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Who uses the
Internet?
Is a web site really that
important for my business?
What should I do
before I commit to a web site design?
Should I continue to
advertise after I have a web site?
Do people still buy from brick and mortar stores
after shopping online?
I am not a large
company, can you help with my business strategy?
What does
ProMediaWeb have to offer me?
Will my web design be
unique to my business?
How much will it cost?
If you have a product or service you want to
market, you need a web site! Before the Internet, the best way to locate
a business was to search the local phone book. If you were lucky, you may find a
small ad for that business highlighting their products or services. Today, the
Internet has picked up where the phone book left off. The Internet has given
even the smallest businesses the opportunity to present a variety of information
to its visitors at the convenience of the customer. In fact, the Internet has
now become the FIRST place consumers look when searching a for a product or
service.
Your web site is key to the
success of your marketing plan. All of your marketing strategies should be
coordinated with and direct people to your web site. Your site should be a
comprehensive resource for information about your products or services. Both current and
prospective customers or clients will view your web site, so the information
provided must reflect the proper demographic target you are trying to reach with
your products and/or services. A web site is an essential
part of your marketing plan.
The differences between a web site and traditional advertising
all favor the web site. You have greater flexibility, and you can use as much
space as you need to present yourself, your company, your products and/or
services to
the world. Instead of choosing to present a general overview of your services,
or to highlight one specific service, a web site allows you to do both. With a
web site, you can effectively differentiate yourself from others who may be in
the same business or provide similar services. A
web site is also easy to modify, so the information is always up to date. And,
even with all of these advantages, a web site is the most affordable way to
advertise.
Your web site can educate potential customers and clients about the
value of your product and/or services, and the importance of choosing a qualified
professional. But, don’t rely on your web site as your only marketing resource!
A web site should be used in conjunction with other forms of advertising. Your
web site can expand on the information provided through other advertising, and
can even reduce your total advertising budget. Combining a web site with
traditional marketing maximizes the impact of your marketing strategies.
People who use the Internet regularly almost always use the
Internet as their first option for finding information. More than 35% of US
households have at least one computer, and perhaps twice that number have access
to a computer at work. In large metropolitan areas, these numbers are much
higher. The Internet has become the major reference and research tool.
Most of your potential customers will be searching online for what you provide.
The only question is whether they will find your product and/or service or your
competitions.
Your web site can provide information about your credentials,
your experience, and the products and/or services you offer through your
corporation, company, business or service. This information becomes available
24/7 through your web site so that anyone can
access this information at any time. Your web site should be designed to
encourage people to contact you after they have reviewed the information
online. In a nutshell, your web site is a very powerful marketing tool and
the least expensive form of advertising.
As of
January of 2005, over two thirds
of the American population age 18 and up were regular users of the Internet with
the largest growth now occurring in those age 55+ according to a recent survey
by International Demographics. As a result, more buying power is consistently
being represented by Internet users. In a contemporary study, the average income
of regular web surfers is in excess of $75,000/year representing a large and
usually untapped market. These individuals are time conscious and therefore are
willing to do research prior to making purchases. Their first choice for
information gathering about upcoming purchases is found online.
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It seems that everyone wants to be on the Internet. And for
good reason. It is safe to say it is the most important new method for
conducting business in the last 50 years if not longer. Unfortunately, many
marketers jumped in with little knowledge of how to do it right. Internet
marketing experts agree that anyone who is interested in doing business on the
Internet should take time to learn about what it is they are getting into.
While 51 percent of the respondents in a recent nation wide
survey indicated that the Internet has improved their profitability, 58 percent
said the medium has helped their businesses grow or expand. Fully one-third of
the survey participants, which included merchants who have used online auction
sites to sell goods and services online, and 15 percent said the Internet is
essential to their survival.
Here at ProMediaWeb, we are not interested in simply selling
our service. Your success is our goal. Your testimony of success is the best
advertising we could ever hope for. Therefore, we are committed to helping you
develop the best marketing campaign and strategies for your specific business
needs.
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When working on your web
site, you and your development team should first discuss the purpose and
objectives of your web site and business prior to any mention of technology
or the details regarding its implementation. Examples of web site business
objectives include:
- business promotion
- customer interaction, engagement, and research
- products and services for sale
- event promotion
- information delivery
- professional reputation establishment and growth
- communications
- organization
- collaboration
- content syndication
- information archive
- organizational efficiency
- data collection (surveys, registrations, customer contact, etc.)
- applications (insurance claim forms, medical research studies, etc.)
