As the search and web page design evolve, users expectations are ever increasing. The need to capture attention quickly and demonstrate how you can solve the users specific problem is becoming increasingly important for online success.

This is not new news to most but recently Digital Media reported that the first 7 seconds are critical. This is when web users decide whether or not your website is what they are looking for.

A sophisticated and complex website does not necessarily equal a good impression on site visitors.

There are six main points to remember when trying to capture – and hold your audiences’ attention:

* Your website should communicate clearly what you are trying to say so visitors can determine whether this meets their needs or not.

* Optimising your home page creates several advantages. It will ensure first-time visitors stay and browse, increase the likelihood of their return, and increase the number of areas people interact with on your site.

* Your product, service or feature should be easily visible, either from the home page or menu navigation. Otherwise, visitors will quickly leave if what they are looking isn’t easily accessible. By not displaying the products and services your business offers in a straight forward manner, you may be losing potential customers.

* Your site should regularly present new and up-to-date information. This ensures you are constantly engaging with your audience and encouraging them to return. It also portrays a lively and active site, not one that is dull and uninteresting. A good way to do this is through regular blog posts and updates of a section of your home page.

* The second part of the 7 second rule is to then apply it to all other pages of the site. Lead the visitor towards taking a desired action (making an inquiry, subscription, purchase etc).

* There are usually several people involved in the creation of a website – designers, copywriters etc. They are all contributing different ideas and opinions which can become entangled if not managed properly. Ensure every-one’s input is communicated thoroughly and managed with proper instructions. If the development process has been a long one, consider refreshing content before making live – particularly on the home page.

Connecting Images takes all these factors and much more into consideration when designing or re-designing its clients’ websites. If you are feeling lost in all there is to consider with a new or redeveloped website and want to find out more about our website services, call Cal on (03) 9819 2566 to arrange to come in for a coffee and a chat.

Google has recently updated its searching function to include features of ‘real time search’, according to Smart Company.

So what does this mean?

A greater emphasis has now been placed on the importance of regular and fresh content being added to websites, which allow users of the search engine to categorise search results into time relevancy (E.g. past 24 hours, past week etc).

Although most Search Engine Marketers (SME’s) are concerned about what ramifications this may have on the SEO of websites, as it has so significantly increased the need for frequently updated, fresh content; this feature also allows your business to effectively monitor your reputation over the internet.

Online reputation management is becoming increasingly important when recent communications crises such as that of the Dominos video are considered.

One of the most conflicting aspects of the internet is the power of the user to contribute to a social forum on a range of topics. In one way this empowers those that may not necessarily have had their voice heard in traditional media. However, it also opens a Pandora’s box in terms of protecting the image of an organisation or business.

Furthermore, traditional media now refers to blogs and social media websites as reliable information sources when reporting on breaking news stories.  Due to the immediacy of the internet, blogs etc. can often be the first sources for breaking new stories as they can publish information before traditional mediums have had a chance to respond.  This has increased the power of the internet, as a reliable source of information, which means online attacks can be particularly damaging to your company’s reputation – particularly if the story is later picked up by traditional media.

Read more on online reputation management here.

Creating, re-branding or refreshing a business’ image can be at times, a stressful and complicated process. Read some of our previous posts to find out what makes a brand iconic and how to create an effective corporate identity for your business.

When re-branding, our clients often ask us which colours will best suit their websites. For this very reason, we have added a full colour chart to the website to assist our clients is selecting web safe colours that are consistent with your businesses’ image.

If you are struggling with the complexities of projected and reflected light, RGB, Hexadecimal, CMYK or spot (Pantone® PMS) colours we’re always willing to assist. Whether it be with our expertise or simply by making our colour guides available to clients, we’ll help you make sense of colour.

Connecting Images recently partnered with Portfolio Management Services, Australia’s leading authority in investment property and property management, specialising in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors operating in Melbourne and Sydney.

