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Tag: Facebook

Education Is a Key to Website Success

Written by Peter Beare on .

With the improved usability of websites over the last 24-36 months (Content Management Systems in particular) and the integration of Social Media with websites, it has become apparent that education is becoming a key to having a successful website.

The general concept of just putting up a website that clarifies what your company does, plus a contact form and a phone number, has pretty much run its race. Websites are becoming far more dynamic in behavior and usage, with visitor engagement becoming an important part of converting a visitor into a contact, a prospect, a buyer or a customer. Even understanding what devices your website is run on (Desktop, Laptop, Tablet, and Mobile) are all part of this bigger picture.

With visitor engagement comes the requirement for your website to provide not only static content (About Us, History, Our Products, Our Services, Our Team) but also producing ongoing sales & marketing communication from team members sharing their specific areas of expertise and specialties (with the blog being the primary tool for sharing this info and attracting great search engine results).

So what is Website Education and what should it involve?

Around three years ago we started teaching Web Content Management classes. Clearly our first requirement was to educate clients in updating the content on their website. This was a good start and we have many clients that are now fully managing their website content effectively. Then Google Analytics came along and starting help with educating clients on staying aware of website results (traffic in particular). We combined this with periodical meetings to review website results.

Broadcasting your message and pulling people to your website has now become a priority!

This year with the focus on the Easy Blog System we added Intro to Easy Blog Classes to our quarterly teaching schedule. This class really opened up some great opportunities for clients’ team members to participate on their websites (ranging from the sales & marketing teams all the way to the quality control team).

Website Education can range from Content Management to Google Business Apps

We also offered 2 Google Business App Classes in 2012 which has also been in heavy demand all year long (clients moving to Google Business Apps – Google Mail , Drive, Calendar and other applications).

This week we offered a private class to Sanders Manufacturing and Sanders Marketing which included Google Business Apps, Intro to Easy Blog and intro to Social Media. Participants included the Sales Team, Marketing and Production Teams. Not only was the team educated (and motivated) but they also became owners of their website which means they will be out selling and promoting it as part of their normal marketing and sales activities in the upcoming year.

Look for more classes and seminars in 2013!

When planning your marketing and website budget for 2013 be sure to consider your teams website education and training. We are now formulating our education and training schedule for 2013 that will include:

  • Intro to Content Management (Joomla)
  • Advanced Content Management (Joomla)
  • Intro to Easy Blog – Advance Blogging
  • Intro to Social Media – Facebook, Google Plus, Linked In, & Pinterest
  • Intro to Google Business Apps – Advance Google Business Apps
  • Intro to eNEWS with Joomla Mailer & Chimp Mail

We are also looking to expand our class locations including classes being taught in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Lebanon as well our current training location – Mt. Juliet.

SO remember when planning for 2013 that Education-is-a-key to website success!!!

Cheers,

Peter

Needing to get 2013 and your website off to a Flying Start?

We are offering our final classes of the year (Intro to Joomla and Intro to Easy Blog) – be sure to register if you plan to attend:

• Intro to Easy Blog – November 8, 2012 – Details Here

• Intro to Content Management (Joomla) – November 17, 2012 – Details Here

Facebook Spends One Billion Dollars – Why?

Written by Peter Beare on .

Most likely no matter what your interest in Social media you would have heard of the recent purchase of Instagram by Facebook. I suspect the biggest reason we all heard about it was the actual buying price – one billion dollars (Somehow I could imagine Dr. Evil stating that price!).

What is Instagram? – Here is their explanation taken from their home page:

“Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram.  Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it’s as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented.”

Instagram has no reported income to date but it has become very popular very quickly – approximately 15 million users since its inception in 2010. Without being a user of this product, I believe the filtering options feature is one of the big reasons it is so popular – helping make a digital photo taken on a mobile device look better.  It offers filters (black and white, sepia toning, etc.) that you select once you have taken the photo to improve (and finalize) the shot.  Then it’s ready to share.

So back to our big question – Why did Facebook buy this?

The answer I believe is simple – we now communicate thru photos.

On average we design around 30 new custom websites each year and this year we have really seen the demand go up for slideshows, photo galleries, and photo integration into articles. The story and message is often told now thru a photo (and not just words).  And those photos help us interpret the story in a very different way than when we read and, most importantly, in a much quicker fashion.

It is very possible that that future story or message will be sent directly from the field as a finished product – to a website or social media site. And this is where I hear a very loud message from Facebook’s purchase –“We believe this is how people will communicate in the future”….

In 2010 I was visiting Australia and was sending my fiancé Vicki Payne photos of my trip from my Blackberry.  This was highlighted as I spent a day in Sydney including walking across the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  The actual reason I was not using a camera was for convenience and time – I could take the photo – add some “inspiring caption” – and SEND. At the time I did think it was rather magic in particular sending photos directly from the Sydney Harbor Bridge as I was experiencing the views.

But you are probably wondering how good the photos were? Were they keepers or did they have a 5 minute inbox life span?  No doubt a tool that would clean up the photo at the point it was shot and then allow me to select an appropriate filter or theme and send it to my loved ones, my commercial website or social media may truly make a keeper.

So why did Facebook spend one billion dollars on buying Instragram?

Maybe they just recognized the evolution of that next “Kodak Moment”!