HI-Arts Digital Toolkit

Digital Toolkit

For more information or advice please contact Sian Jamieson e: [email protected] t:01463 720 889 w:hi-arts.co.uk

HI~Arts – Suites 4&5 Ballantyne House – 84 Academy Street – Inverness – IV1 1LU

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WEB

MARKETING

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Digital ToolkitDigital ToolkitDigital ToolkitDigital Toolkit For Artists and Arts Organisations across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Includes Tip Sheets on:

• Web Development • Website Specification

Development Plan • Promote Your Site • eCommerce • Social Media

The shape of marketing and promotion

has changed significantly with the advent of the internet.

Now there are hundreds of tools,

applications and open-source solutions to enable you to launch effective and

sustainable marketing strategies online.

The following document includes advice, tips and information for

utilising “The first rule of online success is it’s never about you. Brilliant as you and

your business are, focus on the visitor. Let them know you

understand what matters to them. Put them center stage.”

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The Importance of an Effective Website Consider:

• What your organisation’s current website is like – from a visitor’s perspective. Does it work for you at home, on different web browser’s, from your iphone?

• What visitors to your website will want to gain from their visit? • What opportunities could your website offer to visitors that would

help your organisation? • Do you think your website offers enough to hold visitor’s attention or

might they go elsewhere? If you are going to promote your arts or cultural events through the web you need to ensure your site is fully functional and ef fective that meets your visitor’s needs. Who should be Responsible? Consider:

• Who is responsible for managing your website? Is this effective? • What skills and advice will you need to implement your website or

make changes? • Do you have the internal skills?

The skills you may need: • Brief writing • Web architecture: planning the sites technical and

navigational structure and organising the information. • Design: creating a cohesive look and feel consistent with

your organisation and with the site’s purpose. • Content creation: compiling all text and other content

(photographs, video, audio) that will populate the finished site.

• Editing: ensure consistency of style and accuracy of content.

• Quality assurance and testing: thoroughly checking the entire site for errors and bugs

• Content management: developing processes and systems prior to launch.

What is Your Website For? Consider:

• What is the purpose of your website? • Do you understand who your potential visitors and the

context in which they will use your website? Key points

• Write down in summary form the primary purpose of your website and other objectives.

• Write up an outline of your target users and your ideas of when and how they will access and use your website.

Priorities Set at least 3 or 4 objectives , with one defined as your overriding primary purpose and the remainder being clearly defined and prioritised.

Be prepared to restrict your ambitions. It’s unrealistic to set objectives for your website you might not

achieve. Consider what resources and efforts can be put behind each objective.

Internet usage has increased by 342% between 2000 and 2008, with 24% of the population now online. Being online is an imperative part of marketing your events, venue or organisation, and can be an effective and efficient audience development tool. If you are considering getting on board the World Wide Web, or want to update your current website, the following is an overview of how to create and plan an effective website.

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oolkit What is Your Website For? Your website’s key purpose may be among the following:

• Providing in-depth What’s On Information, to persuade people to attend.

• Reaching a worldwide audience • Selling tickets online • Supporting your education and outreach goals with online resources

for visitors, including teachers, students and socially excluded people

• Providing information about your organisation as a means of developing audiences and ticket sales

• Developing e-commerce opportunities • Providing support and services to communities and artists.

Clarity Visitors should be able to immediately identify you r website’s purpose . It should be clear to them who you are, what role your website plays, what they can use it for and how to get started. It is not necessary to overly state your website purpose in writing; rather this can be done with clear navigation . The following elements can help capture visitors and lead them through to the desired actions:

• A prominent company name and logo • Consistent branding with all other offline communications • Clearly indicating what you expect visitors to do i.e. ‘Book Now…’ • A current and prominent programme • Clearly labelled navigating which reflects the website’s priorities.

For example: • What’s On • Booking • Supporting us • Membership • Your visit • Hire • About us

Design issues Consider:

• What is the visual appearance? How does this relate to your group identity, or other physical manifestations of your groups branding.

• What key design elements are necessary to meet the needs and characteristics of your users? Is there anything your design must not include?

• Researching other websites to collate examples of what you want your own design to look like.

The rules of print do not apply. On the web the colour palette is limited and colours do not appear the same on every monitor, so it is not possible to guarantee that your brand colours will appear correctly. The web is dynamic , variables such as computer platform, browser software, internet connection, screen resolution and individual preferences impact on the way each visitor experiences your website in terms of layout, font and even functionality. Waiting for download The biggest problem visitors experience is waiting for web graphics to be downloaded. There are a few simple things you can do to speed this up.

