in Google Maps and other directories.

Rank higher organically.

It’s called search engine optimization and unfortunately there are a lot of scammers out there ready to trick you into purchasing a product or service you don’t need.

Search engine optimization is important.  You want your website to hit the first page of Google’s search results.

The key to getting there is two-fold.  First, don’t try to sell everyone everything.  Think laser.  If you can sell some of the people all of the time, your business will grow.

Two, make sure the search engines love your website.  Search engines regularly send automated bots to troll and categorize sites on the internet.  Do you think those bots have any patience for a site which is difficult to read?  No, the bots will just move onto the next site.  For this reason, make sure your site is visible to search engines.  Customize your page titles, your page descriptions and your page content.  Avoid certain technologies like Flash which aren’t search engines friendly  Note: Search engines love WordPress.

Action Item:  Go to Google Keyword Tool (www.google.com/sktool/) and look at the actual volume of searches per keywords.  You can see how competitive certain keywords are for click thru advertising.

Caution: Don’t compete with the big boys.  In other words, don’t try to optimize your site and search engine marketing where it’s most competitive.  You will loose that battle.  It’s like challenging Michael Phelps to the 100 meter butterfly.  Instead, choose less competitive keywords and build your campaign and your site around that.

Pay for clicks.

I love a qualified lead.  A qualified lead is someone who is genuinely interested in the product or service you offer.  For example, because we dont sell tires, I wouldn’t get too excited if 100 people line up in front of one of my service centers looking for tires.  However, if 10 people showed up wanting computer help, then I’m interested.

That’s the beauty of click-thru advertising.  Since you only pay for actual clicks, you’re basically paying only for qualified leads.  And if you know what’s an acceptable acquisition cost, you can determine how much you can afford to spend on a click-thru advertising.

Google is the biggest player in this market.  You can create a Google Adwords account within minutes and start advertising online by sundown. You can target certain geographic areas, like Honolulu, and you can set limits on when those ads run and how much you want to spend.  It’s great.

Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube offer similar advertising models.  Their platform is interesting because you can deliver ads to more narrow demographics.  For example, I can show a very targeted wedding ring ad solely to engaged females over age 30 living in Hawaii.

Action Item:  Click-thru advertising will bring more traffic to your site.  But don’t send the qualified lead to your home page.  Chances are your home page is too generic for that targeted ad.  Instead, craft a special landing page for that specific ad.  Play with the layout and the copy of that landing page.  Measure the conversions and find what works.  In the end, online advertising is just a math equation:  (Cost per click) x (number of clicks) / (number of conversions) = cost per actual sale.

Study the competition.

You can learn a lot by studying your competitors.  Hop on their websites, see what works and what doesn’t.  Find the leader in your industry and emulate their best practices.

Please do not think you have to create every brochure and every ad campaign from scratch.  In business, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.  Model success.

We regularly mystery shop our competitors and it’s not uncommon to find policies, procedures and materials which were clearly ‘borrowed’ from SuperGeeks.  I tell my team not to worry.  Our job is to innovate and to lead the industry.  Focus on widening that gap between us and all of them and we will be fine.

Action Item:  Look locally, nationally, and internationally.  Find who is excelling in your market and emulate their best practices.  (Don’t plagiarize.) And be sure to study companies outside your industry.  You may find good inspiration there, too.  For example, we regularly study automotive repair, retail, and health care for new ideas.

Use these free tools.

Use Website Grader to see how you can optimize your site for search engines: www.websitegrader.com

Use this tool to make sure your site’s HTML coding is compliant with major browsers: http://validator.w3.org/

Check for broken links on your site: http://validator.w3.org/checklink

I hope this column is useful.  Please let me know if I can help with anything: help@supergeeks.net

James Kerr – Chief Geek, SuperGeeks (Twitter: supergeeks)

Let SuperGeeks build your new site or redesign your existing one. We build creative, compelling, cutting-edge websites at affordable prices.

Request a FREE quote for your project.

• FREE site review (if you currently have a site)
• Help me build a new site