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The Masters®

For local business owners that have a brick and mortar storefront, it’s also a great opportunity to take advantage of the thousands of guests the tournament brings.  That’s a much welcomed business boost, especially in the current state of the economy.  If you’re a business owner, you no doubt have spent a good bit of time and resources in getting ready.  Have you considered your web presence in those preparations?

If not, here’s a scenario to consider: A tourist is in town for the tournament.  They’re looking for a place to eat dinner at that evening or looking for something to do.  There’s a high probability that they will be searching for places using their smart phone or laptop.  If they’re driving, it’s more likely they’ll be grabbing their iphone or droid and searching for a place online.

Here are some questions to think through:

• Do I have  website?  Is it one that I would be proud to show off and for people to see?
• Do I have some promotional items ready?  Maybe a special Master’s week deal?
• Is my website high enough in the search engine listings so that it can even be found?
• Should I have a mobile version of my website or will my current site work?
• Do I have social media connections to the site (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) so that customers can keep up to date with sales, product offerings, new releases, etc.?
• Is my website current and up to date?

• Professionalism – The amount of users on the web has grown 200% each year over the past 3 years. If you look at a Fortune 500 company, then you will notice that almost all of them have a website. A well-done website, including your own domain name (www.yourcompanyname(dot)com), communicates to a potential client that your company is professional and is doing well.
• Websites are a relatively inexpensive means of advertising – Whether you pay someone to design your site or do it yourself, your business can have a professional web presence for relatively little money, not to mention the vast number of people you can reach.
• “Piggy Back” Advertising – whether you’re using TV, a newspaper ad, direct mail or a billboard, at some point the amount of information that you can (and want) to communicate has to come to an end (unless you’ve got more money than you know what to do with). The great advantage of having a website is that you can list the web address on any piece of advertising, and a potential client can go to your site and get plenty of information.
• Increase your potential target market – While it may not be the goal of every small or medium size business to go international, a website can increase exposure to more people inside and outside of your current area of focus.
• Increased convenience for a customer – Whether you are selling products or services, a website is a convenient way for a potential client or current customer to purchase products, get information, contact you or your office and give feedback.

A website doesn’t have to be overly complicated or confusing. The important thing is to begin to establish a credible online presence and go from there. Questions? email Alive Media at info@alivemediaonline.com

Myth #1: “Field of Dreams” Myth (“If you build it, they will come”) – If you’ve seen the Kevin Costner film then you remember how we hears this phrase whispered several times. He listens, builds a baseball field in a middle of a farm and presto, famous baseball players show up.

A lot people carry this misconception about having a website, blog, etc: If it is online (built) then web traffic will just happen and my website will be on the first page of search engine listings. That’s just not the case. Simply put, you must promote your site if you hope to have “hits” on it.

While there are several solutions to increasing traffic and visibility, here are a few tips:

• The right code (Search Engine Optimization) - make sure your website has the correct “tags” and code that search engines crawl to index your site.
• Advertise – Every business card, email, letterhead and piece of advertisement, whether paper or electronic, should have your web address on it.
• Search engine submission – make sure that your site is submitted to search engines. Start with google.com (it’s free!).
• Social media – take advantage of social media like twitter, facebook, stumbleuponit, digg, etc. to network and promote your business.
• Blogging – consider adding a blog or latest news item to keep new and fresh content on your website.

Myth #2: More is better – The idea here is that the more “stuff” I have on my page (flashing graphics, advertisement banners, blinking text, pictures, etc.), the more people will pay attention to my page. The truth is that most pages like that are simply confusing, poorly designed and annoying. Statistics show that you have probably less than 8 seconds to keep a visitor engaged. If there is too much going on, you’ve lost most. Keep it simple and fresh. Either educate yourself on how to design pages or find a professional web design company to do it for you. Either way, it is possible to have a site that is both professional and simple.

• Search Engine Optimization – The days of just having a “brochure-type” website and being found on the internet are over.  With our new SEO services we can help you increase your visibility and improve your rank on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
• Internet Marketing – We’ll help you customize a social media and internet marketing strategy.  Our solutions are scalable, and we’ll tailor a solution that works for you.
• Mobile Website Design – iPhone, iPad, Droid or Blackberry.  Whatever your preference, chances are that people that you want to attract to your website will at some point use a mobile phone/device to find your website.  Is your site ready?
• Increased our graphic and video design services – While we started our business focusing on website design, we’ve always provided graphic design, video editing and motion graphic services for our clients.  Do you have a design project that you need some Adobe Illustrator work done or have you been thinking about some animation or video for your website?  We can help.

Thanks for coming by and if we can help you with your website or graphic design needs, call Alive Media at 803.292.9779 or email us. You can also connect with us via Twitter or Facebook.