• Make sure the picture is the right size: images on the web are made up of pixels , the more pixels you have the bigger the file will be and the longer it will take to download

• Don’t adjust image size in inches or centimetres – this does not control how it will be seen on screen.

Key Point If this is your first experience with website development it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the web, to understand how designing for the web is different from print.

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• Using GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) compresses pictures by reducing the number of colours in the palette. If your image only contains a couple of colours this can easily speed up your website.

• Using JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) for photographs reduces the amount of detail in a picture. By making the edges a bit fuzzy, this makes pictures radically smaller than the equivalent bitmap (BMP) file.

Understanding your users Consider:

• Usability and accessibility principles and how these apply to your website?

Understanding how people use the web can help us to appreciate why

we need to take usability and accessibility serious ly.

Web Interaction: • Users jump around (they are not captive) and view many web

pages (an average of 30) in a single session. • External links, bookmarks and multiple browser windows make is

easy to leave a site at any moment. • Visitors skim read in a hurry and only dip into interesting text. • Links are scanned for what’s important and for information on where

to go. • Users look at text before images. • Users ‘make-do’ eg. As soon as they find a link that appears to lead

to what they are looking for, there’s a very good chance that they will click on it.

Content Issues Consider:

• Have you planned to create original content for the web, rather than reusing existing print copy?

• If adequate resources have been allocated to content creation (e.g. Photographs, video, copy editing) with a realistic timetable for content delivery?

• Has search engine optimisation been considered in the creation of your website’s content?

• Have you considered ongoing updating and content maintenance?

Website design and content should work in synergy, leading

visitors to complete their intended task. Items to be considered:

• What content is required – not only text, but images, photographs, video, audio, downloadable files, graphs, maps and charts.

• Who will be responsible for content coordination, content generation, proofing and final editing.

• What approval and checking processes will be employed.

• Where to source existing content and which content has to be generated from scratch.

• How frequent content will be need to updated . • How content will be archived or replaced once it has

become dated. • The timeframe for compiling and generating content,

taking into account aspects such as briefing writers, researching information, sourcing images, preparing downloadable files, securing copyrights and permissions, liaison with other departments, proofing and editing. • How ongoing content maintenance will be

managed and by whom. Content Template A content template will help you to subdivide your sections into separate pages. Search Engine Optimisation Search Engines A key consideration when creating website content is optimisation of your site for search engines. Search engine crawlers are more likely to index and highly rank websites that appear very relevant to particular search terms. They will pick up on key words in your content that match the terms users type into their search fields.

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oolkit You should try to include keywords and phrases prominently in the most visible content areas. These keywords should be those you would expect to be used in a search by your desired target audience when they are looking for the services you provide, e.g. ‘theatre tickets in Pitlochry’. Without destroying the readability of your text, you should aim to include these in body text (particularly on the home page), headings, alt text and hyperlinks. Relating to your users Consider:

• What interactivity is required to achieve your objectives? • What are the design implications of the interactivity and the

intended impact on the relationship with users? • What kind of online community do you want to create?

Interactivity Web 2.0 has revolutionised the way in which users interact with websites. User’s can now interact, become editors, comment and become part of a wider online community. This type of interactivity can be supported through:

- Online forums - RSS feeds - YouTube and Flickr - Social Networking sites

For more information on Social Networking see the Tip Sheet: Social Networking. Useful Links Website Creation

• www.spanglefish.com • smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/ • www.apollohosting.com/ • www.2createawebsite.com/ • www.weebly.com/ • www.webcreationuk.com/ • http://www.moonfruit.com/

Google • www.google.com/analytics/ • www.google.com/adsense • adwords.google.co.uk/

Accessibility

• http://www.w3.org/WAI/ Search Engines

• www.google.com • www.yahoo.com • www.bling.com • www.ask.com • www.altavista.com • www.lycos.com

Web Browsers

• Internet Explorer • Firefox • Safari • Google Chrome

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General 1.1 Overview An explanation of what your organisation is and what it does. 1.2 Background A brief explanation of why you want website development at this stage, including your aims and objectives e.g. if it is for a particular project or a particular audience, or if you want to upgrade your existing website. 1.3 Current Situation If you already have a website it is helpful to outline what you do have, including the website name.

