originally uploaded by blog.compete.com

The business world changes quickly, the digital world even quicker. The problem is that very few business are really keeping up with the pace of change online and the rapid adoption of new media, device and applications by their customers.

The truth is that there are now very few industries unaffected by the web. Whole new business models are emerging daily that totally interrupt entire industries. If it hasn’t happened to you yet it will soon.

In 2012 the need to adapt will be more crucial than ever. Those that do will benefit and see their market share grow or uncover new markets. Those that don’t risk falling well behind or losing it all.

Here are the 9 things your business must do now:

1. Get serious about online

It seems amazing to be writing this in 2012, but there are still many business owners and marketers who don’t appreciate how much the internet is changing their industries. Most have “ticked the box” by slapping together a website but have since done little more.

Newsflash: your customers start their search for a product or service online (including mobile). They want the best information available immediately. If they can purchase or inquire online, they will. If they need to physically visit your location to do business with you then, 1. you better hope your competitors are in the same boat, 2. you must give them enough information online to ensure they make it to your fine establishment, or your competitors will.

Your bog-standard website won’t do the trick anymore. Unless you get really serious about online and make it central to your plans you can start considering new career options.

2. Get good at producing content

Potential customers aren’t looking for you, they’re looking for answers and solutions. They don’t Google “Acme Fasteners”, they search for “best fasteners in Smithtown” or “how to find the best fastener”.

Potential customers also trust the word-of-mouth effect of social media and are more likely to visit a site recommended to them by a “friend” online.

The key to all this is producing good content.

Good content offers solutions. It’s helpful and useful. Its not about your business, its about your customer’s potential needs. Good content gets shared online. It becomes popular. It tends to ranks higher in search results. It speaks to the customer.

You need to produce good content on your website on a regular basis. Static websites don’t deliver business.

3. Get social

Still think social networks are for kids and geeks? Think again. Social networking has become ubiquitous and increasingly seamless. The most exciting start-ups are around social networking ideas that are interrupting old business models.

People like to share good information. They like to share ideas and discoveries. They like to share information about themselves. Social networks have made it easier than ever to share information at the click of a button.

Facebook is closing in on 1 billion users. Google+ is only 6 months old and is on track to hit 100 users in February 2012. Twitter has an estimated 300+ million users. Then there is LinkedIn and numerous other networks.

At the very least you should enable sharing buttons (like the ones at the top of this post) on your website so that visitors can easily share that great content you are hopefully producing. You don’t even need to be a member of these networks but you should be catering to those visitors who are.

To really get social you need to set up accounts and dedicated pages for your business with the Big Four: Facebook, Twitter. LinkedIn and Google+. Then you have to work those accounts. There’s no escaping this, it has to be done.

The upside of getting social are significant. The downside of not getting social is also significant, but more painful.

4. Get optimised

Being found online in search engines is not just a luxury, its a necessity in 2012. At a time when 97% of people begin their online search for a product or service using a search engine its incredible that 87% of business websites are poorly optimised for search. You need to immediately start optimising multiple pages of your website for important industry search terms; the more they address needs and solutions the better (see Get Content). This is one action could make the biggest difference to your business and give you a significant advantage over your competitors.

Test your website’s optimisation here.

5. Get data

Never in history has more customer data been more freely available. A clever online strategy can tell you so much about your market, your customer needs, your customers habits and your potential customer’s details. Website analytics, social media analytics, conversion forms and more can all work in unison to help you improve the marketing accuracy of your business. Simple conversion forms on your website can help you build a sizable and relevant database.

6. Get converted

Attracting traffic to your website is nice, but converting that traffic into fans, inquiries and sales is even nicer. PDF downloads, newsletter subscriptions, inquiry forms, free trials….these can all work to help turn visitors into customers. But it only happens if you provide the right call-to-action. What are you doing to convert your traffic?

