Optimising your web presenceOptimising your web presence

Simon BrockWide Area Communications

www.widearea.co.uk

www.widearea.co.uk

IntroductionIntroduction

BackgroundWhat is your web presence?How do you use the web as part of

your business?How do you optimise that useConclusions

BackgroundBackground

Wide Area was founded in 1995Most of the business is serving

publishers:– Web site creation– Content management– E-commerce– Online strategy

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On the web…On the web…

…everyone is a publisherWe all have:

– Our own home page– Our own blog– Hundreds of people visit our website

every day, and– Every day I check all my staff’s blogs

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Which is wrongWhich is wrong

There is a difference between:– Owning content– Publishing content

There is a discipline to publishingWe will need to understand a little of

that discipline

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What is a web presence?What is a web presence?

There are two parts:The part people see – your web siteThe part you see – how you use web

services

Will concentrate on the first but I will offer an observation on the other at the end

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Your web siteYour web site

A company’s web site can serve many purposes:– Brochure– Shop front– Communication channel

Many web site are not built for purpose

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The ‘Field of Dreams’ web siteThe ‘Field of Dreams’ web site

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If you build it they will come

If you build it they will comeIf you build it they will come

Very much the mantra of the ‘.com’ bubble sites

Was never trueBuilding a web site is the start of a

process and not the end of a processEven now, poor choices mean web

sites cannot be changed

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What can we learn from this…What can we learn from this…

Your web presence must be part of your business:– If you have a brochure site mention it

everywhere– Keep your site up to date– It should not be expensive to keep your

site up to date

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If you build it, will comeIf you build it, will come

The rise of the search engine has affected how web sites are structured

Many companies are now completely dependent on search engines to generate audience

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The death of the home pageThe death of the home page

A site used to be designed from the home page to listing page to article

Google takes people to article pages

On some sites, 90% of users never see the home page

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Every page is a home pageEvery page is a home page

If you don’t want the first page a user sees to be the last page then

Every page must be a home page

If not then your user is only two clicks away from your competitor

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Every page must…Every page must…

Have clear calls to actionMake sure it shows content which is

important to the userShow content which is important to

youMust not be a dead end

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If they built it might If they built it might comecomeThe mantra of the SEO ‘industry’

Search engine optimisation is important

SEO is also obvious and simple

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The SEO rapperThe SEO rapper

To understand SEO, seek out the Poetic Prophet – the SEO rapper

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Your web provision should…Your web provision should…

Implement search engine folk loreCreate meta tagsAllow you to change titles and

descriptionsHave pages which are search

friendly

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RankingRanking

Ranking is a method by which a search engine decides if your site ‘has value’

It is dependent on whether other people value your site and link to it

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What about PPCWhat about PPC

Pay per click is importantGoogle is not search engineGoogle is an advertising engineTwo forms of adverts

– Paid for on the RHS– Free in the middle

SEO says you pay for both!

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When Google breaks…When Google breaks…

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How you use the webHow you use the web

Web is bringing applications into organisations as services

Google AppsMicrosoft Exchange, Share PointSalesforce.com

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Simon’s diarySimon’s diary

10am: Meet with WorkingMums.co.ukUsing SalesForce to manage clients

2pm: Meet with national newspaperUsing SalesForce to manage subscribers

7pm: Meet friend for drinkMajor software house developing solutions with Salesforce

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Remember this…Remember this…

The left and right will use the web effectively because– They can– They must

The M business will be squeezed

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ConclusionsConclusions

Always remember the web is part of your business

Your web presence should be adaptable and flexible

You should understand your relationship with the web

The web will continue to change your business

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