Specification 2.1 Overview Give a summarisation of the purpose of the website. 2.2 Stakeholders All websites have a number of different stakeholders: (amend as appropriate)

• existing audiences • new/ potential audiences • funders and statutory bodies • Your team

It is vital that you specify who your main audience will be. 2.3 Design This is your opportunity to outline any design issues – this relates to the audiences and stakeholders i.e. ‘user friendly’ ‘brand conscious’. You should state here whether or not it should incorporate any existing design elements, colours or logos. 2.4 Navigation You might not have a clear idea of navigation at this point, but if there are any particular issues of principles then these should be included here. It is also a good idea to add in some features at this point (i.e. search/sitemaps). 2.5 Accessibility Websites must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. Stating how you will be accessible to your audiences here will set the tone for you

For more information on aims and

objectives see Tip Sheet Website Development

For information on web accessibility check out http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Before embarking on a website development project it is important to set out your aims and objectives for the site. If you can answer all the questions outlined here then you will have the basis of a website specification for your group/ organisation. The more preparation you do before undertaking a web development, the better end result you can expect. If you are working with, or are in conversation with, a web developer , it is sometimes useful to have a document like this beforehand.

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oolkit website development. 2.6 Content Here list the type of content that you will include on the site i.e. text, photographs, audio, video, PDF’s etc.

2.7 Integration Increasingly websites are integrating with back office systems e.g. ticketing systems, financial systems, customer relationship management systems (CRM), it is important to be clear where this is the case. 2.8 Third Party Plug-ins Web 2.0 functionality increasingly involves integration with third part applications e.g. YouTube, Flickr, iTunes, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter. Using third party applications

can help to deliver particular functionality i.e. an online gallery, a shopping cart). 2.9 Administration The site will be administered by one/ or a number of users and should be able to be administered from any internet connection. You may require a CMS (Content Management System) if this is the case then you may want to outline who in your group or organisation has responsibility/ permission for what i.e. uploading content, restructuring the site, adding layers of information. 2.10 Additional Functionality If you intend to have any particular functions e.g. an online poll, a forum or registration system, then you will need to go into as much detail as possible here.

2.11 Security Outline what levels of security you will require e.g. a secure members area, an ecommerce or payments system. 2.12 Hosting You may already have a domain name, if not then you will need to investigate the type of web hosting service you will need. The level of functionality of your site will determine how expensive the site will be.

For more information on social networking –

and whether this is right for you see Tip

Sheet Social Networking

You can subscribe to free online CRM systems to manager your customer databases and mailings easier. For example: www.freecrm.com/ For information on CRM see the Tip Sheet Customer Relationship Management.

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oolkit Promote Your Site Creating a website for your organisation, group or art form is essential in today’s online society ; however it’s pretty pointless if no one is visiting it. Increasing traffic to your site should be a serious consideration for your marketing plan . The following tips are some of the ways you can promote your website. Search Engine Optimisation An essential, and inexpensive, strategy is to have your ‘keywords’ ranked highly on main search engines in “organic” or “natural” searches . Search engines send out “spiders” to index the content of your web pages. Leave abundant clues as to what your website is about to enable “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO). #1 Write a Keyword-Rich Page Title Write descriptive titles for each page using 5 to 8 keywords. Remove filter words such as “the”, “and” etc, while still making it readable. This title will appear hyperlinked on the search engines when your page is found.

Plan to use some descriptive keywords along with your organisation or venue name on your homepage (called keyword prominence ). The more people see that interests them in the blue hyperlinked words on the search engine the more likely they are to click on the link.

#2 Write a META Tag Description Most search engines will look inside META Tags on your web page. META tags should include keywords within a description of your website; they need to be keywords which appear on your homepage. The maximum number of characters should be about 255; and the first 60 are only visible on Google, though more will be indexed.

Most website builders offer you options to include keyword descriptions and META Tags. However there are ways of including

HTML coding to do this.

#3 Hyperlink your Keywords Search engines look for clues as to the focus of your website. When they see words hyperlinked in your body text, they consider these as potentially important. #4 Make Your Navigation Search Engine Friendly JavaScript and Flash navigation menus are great design features, but search engines can’t read JavaScript and Flash very well. If you supplement these menus with regular HTML links at the bottom of the page with hyperlinks, the search engine spider will be able to avoid problems indexing your website. #5 Create a Sitemap A sitemap with hyperlinks to all your pages can help search engines (and visitors) find all your pages, particularly if you have a large site. You can use free tools such as www.XML-Sitemaps.com can create XML sitemaps that are used by the major search engines to index your web pages accurately. You can upload your sitemap directly to Google, Yahoo and Bing. Google Webmaster Central ( www.google.com/webmasters/ )

contains tools to help rank your web site higher wi thin search engines.

#6 Promote Your Video, Images and Audio Content Google’s “universal search” not only displays web page content, but also displays relevant listings for images, videos, local businesses, and audio clips. If you feature this type of content on your website be sure to optimise this for search engines. Linking Strategies Links to your site from other sites drives additional traffic. Major search engines consider the number of incoming links to your

Hyperlink – a link from one

electronic document to

another document or

website.