7. Get mobile

The smart phone is ubiquitous. The tablet is fast replacing the laptop as the casual computing device. We are now less tethered to a desk and more mobile than ever whilst remaining totally “connected” online. Mobile is expected to account for over 20% of all searches in 2012 and it’ll continue to grow from there.

Then we have social networking which fits so neatly hand-in-glove with mobile devices.

The bottom line is that you have to pay serious consideration to how you business will compete with the growth of the mobile consumer. Is your website mobile friendly? Should you build apps? Is there a particular aspect of you business that is more suited to mobile that you can build upon?

8. Get inbound

All of these above points add up to an Inbound Marketing strategy. Inbound is about attracting visitors and converting them to customers rather than the old advertising approach of blasting everyone with the hope of hitting some potentially interested buyers. Inbound leads to higher conversion rates and better use of your marketing budget. The more you think “inbound”, the more you will be acting like a modern web marketer.

9. Get dedicated

Smart, modern online marketing isn’t a set and forget exercise. Its not something to give to the junior to take care of “because they use Facebook”. Your online strategy requires a dedicated approach and dedicated resources. We have been increasingly helping our clients recruit and train marketers who are working full-time on online marketing strategies. There’s a lot to look after: numerous social networks, generating great content, tracking conversion and implementing mobile solutions.

The businesses who decide dedicate adequate resources to online are those who will prosper.

We’re in the process of building the perfect website – perfect for us, that is.

In reality there probably isn’t a perfect website, but we’re trying to build something that is exceptionally effective for the launch of our all new NLYZR Website Optimization System.

Of course everybody has different objectives for their websites and so there is no single design, layout or strategy that will work for all, but in our case we have a very clear set of objectives for NLYZR and have started redesigning from scratch.

Some of the considerations we need to include are; search engine optimization, ease of navigation, very clear conversion signals, plenty of compelling content, forms, videos, PDF downloads, payment facilities, an e-commerce platform, members area, confirmation messages and emails……and that’s before the user starts playing with the new NLYZR system we’ve developed.

It’s, um…….complicated and we’ve taken a lot of care in trying to design a site that makes sense and delivers results. Here’s the way we mapped it out in the office during planning…. (basketball hoop not included)

Will it be perfect? Probably not.

We expect to test and change the site a lot over the next year to continually improve the user experience and fine-tune our conversion strategies. A lot depends on the early results and feedback we receive. But we think this will be a great start. We’ve used our best ideas and closely studied exceptional websites from around the world in order to determine the best possible design.

Very few sites are “set and forget”, they need constant monitoring and adjustments to achieve exceptional results. It doesn’t matter whether if you’re launching a new site aimed at a global market, like we are with NLYZR, or a small site for your hometown…. every site can continually improve and evolve. They may never be perfect but hopefully they deliver increasingly good results for you.

Note: we aim to launch the NLYZR Website Optimization System in early September 2011, but you can use our Free Web NLYZR anytime.

Gavin Heaton has posted an excellent piece about the Three Ages of Content Management Systems which goes a long way to explaining how the web has evolved and how organisations and the systems they use may or may not have progressed. Its a great read and I urge you to take 5 minutes to see what Gavin has to say.

We now live in the sharing web age

The 3 ages Gavin talks about are:

• The Age of Waving

• The Age of Shouting

• The Age of Sharing

Clearly, given the ubiquity of social media now, we are in The Age of Sharing. Organisations who realise this and have moved to ensure their web presence reflects it are the ones who are benefiting. The content on their websites is being passed around, searched and now generates considerably more traffic than many of their contemporaries who still live in The Age of Shouting.

Unfortunately many people treat the web the same way as they treat their traditional advertising. They see it purely as a broadcasting media. They haven’t heard of the Age of Conversation and they haven’t heard of the 1000 True Fans theory. They are still yelling at an audience that isn’t necessarily listening.

At a more technical level, as Gavin points out, this is reflected in their Content Management Systems. The odds are that if a company has on old-fashioned, hard to use CMS then they are probably Shouting from their website. Its simply too hard to update information so they publish their content once and leave it. Or perhaps they spend a small fortune on Banner ads and Adwords to drive traffic to their static sites.

