About Joseuonline
Joseuonline Communications was created in 2009. It stands for Jose Uzcategui Online. Regardless of dealing with Jose Uzcategui or Joseuonline, you will get the best results I can bring to your business.
Once again, I’m in the early stages of starting a business. While deciding and researching a good name and web address I’ve found an interesting trend; SEO has changed the way people choose a company name. Sometimes, it seems, people are caring more about SEO robots than people.
Take a look at TopSEOs’ rankings for Canada and the U.S. and you’ll see what I mean: Clicks2Customers, Increase Visibility and SEO Image are some of the top ranking names. I’m sure the quality of their service, and not their name, has brought them up there. So I can’t help but to think that choosing such a precise name – names that restrict the company’s products – might be somewhat risky. What if Clicks2Customers or any of the above decides to grow into a full online marketing agency? Then the name would turn against them.
It seems to me that some names, like Vancouver’s 6s Marketing or California’s Bruce Clay Inc – also on the top-ten list –, have more accommodating names. 10 years ago, Nike was about shoes, now it’s about shoes, clothes, sports, etc. Microsoft, Starbucks, Virgin, they change their products – for the most part – without changing their name.
What do you think about names that dictate the product?
Around six years ago I became interested in a company that made air-powered cars, Motor Development International (MDI). Air-powered cars, cool right?
I entered my information to receive updates but, in the first year, I maybe received two of the most boring updates I’ve ever seen. For following years I visited the site but nothing seemed to change. Their News Room published infrequent press releases that were technical in nature and hard to understand. The site’s videos didn’t change. I eventually became uninterested, and finally assumed the business flopped because I didn’t get any updates.
Today I visited the site and, to my surprise, they’re still in business! At least it seems like it.
Who knows how much free press and how many potential investors MDI is loosing by not having a strong online strategy? Yes, there will always be a bit of a buzz out there. After all, we’re talking about an air car – pretty catchy stuff. But imagine how big they would be if only they’d made a decent effort!
MDI has now a one year-old website. It’s much better than the last, but even though it looks pretty, I’d rate it poor content and strategy wise.
These are just some of the basics we should all consider when thinking about business’ websites:
1. Write your press/media/news releases for a broad audience, not only reporters. Back in the days releases were only for the media, but that’s no longer the case. Most visitors are probably looking for information on your business or organization, and many times they will check the News sections on your site to get it.
Write releases so that as many (consumers, bloggers, reporters, lost surfers) can understand, rather than the few (reporters) typical media releases were intended to reach in the past.
2. Have easily accessible and well formatted news on your homepage. Many people visiting your site assume your “News” are the most up to date section of your site. Why not bring it right to the homepage? Not only will they find what they’re looking for quicker, but you also make it possible for user to stumble across information they didn’t know they wanted. Plus, pages that are constantly updated get a higher ranking on search engines.
3. If you publish news on a regular basis (and in most cases, you should) provide some kind of web feed - I hate to say it but, welcome to 2009! Many people give priority to the information shown on their feed reader (i.e. Google Reader, etc.), you should give visitors the option to add sections of your site to it – compare it with saving your favourite radio stations on your car stereo.
4. Have a blog. If you’re reading this, you probably understand the importance of blogs. People want to interact with people, not faceless organizations. A blog is a great way to communicate with your market, and for them to communicate with you. If you’re doing something right or wrong, they’ll let you know.
5. Websites are not like pastime magazines – they need good content! Pictures are good, but if a user is visiting your site it’s because she is looking for information, not waiting for her doctor’s appointment. Great graphics should complement great content.
I did a quick search to see if I could find a good website a company like MDI could learn from and quickly found one: The International Small Technology Network (www.nanotechnology.com)
As soon as you enter the site you the latest news releases, links to relevant questions, forums and some social media friendliness. Even with the poor graphics, the site feels user friendly and up to date.
Any other relevant examples out there?
Today I received a promotional email from Moores Clothing, a store I visit from time to time. It was titled “Don’t miss your last chance for huge savings during our Year-End Sale!” I clicked and browsed the content for two seconds – literally – and erased it. I’m not planning to buy anything right now, so I just didn’t care.
Just as you’ve probably done, I’ve erased dozens of similar emails throughout the holidays – what a waste. I did spend some time reading three or four promotional emails, however. What actually caught my attention was interesting and useful content, they weren’t promoting anything!
The Internet has changed how people buy things, and it seems the memo hasn’t arrived to everyone’s desk. Most people, once they decide to buy a product or service, go online and do some research. Some may want quality, some may want low prices, but everyone wants information.
How different would I’ve reacted to a Moores email titled, “How to dress for a rainy day” or “Learn how to use a vest”! (I’ve been thinking of buying a vest but don’t really know with what kind of shirt to combine it with and just haven’t gone online and research vests.)
I recently read a good case scenario on this topic that mentioned Cervelo bikes (www.cervelo.com) as a great example of how good information brings customers. You’ll notice their news section is very appealing. Now, if you were into bike racing, even if you’re considering buying a different bike, wouldn’t you want to check what Cervelo has to say?
It’s more likely that your customers are thinking about a future purchase and looking for more information rather than a “now or never” buying scenario. Auto dealers are particularly funny this way. Their promotions last only a few days. Have you ever seen a auto commercial and thought to yourself, “Wow! 0% Financing? I wasn’t planning on buying a car, but what the heck!” What would you prefer? A good “now or never” sale or a reliable and trustworthy dealer?
It’s easy enough to walk into The Bay or Sears and be overwhelmed by “Sale” signs. It’s not easy to find a sales person who really knows what they’re selling. Make your business a provider of quality information and customers will trust you.
And isn’t that a very big first step?
I’m starting this New Year with a new course under my belt: Simon Fraser University’s Concepts and Practices of Technical Communication.
The course was 100% online through SFU’s WebCT, 13 weeks, with 8 group assignments and 4 individual assignments. The text, Writing Revisable Manuals: Print and Online, was uploaded to WebCT, which made it easy to print if needed. (Don’t tell anyone that there is an online version of the book, one of the assignments has something to do with it) .
Joseuonline Communications was created in 2009. It stands for Jose Uzcategui Online. Regardless of dealing with Jose Uzcategui or Joseuonline, you will get the best results I can bring to your business.