Consider what people will be

searching for and the descriptive

terms they will put into search

engines

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oolkit website (“link popularity” ) as an important indicator of relevance, more links will help you rank higher in the search engines. #7 Submit Your Site to Key Directories Links from directories will help your ranking and get you traffic . A directory is not a search engine, it is a hierarchical listing of sites sorted according to category and subcategory. There are plenty of free online directories such as www.dmoz.com (Open Directory Project) and dir.yahoo.com (Yahoo!Directory). #8 Reciprocal Links Collaborate with similar organisations or groups to promote each others web sites with reciprocal links. Set aside a dedicated page for your links so not to immediately drive your own site traffic away. Your best results will be from sites that generate a similar amount of traffic as your own site. #9 Write Articles for Other Websites and Newsletter s Increase your visibility by writing articles about your organisation or group, promoting your events or activities, and distribute this to editors as free content for their email newsletters or for their websites. Just ask that a link to your website and a one-line description of what you do be included.

Social Media There are 4 different types of social media: (1) Blogs; (2) Social Networking Sites; (3) Social Bookmarking Sites; and (4) Forums (these distinctions do tend to blur). # 10 Begin a Blog Increase links to your site by starting a Blog, however make sure you have something to say, and say it regularly . Blogs, if used well, can

generate repeat visitation to your website and increase your site’s Page Rank. You can host your own blog from your own site or have a blog on a third party blog site, linking and talking about your own web site.

#11 Join a Social Network Some of the best social networks for organisations and groups include www.facebook.com, www.myspace.com and www.twitter.com. You might want to participate in a social bookmarking community, where members share with each other information about websites, articles, or news items that they like (such as www.digg.com, www.delicious.com, www.stumbleUpon.com). You can usually place a link to your website in your profile, but the best promotion comes from other people mentioni ng you , linking to your site, or bookmarking you, all of which will increase traffic to your web site. #12 Ask Visitors to Bookmark Your Site You can use a widget called AddThis (www.addthis.com) to your site, and it automatically determines the title and URL of

that page. When visitors click the button on your page they are automatically taken to a page that allows them to choose which bookmarking service they prefer, and then pre-populates the appropriate form with the title and URL of your website.

Traditional Strategies #13 Include your URL on stationary, cards and liter ature Make sure your URL is prominent on all your offline marketing materials. #14 Promote using traditional media Don’t discontinue print advertising that you’ve found effective. Be sure to include your URL in any print advertising . Consider your website as an information add-on to the ad.

Social Media can help to promote

your site by sending direct

traffic, producing links to your site, and generating

awareness.

Top Blogging Sites www.wordpress.com www.blogger.com www.typepad.com

For more information see the Tip Sheet: Social Media

Promote your organisation on

www.culture24.org.uk the largest

online directory to share information and data about

cultural places and events across the

UK.

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oolkit E-mail Strategies E-mails are an important way to bring people to your website. But be careful not to spam (sending bulk unsolicited emails without permission to people you don’t have a relationship with). #15 Install a ‘Signature’ Most email programs allow you to designate a ‘signature’ to appear at the end of each message you send. Limit this to 6-8 lines: Organisation name, address, phone number, URL, email address, and a one-phrase description of what you do or offer. #16 Publish an email newsletter Creating a monthly email publication is one of the most effective promotion techniques. This is a great way to keep in touch with your audiences , generate loyalty and trust, and develop awareness of your events or activities. You can distribute free or inexpensive newsletters using email marketing services such as www.mailchimp.com, www.constantcontact.com, or www.icontact.com. #17 Don’t be afraid to ask for Email addresses If you want people to subscribe to your mailing list, you need to work at it . Include a subscription form on every page of your website. Promote sign-ups at your venue, during events or activities. Use incentives, such as “special online offers”, to encourage people to sign up. #18 Reminder Emails Send reminder emails to existing customers to initiate, remind, confirm or thank your audience. This is a good way to remind your audience to return to your website . Be creative and imaginative in planning your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) strategy, be careful not to pester your audience. #19 Send offers to your visitors and customers

Your list of visitors of audiences and site visitors who have given you permission to contact them will be your most productive list. Rewarding their loyalty can be an effective way of encouraging these visitors to return more often to your site and the events and activities you run. #20 Exchange email mentions with other organisation s or businesses You might want to consider exchanging email newsletter mentions with other organisations or businesses to reach new audiences . Perhaps link up with a local restaurant or music shop to promote each others services. Alternative Strategies #21 Announce a contest People like getting something for free . If you publicise a contest or prize draw available from your website, you’ll generate more traffic than normal. #22 Viral Marketing Promotion The key to viral marketing is to create something that generates a ‘buzz’ so that it is passed by viewers to their friends via email and social networks – thousands of times – so it propels more and more people to your website. Website such as www.digg.com and www.youtube.com are often used by internet marketers to launch viral campaigns.