We constantly advise clients to take the Sharing route. Create innovative websites on easy-to-use CMS systems that are SEO and social media-friendly. It encourages a solid, long-term approach to marketing than generates much greater loyalty than shouting ever will. It results in increased traffic from multiple sources, like social networks and organic search, that is substantially more cost-effective than broadcast style advertising.

The question is, which web age do you live in?

StickySpace: premium web hosting, blinding speed

We are proud to announce the launch of our new premium web hosting service StickySpace.

StickySpace has been created in response to overwhelming client demand for a high-speed premium web hosting with great customer service.

It is also a direct response to the need for better site-speed to keep up with the latest search engine optimisation criteria. Google has made plenty of noise in the last year about how site speed is now a factor in search rankings, so we feel it is crucial that we ensure our clients are not penalised by the slow hosting speeds offered by many hosting companies.

StickySpace offers:

• Reliable Service

• Premium Hosting

• Blistering Speeds

• Massive traffic allowance

• Huge amounts of space

StickySpace completes the full web / SEO service from Sticky. Clients can now source their website build, search engine optimisation, inbound marketing strategy and web hosting from one supplier. The result should be better results, better traffic and better conversion rates.

If you are sick of the hosting run-around and want to step up to premium web hosting then take a look at StickySpace.

Over at Media Hunter, Craig has posted an interesting introduction to the field of trade promotion optimisation. Its a fascinating field that could seriously benefit from an integrated online approach.

Does your website need a rebuild or a re-think?

One of our biggest frustrations here at Sticky is seeing organisations pay little attention to their web presence. They run old, rarely updated websites that provide the user with little information and a generally poor experience. These organisations are finding it increasingly harder to compete and will be left behind unless they totally re-think (or start thinking about) online.

However, at the other end of the scale is the organisation who is enthusiastically online but is constantly thinking about a rebuild, or a new look, or an expensive new addition to their under-performing website. We see them all the time. I can think of a few examples where a site is going through its 2nd rebuild in as many years, when the original site was fine.

The thing is….if a website is under-performing the first thing everyone should look at are the real reasons why. In many cases its not the layout / design / format that necessarily needs work.

If the site isn’t getting enough traffic, the first thing you should look at is the quality of the content. Is it up to scratch? Does it really speak to the desired audience? Does it demand attention?

If the answer is NO to any of these then start improving and focusing your content NOW.

If you honestly think the content IS good enough then you need to address your traffic sources or and connections. Look at your web stats (surely you have web stats) and determine where the traffic is coming from.

Most under-performing websites get the bulk of their traffic from their URL (direct) or a Google search for their name. This means that most of your visitors already know of you and you are not using the web properly to grow your market.

If the majority of it is direct traffic then you need to bolster your search and referred traffic. You might need proper search engine optimisation, you might need to build your social networks.

Once again, if you don’t have many links coming into your site from other sources, there’s a very good chance your content is not working for you.

Finally, if your traffic IS at reasonable levels but you are not getting the sales or leads you desire / require then you need to quickly address your conversion strategies (you do have conversion strategies don’t you?).

Too many organisations think that a “Contact Us” page is a conversion strategy. Its not. Smart inbound marketers provide multiple opportunities for visitors to become customers. They’ll have conversion strategies littered throughout their website.

So, by all means, consider rebuilding your website, it might really need it. But before you do, re-think its content, connections and conversion.

Note: you can get a quick idea of your website’s strengths and weaknesses with our Free Web NLYZR

Would you know Australia’s leading Real Estate Agencies, if you were asked to pick 30 of them? BRW did and published their Top Australian Agencies.

Here, we put them to the online performance test with NLYZR.

NLYZR assesses a website using criteria such as On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, Keyword search results, Competitor scores, Social media and traffic conversion. These are crucial aspects of Inbound Marketing.

Note: Scores can vary from month to month and depending upon search terms.

