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Web Design – Does Your Business Need A Website?

web design

We think so… but like with anything in life there are no absolutes.

If your business doesn’t depend on a website to stay afloat, or if you are in a niche market that has a steady stream of word-of-mouth clients, you might be able to get away with just having your phone number listed in the yellow pages.

But for most businesses a website is an essential marketing tool. You can use it to reach a broad client base in your local area and beyond. And, if done well, a website gives your business the professional sheen it needs to be competitive in today’s digital market.

What type of web presence will suit your business?

These days there’s a big difference between a business that has a website and a business that has a “good” website.

A good website is one that is quick to load, easy to navigate and responsive to a variety of different devices. Maybe you’ve heard the term “responsive web design” before. It sounds scary but the concept is really quite simple – a responsive web design is simply a website that adjusts to gracefully to fit a range of different screen sizes from desktop to smartphone.

If you’re going to have a website, having a good website that is responsive to your customer’s needs, location and device is an absolute must. By 2014, mobile internet use is predicted to overtake desktop computer use – meaning that the need for a responsive web design is even more important. If you don’t have a website, or if your website isn’t responsive, you are seriously limiting your customer base and the longevity of your business.

Web-design--shift-digital

How long does it take to build a website

Building a website doesn’t have to take up months of your time. If you have a clear idea of what information you would like to include on your site and content ready to go, you could reasonably expect a new design to be up and running within 4-6 weeks.

More complex websites – those with e-commerce facilities, booking functionality or multiple pages – will naturally take longer, as will those sites that need a strategist to help plan the structure of the website. Even so, building a website isn’t – and shouldn’t be – a year long process.

How much does an average website cost?

Some custom CMS based websites (those you can upload content to yourself) can cost upwards of fifty or even one hundred thousand rand. Template websites can cost as little as R600.00 but you will spend more in time implementing these and getting them to work properly. Sometimes, depending on the template, you’ll never achieve what you set out to.

In the world of web design you often get what you pay for but in some instances you’re paying a lot more for services you just don’t need… or even services that are provided for free if only you knew where to look.

At Shift Digital Design we use WordPress for the majority of our designs. The framework is free, easy for our clients to use and can be customised in any number of ways to suit your specific needs.

As for cost – our solutions start at R10 000.00 so rest assured we can create something stellar to suit even the smallest of budgets!

But I already have a website!

Maybe your current website isn’t working for you. Perhaps it isn’t responsive to your mobile clients, or maybe your main message is lost. It might just be frustrating for your customers to use. Or maybe you just don’t like the look of it.

If you aren’t getting the business you expect from your current website, you need to find out why. Do you have analytics installed? Can you check at the click of a button where your customers are coming from, and see where they are exiting your website? Is your website not ranking on Google? Do you know if it is even registering with the main search engines? We can help you migrate your current site over to a more user, search engine and customer friendly option.

Or maybe you don’t even need a website yet. We work with each of our clients to determine what their exact needs are and offer a social media package that can have you online in a matter of days for as little as R5 000.00. It’s the perfect solution if you’re just starting out or testing the waters of a new idea.

Your website can and should bring in business – we make it our business to show you how.

Contact us for a comprehensive overview of your on-line and web design needs.

Check out some of our web design projects

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Website design – The 8 “C’s” that make a site sticky

making websites sticky

We believe in judging a website design by how well it converts visits into profits and this can be achieved with “stickiness” … the measure of how long a user spends on your website. The longer they stay the likelier they are to spend money, ask any good salesperson worth his weight in salt!

Website Design, “stickiness” & the 8 “C’s”

Your website design should keep visitors on your site AND make them come back for more so implement a few of the “C’s” in your website design to improve your conversion rate :  Read more

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5 Essential Marketing Workflows

marketing-essentials
Why you need a Marketing Workflow – Marketing Essentials

Marketing teams have to be adaptable: they’re constantly adjusting to new clients, tools, and audiences. But sometimes they get a little too used to the chaos, and start believing that creative work feels out of control simply by nature.

Work processes get a bad rap. It’s true that a flawed workflow can mire your team in needless handoffs, circular approvals, and maddening red tape. But a good workflow can make your team more efficient, clarify roles and responsibilities, and create a reliable system so everyone can focus on being creative.

Marketing Workflows Are Not One-Size-Fits-All

One of the keys to reaping the benefits of a good workflow is to customize it to your team’s unique needs. Lead Gen teams have a different process, goal, and measure of success than Content or Email Marketing. Take a look at our new infographic to see typical workflows for 5 types of marketing departments, and to find a process that’s a perfect fit for your team:

 

Shift Digital Marketing Essentials

 

So whats the key to your marketing success? Contact Us Today for a Marketing Workflow that works for you!