For more information on email campaigns

see Tip Sheet: Customer Relationship

Management

Consider what additional information you can ask

people when signing up to your mailing list; a

postcode, gender, level of attendance/purchase. This

type of information is valuable for audience development as well.

“Word of Mouse” or “Viral Marketing” –

generating marketing through social

networking sites or through linking news and events through alternative websites and online medias.

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oolkit eCommerce What is eCommerce Electronic Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. This term and the term eBusiness, is often used interchangeably. Basic Benefits of eCommerce

• Increased sales • Decreasing costs • Increased profits • Expands the size of the market from regional to national, national to

international. • Reaching a more targeted market – you can focus on a select group

of customers. • A competitive advantage.

Elements of eCommerce Whatever you are offering the market, the internet levels the playing field and lets you compete with bigger business, reaching customers around the world who can conveniently buy from you 24/7. However this does not mean it is without its competitiveness. Growing your business online requires careful planning . For a successful eCommerce site you will need to take into consideration the following elements:

• Establish your identity : Don’t get lost in the crowd. • Find the right online home : Much in the way you would if you

were setting up a shop, your eCommerce business needs the right home.

• An attractive storefront : Making your site easy and fun for customers to navigate will not only add to your online functionality, but increase sales.

• Make it easy for customers to pay: Offer a variety of convenient payment methods.

• Let the world know about your site : don’t forget to promote your site and drive traffic towards it.

Step One: Establishing Your Online Identity First step is to select the name of your site. Your web address or URL is the core of your internet identity – your online brand. No two parties can have the same web address; your online identity is totally unique . What’s in a name? Your domain name not only tells customers where to find you but it also communicates and reinforces the name of your business to every site visitor. It can also be used as part of your email address to further establish your online identity.

• Make it memorable . “Amazon.com” is much catchier than “booksonline.com”.

• Describe your business . Logically and simply describe your business through your url i.e. “basketweaving.co.uk”. If you are establishing an online presence for an established business, keep the name of the site the same as the name of your business.

• Keep it short . The best domain names are those that customers can remember and type into their browsers from memory. “onlinepotterystore.com” doesn’t work as well as “potterystore.com”

How to Get and Manage Domain Names Once you’ve decided on your web identity, the next step is to determine if it is available and then register it with a domain name ‘register’. Many businesses register a number of variations , just in case they want to use them later or to avoid the risk of competitors obtaining similar names. You may also want to register common misspelling so that all customers who incorrectly type your address still find their way to your site. Most often eCommerce businesses register a name with “.com”, but you can also register with “.net” or “.org” (for organisation).

While your business might be small the internet allows you to think

big.

Registering is easy and inexpensive , do it as soon as

you’ve decided on your domain name

to make sure you get the name you want.

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oolkit Step Two: Build a User Friendly Site With a domain name secured, the next step is to start building your eCommerce storefront. Planning, planning, planning. To start, identify clear marketing goals for your site, this might be generating sales, building a database of potential customers' names and e-mail addresses, or putting a product catalog online to save the time and expense of printing and mailing. Set yourself a SMART objective (Specific Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timebound) i.e. increasing sales by 15 percent - so you know whether or not your site is successful. Next, work out what your potential customers need to know before buying your products and services. This might include:

• An overview of your business , its products or services. • Complete product or service descriptions. • Testimonials from satisfied customers, peer-to-peer reviews are

becoming far more persuasive online. • An FAQ section that anticipates and answers customers' common

issues Focus on making it easy for customers to learn what they need to know, make a purchase decision, and buy quickly. Create a site map that outlines every page on your site from the home page down and how customers get from one page to the next. The Right Site-Building Tools Web site building tools like online website builders make it fast and easy for you to create a professional-looking site, without having to worry about HTML knowledge. www.moonfruit.com www.spanglefish.com www.homestead.com/ www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/

eCommerce Design Tips Make your eCommerce site easy for customers to use , and easy to buy from you . The following are a couple of design tips:

1. Research your favourite e-commerce sites . You can creatively adapt the most effective marketing and design techniques to enhance your own site's effectiveness.

2. Bear in mind that your home page is your sites, and your

business's, online front door . It's essential you make a good first impression . Clearly present the basic elements that customers usually look for: • Your business name, logo, and slogan, prominently

displayed. • A link to your "About" page, for customers to quickly

learn who you are and what you offers. • A site menu listing the basic subsections of your

site. Keep this menu in the same place on every page to make it easy to navigate.

