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By Rodrigo Jimenez
For example, if you have a restaurant and your goal is getting reservations, then you need an easy navigation to the reservation page all along the path, which will most likely include visiting the menu for food and prices, and mapping the location. Rich Internet Applications, a new breed of applications that allow for more intuitive interactions can be used to make a site more engaging. Caldwell Watson Real Estate Group (www.caldwellwatson.com) uses this approach to simplify the process of searching for available properties in their portfolio.
Be Fast
Fast does not simply mean download speed; it also alludes to navigational ease. In other words, if I’m a typical user, how soon can I find what I’m looking for? If there is a search function available, does it provide me with relevant results and links to existing, working pages? If I’m a repeat visitor, can I take care of common tasks quickly and easily?
Continuing with the restaurant example, regular customers should not have to wade through the menu and the map to make their reservations. Rather, allow regular customers to have the ability to quickly make a reservation without having to go through several pages of information.
Be Connected to Other Marketing Tactics
Normal business common sense applies to the online world too. It is important to know your customers and design the company’s Web site, just as a company would design a brick and mortar space, to fit their needs. It is also important to link the Web site to other marketing activities, especially e-Marketing campaigns. Permission-based email marketing can be a powerful tool, especially when linked to content and functionality available via the company’s web site. Marketing or business process emails can be leveraged to collect data from customers, advise clients of new Web site features or cross-sell products or services to your client base. Even print campaigns can be linked to the Web site in a variety of ways that add tracking and ROI measuring some times hard to achieve if the print media is used in isolation.
Lately, Internet video has gained a lot of acceptance by Web users. This means, in many cases, you can repurpose your video campaigns for the Web or even for email campaigns. This allows you to leverage your investment and expand your branding efforts.
A Web site can be a great strategic tool. But, it has to be thought of strategically. Investing the time and money required early on studying your target audience, developing content, navigation, functionality, and benchmarks for success can result in great returns. The beauty of it is that even if your results are not great right off the bat, the Web allows you to tweak things, test new ideas, and measure again. You cannot view the items on this list as isolated techniques; you should instead look at them as interconnected tactics to be considered part of a whole. They all work together and they all affect each other.
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