How do Australia’s leading Real Estate Agencies rate….

NLYZR Top 30 Real Estate Websites:

Ranked 1st
96.16/100 for First National Real Estate

Ranked 2nd
93.84/100 for LJ Hooker

Ranked 3rd
93.12/100 for Century 21 Real Estate

Ranked 4th
90.88/100 for McGrath Real Estate

Ranked 6th
90.52/100 for Ray White

Ranked 7th
89.96/100 for Elders

Ranked 8th
88.56/100 for Raine and Horne

Ranked 9th
73.6/100 for Re/Max Australia

Ranked 10th
72/100 for Professionals

Ranked 11th
70.4/100 for Roberts Real Estate

Ranked 12th
64/100 for Brock Harcourts

Ranked 13th
64/100 for Petrusma Property

Ranked 14th
63/100 for Philip Webb Real Estate

Ranked 15th
56.8/100 for Davey Evans Real Estate

Ranked 16th
52/100 for King and Co Property Consultants

Ranked 17th
51.2/100 for Melbourne Commerical Group

Ranked 18th
50.4/100 for Fitzpatricks Real Estate

Ranked 19th
48.8/100 for Roberts Real Estate

Ranked 20th
42.4/100 for WB Simpson & Son

Ranked 21st
31.2/100 for Barr and Standley Real Estate

Ranked 22nd
31.2/100 for Appoint Real Estate

Ranked 23rd
29.6/100 for MC Commercial

Ranked 24th
29.6/100 for Taplin Real Estate

Ranked 25th
28.8/100 for Weeks & Macklin

Ranked 26th
26.4/100 for Lang Realty

Ranked 27th
20/100 for m2 Office Leasing

Ranked 28th
13.6/100 for Burling Realty

Ranked 29th
10.4/100 for David Booth Real Estate

Ranked 30th
9/100 for Wollermann & Associates

UPDATE:

Harcourts launched a new site around the time this post was made and made us aware of it via comment below. We have run the site through NLYZR too and its scored 60.2/100 which would have ranked 15th on this list.

2ND UPDATE:

Barry Plant Real Estate have been assessed by NLYZR now and scored 77/100 which would have ranked them 9th on this list.

Excerpt of Report by Jeanne-Vida Douglas. BRW Magazine

Technologies once limited to only the biggest budgets are now affordable for businesses of any scale. Here are five of the most rewarding. 

Information technology has been the biggest driver of productivity since mechanisation took over from manual and animal labour at the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Research from Finland suggests that access to simple data storage and processing computing facilities will increase the productivity of an average worked by 9 per cent a year; access to the internet will boost it by 14 per cent; mobile computing will increase worker productivity by 32 per cent.

Nonetheless, small businesses, which stand to gain the most from investing in It services, are often the most reticent to take advantage of the opportunities technology provides.

Unlike their larger counterparts, SMEs are often founded and run by specialists. The real estate agent, the carpenter and the distributor all know their trades, but don’t necessarily have the time to investigate emerging technologies or sit down to create a strategy for how a certain piece of software or hardware might make their businesses run more efficiently.

Those who take the time to investigate and invest in IT, however, often establish for themselves a substantial advantage over their competitors, and ultimately enable themselves to exploit the access to resources, staff and range of customers that would otherwise be out of their reach.

WEB MARKETING

Although 80 per cent of small businesses in Australia use the internet, and almost 43 per cent go online to place orders or buy products and services, fewer than 25 per cent of these businesses actually extend such a service to their own customers, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports.

Having grown accustomed to static $500 websites, many smaller companies balk at the cost of creating a more dynamic and effective web presence, and as a result are losing potential customers.

“It’s hard when you’re a small business – especially in the trades – where you know that spending $20,000 on your machinery or tools will increase your productivity, but you don’t really understand how investing that money in your website will boost your business,” business manager for the Melbourne head quartered construction company 4Walls, Kelly Savvides, says.