Portfolio Management Services came to us with a project to redevelop its website, primarily to increase lead generation and conversion.

Firstly, we recommended optimising for specific keywords on different pages on its website, rather than optimising for the same key words on every page in order to drive quality traffic and lead generation.

We saw the purpose of the redevelopment of the website as multifaceted:

• To provide an online presence consistent with Portfolio Management Services’ positioning as a leading professional service firm.
• To convey a desirable and compelling corporate image and direct the user to the appropriate pages.
• To create pages that clearly define the nature of the business and benefits to future customers.
• To quickly build a trust between users and Portfolio Management Services and differentiates it from its competitors.
• To provide a succinct and dynamic description of Portfolio Management Services and its services.

The end result of this redevelopment is to drive a desired user action; being the immediate differentiation of Portfolio Management Services from its competitors, and for the user to proceed to sub-pages (specifically property acquisition and property management services). ‘We are happy with the website, it looks great!’ says Phillip Almeida, Acquisitions Manager.

www.portfolioms.com.au was launched last week and we look forward to seeing some great results in the near future!

Connecting Images are experienced at website developments and re-developments and will be able to evaluate your business’ needs and simplify the tech talk to make it a pain free process. To find out more or discuss your business’ web needs, contact Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

The general consensus that the internet is now fast overtaking other media as an important resource has been confirmed for the second year running by the latest survey conducted by Nielsen Online, according to Digital Media.

This survey, with a sample of more than 2000 internet users, indicates an increase in weekly internet consumption. In 2007 16% of overall weekly media consumption was occupied by the internet. In 2008 this increased to 18%, and so did the total hours of weekly media consumption from 84.4 to 89.2.

This increase, according to the annual Internet and Technology report, can be accredited to a trend in multi tasking, broadband access, wireless devices and increased technology ownership.

Television consumption decreased from 16% in 2007 to 14% in 2008. Radio, newspaper and magazine consumption also experienced decreases. There were, however, increases in the consumption of online radio and PC video (such as YouTube). So what does all this mean for your business?

As discussed previously on this blog, it is extremely important to convey an image for your company on the internet that is consistent with its values and business practices as more and more users turn to the internet as a reliable source of information. Producing effective video for the internet is also important.

Want to find out more about how your business can utilise the internet in its marketing and public relations efforts? Contact Cal or Merilyn on (03) 9819 2566.

One of our favourite blog topics is website design and usability, especially in the context of conveying a desired image for your business.

We can’t bang on enough about how important your website is in the sales and marketing process, given it is most often the first contact potential customers have with you.

This week the Optalert website, www.optalert.com went live. Our brief was to redesign the site with a fresh new look that would accurately depict the future direction of the company. Optalert is a company that produces fatigue management systems for the road, rail and mining industries.

Our priorities:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) was a consideration throughout the entire process with copy being written with carefully planned keyword density. As proven by the results we have achieved for many of our clients, SEO should dramatically improve Optalert’s ranking on search engines such as Google. Including the right keywords should also increase the average number of pages visited by users, and the amount of time they spend on the site.

The new interface has been carefully designed to ensure the site engages the user and increases the number of conversions of web visitors to become new business.

Thinking of giving your current website a face-lift? Why not come in for a coffee and a chat? Give Merilyn or Cal a call on (03) 9819 2566.

We’re all aware that the ways in which people source information is changing, but just how rapidly these changes are happening and what it means for your business may be harder to grasp. How do you get your products and ideas into the marketplace? What methods of marketing and communications should you use? Are advertising and media communication mediums really changing?

Statistics show us that young people spend more time surfing the web than they do watching TV – and it’s not only the young who spend time online! Fairfax media has recently slashed is staff around the country in a desperate bid to stay afloat and relevant in the digital age. Australia’s commercial free-to-air networks are struggling to maintain audience figures that only a few years ago would have been considered inadequate.

Recently James Packer walked away from PBL, leaving the Nine Network and ACP magazines deep in debt and in desperate need of a financier to support repositioning of the company online.

