Technologically, we have only come of age in recent years. The past twenty years have seen transitions from postal mail to emails to text messaging (SMS); from CRTVs to Plasmas to LCD to LED to 3D TV’s; from 8-bit video games to Playstation 3’s, Nintendo Wii’s, X-Box 360’s, Kinects; from telephones to mobile phones and now smart phones. The list of the technological advancements in the past couple of decades is endless. It’s simple evolution in terms of technology. The businesses and markets have changed dramatically over this period of time. While good copy writers, newspaper advertisements, and marketing posters were needed for marketing a new or revamped business in the early 90’s,  there is so much more that you can do with technology in the current times to give your business the boost it needs. The World Wide Web (WWW) alone provides a plethora of techniques to reach out to the world – a world in which the potential clientele is infinite. While there are dozens of things that you can start with, there are five basic things that are a necessity to bring your business to life on the web.

A Sleek, Stylish, Sexy – yet Efficient – Website

Where’s a prospective client most likely to look for a product or service they need? The internet! In an age where Google and Bing have become verbs, a website is a necessity for any business. With the availability of the latest website building tools, a new website is expected to have utilized some, if not most, of the features available with the latest website building tools. With the advent of HTML 5, dynamic web has reached new heights, and a good looking, scalable dynamic website is a definite plus (or requirement) for your new business. A smart website is not only sexy, but should also be easy to browse and user friendly. Keep in mind that browsing a website should be geared towards the user since the user experience of the website can have a direct impact on the business. A person who is unhappy or unimpressed by a client website may be less inclined to approach it for his business needs.

Here are examples of some really cool websites that use the latest in web technology, mainly HTML 5:

• http://www.culturalsolutions.co.uk/
• http://www.siebennull.com/
• http://www.iutopi.com/en/
• http://www.lexways.com/
• http://www.fidiz.com/
• http://www.garbage.ro/
• http://www.oxdesign.fr/
• http://benthebodyguard.com/

Mobile Website

It’s a well-known fact that the internet is moving towards the mobile web . The number of people browsing the internet from their cell phones is soon going to exceed the number of people accessing the web from computers. If you haven’t already, you can read more about the rise of the mobile web on one of our previous blogs at http://www.domusinc.com/blog/2011/04/going-mobile-with-your-website-here-are-a-few-things-to-keep-in-mind/.

Having a mobile website essentially opens more doors for prospective customers to find you in a more desirable manner on their smartphones. While smartphones render most conventional websites correctly, it’s always a better idea to give your clients a more readable, mobile-friendly format. All old and new businesses are increasingly converting their websites to be mobile friendly, and to keep up with the competition, it should be a part of your revamp/launch plan.

Here’s an interesting video describing the importance of getting mobile-ready:

Presence on the Social Web

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social sites –  in addition to the sites’ individual benefits, they have become synonymous with client outreach and marketing. Having presence on a social media site is possibly the easiest way to interact with people who are genuinely interested in your business, whether they’re existing or prospective clients, competitors, or even people who share common interests.  Sites like Facebook and Twitter make it easy for people to connect with businesses, share their feedback, ask questions, and gain knowledge about the brand/business they are following. Facebook is 700 million strong and growing. This fact alone should make you very eager to get on the social web, considering the possible outreach.

One of our previous blogs posts illustrates the importance of the social media and some tips to drive a good social media campaign. You can read it at http://www.domusinc.com/blog/2011/05/improve-your-pace-in-the-marketing-race-with-social-medias-embrace/

SEO/SEM

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. These two terms are very important for people who search the web using engines like Google and Bing to find a business or business services. Search engine optimization (SEO) is optimizing website pages to achieve a higher ranking in search results by selecting specific keyword expressions that a user may search when looking for a business, produce, or service. For example, if you own a sporting goods store, you would want your website SEO’d so that when a user searches the term “baseball glove” your business comes up in the search results.  It’s helpful if your website is highly ranked when a person is looking for something that is related to your business. For example, if you Google “luxury appliances” which is a generic term, the luxury appliance company Dacor comes up as the number two ranked link. Chances of people clicking that link are higher than clicking on AGA, which is another company that comes up on the second page of search results. It’s a good idea to invest in SEO and have a content optimized website while your website is being developed.  SEM is a form of Internet marketing that aims to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages through the use of, paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion. The sponsored ads that show up on web searches are results of SEM campaigns. SEM gives a required boost and exposure to any business on the web and which is important for a business that wants people to notice something that is new or updated.

A Company Blog

More and more companies are placing emphasis on connecting with their user/client base by different means of social interaction. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already familiar with some of the benefits of having a blog. People read blogs because, not only are they informative, but they’re personal too. They express opinions of people like you and me. Not to mention, they reflect the opinions and the abilities of the people who work for you. Having a blog has SEO advantages for your websites as well because of many things that are attributes of a blog such as:

• Structured Content – which makes it easier for sear engines to understand and index the content on a blog
• Crawlable URLs – The uncomplicated URL structure generally used by blogs makes it an easier job for search spiders to find and crawl a blog
• Internal links – A blog can host internal website links
• Fresh Content – Both readers and search engines reward fresh content with repeat visits.
• RSS – Links to RSS feed URLs that use the blog domain name will assist in building link popularity and when RSS content is syndicated or cited by other blogs, any embedded links will also assist in sending traffic.
• Inbound link magnet – One of the biggest benefits, blogs link freely to each other – much more than web sites do. Blogs are also a significant source of many posts to social news and social media web sites.

With these five basic, essential and important things in place, you can expect your business to have a prominent presence on the web. Implementing these five essential things, even though they may sound simple enough, may end up being overwhelming in terms of time and efficiency. We at Domus, Inc. have a special division called Domus Digital that can navigate these five basic and important needs for your new or renewed business. We are experts at web, mobile and social media. Contact us if you need help strategizing and/or executing a plan that will get your web presence in full swing and successfully introduce your business to the WWW.