Nonetheless, by integrating search engine optimisation technology into the company’s website, 4Walls was able to respond in a more targeted way to web-based searches. And as a result, it could win more work.

“There is no point in having an aesthetically pleasing web site that no one can find,” Savvides says. “We only need to win one contract as a result of being easier to find on the web and we cover the extra cost of making it more functional.”

With 80 staff scattered across Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, removalists King & Wilson decided to make a substantial investment in the technology underpinning its company website in 2004, to offer customers the opportunity to get quotes and customer service over the internet.

Using technology from Melbourne web software specialists bwired, the company paid off the extra cost within a month due to increased sales.

“Investing in the internet totally changed the way we advertised. We pulled out of the Yellow Pages in Sydney and Melbourne because the internet was generating enough work,” managing director Andrew Wilson says. “At first we thought about the internet in terms of look and branding, but we found out more about how people look for information on the web and now we just keep tweaking the site and get more business as a result.”

www.eutopia.com.au provides the information Australia’s growing fascination with European wine demands – what’s available, how it compares, where to find it and for how much.

Eutopia, a free site, has been launched due to a lack of available information for Australians to make an informed purchase of European wine. Whilst there is a wealth of knowledge available on international websites, there is no mention of Australian availability, release date or price. In addition Australians, beginning a discovery of European wines and accustomed to fuller bodied wines, can be confused by international reviews written with a different context.

Eutopia contains a constantly updated directory of Australian Fine Wine Retailers and European importers and a database with the distribution details of over 800 European wines. In addition to regular articles and reviews, a monthly regional focus will include a diverse range of feature articles, vintages guides, in-depth interviews plus food and travel information designed to broaden readers’ understanding and interest.

Wine writers David Brookes and Nick Ryan provide independent wine reviews and articles. Matthew Dunne, Sommelier at Aria Restaurant, is bringing a fresh perspective to food and wine matching and Andrew Stewart is contributing feature articles.

In November, Nick will report live from the Hospice de Beaune barrel tasting and auction plus giving a first glimpse of the 2009 vintage in Burgundy, Rhone and Piedmont. In March Dave will cover Prowein in Germany before a live look at Bordeaux 2009.

Eutopia has been created by Nicholas and Frances Crampton along with Dan and Tina Fitzgerald and a fair chunk of help from Sticky Advertising here in Newcastle. Frances and Nicholas have day jobs as European wine importers, but relish the chance Eutopia provides to be involved in the entire world of European wine.

Good web design is increasingly important for businesses trying to compete at a time when the Internet is the most consumed media in Australia. However, merely having a website isn’t enough these days. A good website is one that can be found easily in search, provides the visitor with relevant information and must has effective traffic conversion strategies in place.

So how much time have you spent thinking about the wording of your navigation? Or the location of a crucial button or link? You’d be amazed at the difference in results you can achieve with subtle changes.

We have been running Traffic Visualisation Analytics, such as heat-mapping, on several sites to monitor the results from changes to layout and wording. It has been a revelation. We have been able to see where people are clicking on the tested sites and where they came from. Then after making small changes we can compare results.

Heat mapping in action

On this particular site we found that visitors weren’t clicking through as much as we’d like to one of the most important pages in the navigation, “products”. So after a week of monitoring we changed the name of that page in the navigation to “services”.

The results were immediate and stunning. We achieved a 72% increase in clicks-through to the target page in one week. That’s a massive improvement from changing just one word on the site. Those increased clicks-through led to more inquiries for our “services” so it has immediately paid dividends.

On several other sites we are testing button locations for key prompts. These tests are also proving to be extremely illuminating. By visually observing the trail of clicks on a website you can quickly get a feel for what’s working and what’s not working. you can also quickly identify the pages that might need boosting.

For any business with a strong need for goal conversion, visual analytics is strongly recommended. One or two changes could make a big difference to your bottom line.

We have now begun introducing Traffic Visualisation Analytics such as heat-mapping to selected clients. Let us know if you’d like to find out how it could help your organisation.