• A "What's New" section for news, announcements, and promotions. If you update this area often it will encourage customers to return more frequently.

• Contact information – perhaps the single most important piece of information. Make it easy for visitors to find your phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, and fax number.

• Your privacy statement, clearly describe your business's policy for protecting customer's personal information.

3. Make it easy for customers to explore your site .

Trying to minimize the number of ‘clicks’ and pages it takes a customer to get from your home page to being able to click “buy”. Four to Six ‘clicks’ is usually a good benchmark. Make sure your links make sense , customers should know what to click to find what they are looking for.

4. Keep it simple and streamlined . Try to avoid filling your site with graphics and animations, visual should enhance

Realistically you could be online in less than 24

hours.

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oolkit not distract. Stick to one basic colour palette and font across all your online or offline marketing materials. Make sure that your text is easy to read; fancy font types and colours may look original, but could be off putting.

5. Keep download times short . You can

test pages to make sure they are not overloaded with graphics, which will slow download times. Minimize image sizes where possible.

Step Three: Selecting an ISP to Host For small, and medium, sized eCommerce businesses Internet Service Provider (ISP) or web hosting companies are ideal . ISP and web host’s should provide your site with web space, web server software, access to a high-speed Internet connections, tools for managing and maintaining your site, customer support, and e-commerce features. There are hundreds of ISP and Web hosting options to choose from, you should search for one to meet all your needs. What to Look for in a Web Hosting Company

• Does your web host offer shared hosting or a dedica ted server ? Shared hosting, an economical solution for smaller sites, houses your site on the same host server with several other web sites. Paying for your own dedicated server, a solution used by larger and busier sites, provides faster access and ensures that your site will be accessible to visitors 100 percent of the time.

• What hard-disk storage space options are there? Smaller sites may need only 300-500 MB (megabytes) of web site storage space, while busier e-commerce sites may need at least 9 GB (gigabytes) of space.

• Can your ISP promise near-100% availability? Your site must be accessible to customers 24 hours a day, ISPs and web hosts maximize the availability of the sites they host using techniques like load balancing (spreading data across a network of servers) and clustering (linking computers together through fast local area networks).

• Are e-mail accounts included with your monthly access and hosting fee? E-mail accounts that match your domain name are often available from your ISP.

• Does your ISP or web host protect your site with SS L Encryption? The security of the credit card numbers and other personal information customers send you should be a top concern.

• Does your host offer 24/7 customer service? The benefit of turning to an ISP or Web host is that you don't have to worry about keeping the web server running.

An Online Marketplace An alternative to setting up your own dedicated eCommerce site is to subscribe to an online eCommerce marketplace. Benefits of selling as part of a wider community:

• Access to a loyal customer base immediately. • Marketing is assumed by the online marketplace. • Access to a professional website, with the latest

technologies and applications. • You can customize your profile and shop policies. • You’ll be part of a wider online community, with direct

access to support and advice from the marketplace developers and other online sellers.

• An online marketplace will provide your online security and safety, protected through a SSL encryption.

Sites such as www.etsy.com and www.notonthehighstreet.com are just two Online Merchants who provide eCommerce solutions for small independent businesses in the arts and crafts.

If you decide to sell through an online marketplace it is beneficial to set up your own dedicated online shop front and

direct people to your chosen marketplace for sales.

Most visitors will click away to

another site if a page takes

longer then 8 seconds to load.

Bear in mind : Selling through an Online Marketplace puts you in direct competition with

other sellers.

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oolkit Step Four: Accept Credit Cards Credit card payments and other methods of online payment is the key to a successful and effective eCommerce business. Sending money orders by mail, is often considered too slow, and may affect your sales. The hardest aspect of setting up an eCommerce website is to find a trust worthy and reliable service that will allow you to accept credit card payments online. Step Five: Promote Your Site You’re likely to spend a lot of time planning and creating your site, but don’t forget to promote it . Adding your site into search engines and directories, add your url to every email you send, create a facebook or twitter account to promote your site. Make it easy for surfers to come back to your website, and don’t forget about offline promotion as well, are there free listing publications you could be added to, could you get a review of your site published? Step Six: Start Selling With all this in place you’ll have a solid foundation for a successful eCommerce website. eCommerce Terms and Technologies Anti-Fraud Security System - These provide additional security levels and helps prevent and minimize credit card fraud. eCommerce merchant accounts provide program payment gateways supporting Visa and Mastercard security systems such as £D-Secure and SecureCode. Merchant Account – there are several types of merchant accounts; third party, high-risk, international, offshore and local merchant accounts. These are provided by an eCommerce merchant account provider which allows you to accept and process credit cards and debit car transactions. Merchant Account Providers – either a bank or an affiliated company providing merchant accounts and credit card processing services, these handle the approval process and support. These can operate online, over the phone and at a company office. One-Click Buy – a shopping cart script function which reduces the need to re-enter credit card information or shipping information. Customers can