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14 Important Metrics to Focus on in your Digital Marketing Campaign

In the digital marketing age, not only are measurable metrics and other analytical data are possible and available in real-time, the need to measure these data is paramount as evidence to success. In a constantly and rapidly changing business landscape, the need to measure digital marketing success as efficiently as possible has increased in importance more than ever before. Every digital marketing tool available has some means of measuring success made available through the various metrics business owners can obtain.

However, with the tons of data available and easily accessible, choosing the right type of metric to monitor can be daunting for marketers. There is the possibility of choosing and monitoring metrics that really pose no significance for what matters most in business – earning revenues. Marketers might be too engrossed in focusing on “vanity” metrics and lose time analyzing on metrics that would really matter for their business.

“Vanity” metrics, such as the number of Facebook “likes” or YouTube “views”, are metrics that are merely “nice-to-have” – unless these figures can be effectively monetize and translated into revenues. Metrics that really do not have an impact to the bottom line will just be a waste of time and resources. Business owners should learn how to identify which metrics can be influential for business growth and revenue generation.

The infographic:

 

 

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Online Marketing Basics

online marketing basics

Not sure where to get started?

We know Online Marketing is a new concept for most businesses and often the most misunderstood in terms of costs and benefits. It is however becoming a crucial part of every Organizations bid to stay relevant in an ever changing business environment. Not using technology effectively to open new markets or research existing ones could be the downfall of any company. Playing catch up with your competitors might just leave you out in the cold, so get started Today!

Some Typical Online Marketing Questions from Organizations:

  • Where Do I start?
  • Can I benefit from the Facebook, Twitter and Google hype?
  • Who in my Organization can manage it?
  • Is it expensive?
  • Can my ROI be measured?
  • Does it Work?

A simple approach to Online Marketing addresses these concerns by providing you with concrete Online research so you can make informed decisions on your Marketing needs. We can  also advise you on the best way forward in terms of your requirements, budget and technical savvy if need be.

Have a look at our simple 4 step strategy to get you more customers:

The starting point of any good Online Marketing campaign, and often the most painful, so lets help shifting through the data to ensure you get the results you want.

Our services Include:

  • Evaluating Current Online Presence
  • Keyword Research
  • Industry Trends
  • Competitor Analysis
  • Online Opportunities
  • Google Analytics/Webmaster Tools
  • Reviewing Customer Compliments/ Complaints
  • Review Sign-ups/opt outs and Cancellations

This Research is necessary to ensure how you position your Online offering, too often we see businesses unintentionally communicate the wrong message about their Brand, Vision and Values. Avoid costly mistakes by getting your message right the first time round!

With Online Marketing, positioning your Business is key, remember your competitors are literally a click away. We ensure you get noticed and stand above all the advertising noise consumers get bombarded with daily.

We offer:

  • Brand Research
  • Re-branding
  • Corporate Identity Packages
  • Online Branding Strategies
  • Website Design and Development
  • FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google + Profile Designs
  • PR Releases

With Online Marketing you only have 5 seconds to create a Good first impression, so make it count!

So lets target your audience with the combination of research and carefully positioned Branding to maximise exposure and business leads. We select the platform where you can reach your customers in the most cost effective way possible.

Reach your Customers with:

  • User Friendly, targeted Website Design
  • Content Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Blogging
  • Expert Positioning
  • Online Advertising
  • Online Competitions
  • Email Marketing
  • Affiliate Marketing

Only invest on solutions aimed at enhancing your overall Online Marketing Strategy, no more wasting time and money on Advertising that doesn’t work! We can set it up for you to manage, or leave it all your Online Marketing to us.

Like we said, no more wasting money on advertising that doesn’t work, Online Marketing allows you to monitor your spending, review customer interaction and change your strategy all in a matter of hours. Try doing that with traditional advertising methods!

Online Marketing Allows you too:

  • Measure Advertising Costs
  • Accurately Estimate Traffic
  • Target and Measure Ads per region/country
  • Analyse visitor interaction
  •  Modify Offering to Customer Needs
  • Monitor Competitors Online
  • Align Advertising with live data within minutes

Why wait months to get customer feedback reports? Online Marketing allows you to measure results, predict trends and target your customers accordingly, all within a matter of minutes. Get your Online Marketing Strategy in place before your competitors do.

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CRM – The 5 I’s of Customer Relationship Management

CRM

Even the smallest company can have a successful online CRM strategy with the following 5 points in mind

1. Identification

Find out who your customer is and learn as much as possible from them, there are useful methods on-line to do this like website registration and quick on –line surveys.

Read more

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Internet Marketing and Website Design

reach-target-audience

Internet Marketing and Website Design

So how well is your internet marketing strategy & website design converting traffic into actual sales? How effective are your banner ads in generating leads and are they even making an impression? Read more

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