Back in the good old mid-’80s, advertisers could rest easy in the knowledge that if they booked spots across the three major commercial networks they would reach the majority of Australia’s consumers. Not so today.

Recent surveys of consumer respondents have shown that:
* 19% stated spending six hours or more per day on personal internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing.
* 66% reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60% who reported the same levels of personal internet usage.

So what are your options in this brave new world of media? The short answer is that marketers need to integrate the traditional media of press, TV and radio with the new social media elements added to the mix.

Smart marketing makes the most of these new environments, reaching target audiences directly – interacting and engaging people and key decision makers on their terms.

When you understand where your audience and markets source their news and information, you can consider different media to reach them.

Here are just some of the options you can consider as part of your ongoing marketing:
* create a company blog
* participate in social media forums
* create company profiles and share relevant content on social networks
* create videos and demos for YouTube, webcast and podcast.

Most importantly, make sure this content is closely managed, with new information added constantly.

As you enter 2009, is it time to review your external communications plan? What are your customers reading, listening to, watching?

As mentioned earlier last month, it is becoming more economically viable for a business to create or re-develop a website. As your website is more than likely to be the first point of contact most potential clients will have with your business, it is so important that it makes a good first impression. It is important also that your website represents the values and direction of your business, for now and into the future.

We recently partnered with Heat Beads^® to redesign their website, www.heatbeads.com.au. The goals included creating a better user experience, allowing visitors to the website to find what they want – quickly – and for the site to be an appropriate reflection of the market leader in solid BBQ fuel. This was achieved with a clean design, succinct copy and ‘fresh’ images all working hard to reflect the BBQ Culture of the Heat Beads^® Company and its community.

We specialise in creating websites that are search engine friendly and contain effective sales and marketing content. To find out more, give Cal Tod a call on (03) 9819 2566.

As the web “matures” it is becoming more economically viable for business to produce effective websites – especially when the benefits of the levels of exposure the business should receive are considered.

However, as they say it is a jungle out there, and there are a wide variety of options and price tags attached when it comes to website development and re-development.

Even with low cost solutions, building a quality website that is easy to navigate, contains concise and persuasive copy, and most importantly has been designed for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which allows your website to be easily found by your target audiences on search engines such as Google, you’ll need the knowledge and expertise of a good developer with an understanding of marketing.

We thrive on building sites that drive traffic and engage users with brands. We recently partnered with Optalert to build their online presence and also create a secondary site for the founder to manage his intellectual property and research papers.

We recently launched EpworthSleepinessScale.com. The brief was to create a site with an academic, yet friendly feel to appeal to a diverse range of users including, corporations (pharmaceutical companies), governments and academics.

Connecting Images are experienced at website developments and re-developments and will be able to evaluate your business’ needs and simplify the tech talk to make it a pain free process. To find out more or discuss your business’ web needs, contact Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

The popularity of viewing videos over the Internet is a growing trend and shows no sign of slowing. Most businesses are only just catching on to this trend, and the benefits of streaming relevant video footage such as product demonstrations, from their website.

UsabilityOne has produced a research report on ‘how to best include video on the internet’. If it is implemented correctly ‘video has the potential to engage the Internet audience, whether that is to entertain, inform or sell products’ (p.4).

UsabilityOne provides tips on how to produce the most effective videos for Internet users. The top 3 are:

- Only provide short video clips – the attention span of Internet users are often minimal. If you have a lot to say, split your long videos into a few short and interesting sections.
- Embedding video within a webpage to enhance an article, rather than linking to a popup window was preferred by 61% of UsabilityOne’s survey respondents.
- If you employ similar video interfaces to those commonly used on YouTube for example, Internet users are far more likely to find watching your video an easy and satisfying experience.

At Connecting Images we help our clients stream effective video communications from their websites. For more information on how we can help your business, contact Cal on (03) 9819 2566.