register their personal information, and as data will be encrypted by the system this can be stored securely. SSL Encryption – (Secure Socket Layer Technology) A powerful encryption algorithm used in credit card processing and eCommerce shopping cart scripts. It includes automatic web-browser encryption key generation without third-party plug-ins. A SSL 128-bit encryption is used at every stage of a credit card payment transaction. eCommerce Links There are a variety of different eCommerce solutions you can use, it’s best to research what is out there and what will best suit you before committing to one.

• http://bigcartel.com/ Provides you with your own independent store to sell online through your PayPal account. A simple shopping cart, designed for artists.

• www.easyspace.com Provides domain names, web hosting, web design and promotion, email services, eCommerce solutions, virtual servers, dedicated servers and managed hosting.

• www.cubecart.com – an “out of the box” ecommerce solution.

For more information see the Tip Sheet: Promote Your Site

and Tip Sheet: Social Networking.

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Social Media What is social media?

• Social media is a way of connecting to a wider online community of people, organisations, businesses, governments, the media, entertainment…the list is endless.

• Being part of an online community means you can directly target key audiences quickly, easily and for free .

• Different social media sites can work for you in different ways, all of which you can link from your home website , or together can operate as your web presence.

• By signing up for a www.facebook.com or www.twitter.com account you can access and update information about your organisation, tour, event, or campaign from anywhere in the world .

• By definition social media sites are more interactive and social domains . There are professional networking sites such as www.linkedin.com which allows you to exchange information, ideas and opportunities with your contacts, allowing you to create a professional identity online.

What does it all mean?

Social Networking : An online community of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Allows people to connect with individuals and organisations.

Blog : A website, usually maintained by an individual, but can also be a business or organisation, in the form of an online journal with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written.

Micro-Blogging : A form of blogging that allows the blogger to write brief text updates (usually 140 characters) and publishes them either to be viewed by anyone or restricted to a group chosen by the blogger.

RSS Feed: (Really Simple Syndication) A format for delivering regularly changing web content such as blog entries, news headlines, audio and video. Readers can subscribe to timely updates from favoured websites or aggregate feeds from a variety of different sites into one place (i.e. www.igoogle.com).

Feed: Rather then information being requested and “pulled” by the user, a ‘Feed’ represents information “pushed” or “broadcasted” to be interested and subscribed user.

Podcasts : A series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, which are made available for download via web syndication.

Browser plug-ins : Are additional pieces of software that add extra capabilities to your web browser i.e. the ability to view movies or to update RSS feeds. This is a computer program which interacts with a host application to provide a specific function “on demand”.

Widgets : An icon or graphic interface element that is manipulated by the internet user to perform a desired function

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oolkit online. User friendly websites are using widgets to simplify and enhance the internet user’s experience. Examples of widgets: media player buttons, web browser controls, social networking sites that enable information sharing, RSS feed icons, and interactive graphs, charts or statistical media. http://www.widgetbox.com/

Is Social Media right for you?

• If you’re looking for an easy way to build a web presence or connect with a younger, tech savvy, or new audience, its worth considering using a social networking tool such as www.myspace.com or www.facebook.com.

• Are you looking to promote specific actions or petitions ? Facebook and MySpace allow users to be much more proactive. Often people delete email petitions while Facebook offer easy, social and fun applications at the click of a button , instantly adding your name to a petition or cause.

• If you’re looking for a more informal approach to keeping in touch with a group of people, letting them know what’s going on with you, updating them on your organisation or simply commenting upon the number of cups of tea you’ve had that day, a social network can blend the personal with the professional .

• When working predominantly with volunteers or seasonal participants a social networking site can help sustain and foster relationships between these groups of people. This is an ideal way of encouraging them to keep in touch with one another and continue to be involved with your organisation.

• If your looking for a quick and honest way of delivering feedback to your supporters, social networks

make it really easy for people to find you and make requests or post comments, but make sure you respond quickly, personally and when possible, publicly.

Social Media might not be right for you if…

• You’re still trying to get a handle on your current software –ensuring your computers are networked and backed up regularly, maintaining customer/ supporter databases, investigating the benefits of a newsletter or e-bulletin and understanding your current software systems makes more sense before turning your attention to new areas like social networking.

• Your target audiences aren’t using social media sites – social media works best when the people you’re trying to reach or work with are already members of online communities.

• You don’t have the time to experiment – Online communities are not self-maintaining, and they are unlikely to yield an immediate or measurable return on your time investment.

• You want to avoid dealing with technologies which may not work as well as they could – Social media sites are evolving everyday, reacting to users needs and sorting out the kinks in the system.

• You want clear editorial control and brand management – it’s hard, even impossible, to control the context in which your organisation will appear in

Online communities are not interested in promoting your brand and in an open forum such as Social Networking

anyone can have their say – good or bad – about you and

your organisation for all to see.

Almost two -thirds of the world’s internet population belongs to a social network

and these sites are nearly surpassing the popularity of

email updates and newsletters.

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oolkit today’s society. By actively engaging with people you’re opening yourself up to public comment.

What advantages are there to being part of a wider social media network?

• Social media sites allow you to instantly collaborate, share information and have conversations about ideas, causes, events, or organisations we care about or are interested in.

• Used effectively social media sites can enables you to reach new volunteers, locate audiences, build up supporte r lists or even raise money .

• Social networks lend themselves greatly to generating brand affinity – particularly with fan sites (i.e. facebook).

• If you know and respect the culture of social media, these sites can be an effective way to encourage people to take action and spread the word about you, your organisation or your cause.

• Allows you to follow similar organisations across the world or get updates about events in your area, giving you access to collaboration opportunities, highlight potential scheduling clashes or even inspire new ideas for your own organisation.

• For many small organisations audience development will be a challenge given the current economic climate, which is all the more reason to look into social networking sites to reach out and communicate with new audiences.

• Social media offers an opportunity to reach a global network and broaden your catchment beyond what was previously possible . This could be particularly useful for rural-based venues seeking to reach audiences for more specialist programmes. Not only can you create your own social network, but you can join other networks , for instance promoters can join loyal, but perhaps geographically dispersed, fan networks of particular artists.

Top Tips #1 A Unique Culture - Social networks are

ultimately about friendships and adding value to one another’s lives through interaction. When using social networks to publicise your organisation, event or campaign you should follow the same ethos and consider how you are adding value through this type of interaction.

To be successful it’s critical that you understand the culture of the communities you’re joining. Social media is a collaborative and open forum; anything which is considered hard-selling, marketing or corporate will be ignored.

#2 Consolidate your audience - Look for opportunities to interact with people on sites they are already using, rather then ask them to sign up to the site you join.

#3 Spend time with it – developing a social network is time consuming, it may require a dedicated member of staff to deal with updating, maintaining and delivering an open, accessible and collaborative network.

#4 Less is more - There are hundreds of different types of social media sites on the web, be selective and join the ones which best represent you, remember the sites you join are also a reflection upon you and/or your organisation .

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oolkit Social Media and Social Networks (May 2009) General (most popular sites)

• www.facebook.com • www.twitter.com (mirco-blogging) • https://cotweet.com/ (Help for businesses using

Twitter) • www.MySpace.com • www.Flickr.com (photo sharing) • www.YouTube.com (sharing videos) • www.Tumblr.com (mirco-blogging, RSS) • www.Digg.com (sharing content from anywhere on the

web) • www.StumbleUpon.com (sharing websites) • www.Delicious.com (social bookmarking) • www.Blogger.com (blogging) • www.Typepad.com (blogging) • www.Wordpress.com (blogging)

Niche

• Arnie Street (music) • ANobii (Books) • Bebo (General) • Broadcaster.com (video sharing and webcam chat) • Buzznet (music and pop-culture) • Cafémom (mothers) • Care2 (green living and social activitism) • CosyCot (south east asian women) • CouchSurfing (travel) • DeviantART (art community) • Eons.com (babyboomers) • Filmaffinity (movies and TV) • Flixster (movies) • Gather.com (article, picture and video sharing) • Goodreads (book lovers)

• InterNations (International Community) • Itsmy (mobile community) • Jaiku (general – akin to twitter) • LibraryThin (books) • LiveJournal (blogging) • MOG (music) • OneWorldTV (Not-for-profit video sharing and

social networking) • Passportstamp (Travel) • Quarterlife (social network for artists, filmmarkers,

musicians and creative ppl) • Reddit (sharing links) • Reverbnation (social network for musicians and

bands) • ShareThis (sharing websites) • Shelfari (books) • SocialVibe (Social network for charity) • Soundpedia (Music) • Tagged.com (general) • Travbuddy.com (travel) • Travellerspoint (Travel) • Tribe.net (general) • Wasabi (General) • WAYN (travel and lifestyle)

HI-Arts Digital Toolkit

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