Once you have determined the purpose of your site, it's
much easier for your development team to determine the target audience,
design, technology, and features to reach these objectives. An appropriately
targeted web site benefits your business, becoming a valuable resource to
your organization.
During this process, you should discuss whether a custom
designed site is for your or if you can develop a site presence through the
use of web templates which are much cheaper. We at ProMediaWeb are strictly
a custom web design service. Our prices our competitive without cutting
corners or delivering sub-standard products. If you have ever heard this
line, "I have a friend who can help design that," you are probably still
waiting or have a web presence that does not meet your specific needs to
help you achieve your business goals.
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A web site has many advantages over traditional advertising,
but your web site should not completely replace other advertising. Your web site should be used in conjunction with traditional advertising, to improve
the overall effectiveness of a coordinated marketing campaign. Your web site
address should be prominently displayed on all of your advertising materials -
Yellow Pages ad, brochures, business cards, letterhead, newsletter,
mailers, handouts, etc. But, you can usually reduce the size, and the cost, of
your other advertising by directing people to your web site.
Potential clients and/or customers who review your hardcopy
advertising will also browse your web site when they are seriously interested in
your services. By directing people to your web site, you provide more
information, while reducing your overall advertising costs.
Suggestions:
-
Consider your Yellow Pages ad. You can reduce the
size of your ad, but emphasize your web site address in the ad. This approach
can yield better results than a larger ad without the web site address.
-
Have you ever advertised in the local newspaper? This is a
good way to build name recognition in your community, but the ads are too
expensive to include much information. And, you need to repeat the ad at
regular intervals to be effective. Instead, consider placing a small newspaper
announcement about your web site. The ad will direct people to your web site, and
the web site can fully explain your services.
-
Many corporations, businesses and professionals use a newsletter to market
to their respective customers or clients. A newsletter may inform current clients/customers about new or
additional services, or it may serve to educate the community about your
business or services. In either case, your web site can increase its
effectiveness while reducing costs. Consider placing the Newsletter online,
and send postcards to your mailing list to alert them to each new online
edition.
-
How about radio and/or television ads? Both of these are
effective means of communicating your business or service to the community.
But, they are expensive to maintain an effective media campaign. It would be
possible to reduce a minute radio spot to 30 seconds by directing potential
customers to your web site. Remember, you are virtually unlimited in what you
can accomplish and the amount of information that can be put onto a web site.
Same with television ads.
As you can see, the marketing possibilities for your web site
are endless. Your web site should be a vital part of your marketing
campaign, and should be designed to work with traditional advertising already in
place, in order to maximize its effectiveness. If you do not currently have a
marketing plan, your web site can easily become the cornerstone of an
inexpensive, yet effective marketing plan. We at ProMediaWeb can help you
with all of your media needs and help structure a strategy that will produce a
dynamic yield with the least amount of investment. As you can see, the value
of a web site, combined with its reasonable cost, makes a web site
essential to every successful business venture.
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A new survey called the "2005
Web2Store Benchmark Survey" was conducted by
The Dieringer Group, polling
1,101 consumers who used the Internet to research products or stores before
making a local shopping trip in the fourth quarter of 2004. It discovered a
large demographic of Internet users: the Web-to-Store (W2S) shopper.
This group favors the Internet primarily as a research tool
and a time-saving device for retail purchases they make offline, said Dave
Hamel, CMO of
CrossMedia Services, the parent company of
ShopLocal.com, which
commissioned the survey. "It's pretty significant as a niche, in that includes
83 million people," Hamel said. "It may cause online marketers to balance the
e-commerce focus of their Web campaigns with information-centric creative
pointing Internet users to the brick-and-mortar storefront."
The study found for every dollar spent online, the average
W2S shopper spends $1.60 offline at local stores. Among affluent shoppers, the
disparity is even more acute, with W2S shoppers spending $1.98 offline at locals
stores for every dollar spent online. "Not everybody wants to buy everything
online," said Thomas Miller, senior consultant at Dieringer, who referred to the
survey's finding that among W2S shoppers, 70 percent say they do more W2S now
than they did a year ago. In 2005, 48 percent of W2S shoppers plan to more of
this type of research online, and buy offline than in 2004.
Other findings include:
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Yes! ProMediaWeb understand the
nature of growing businesses. Therefore, we can assist you with your data,
media, graphics and web design. Regardless of your needs or size, we are here to
help. Your success is our goal.
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You are the vital
key to success. We at ProMediaWeb realize this and therefore we desire to help
you develop the most effective strategies that are designed specifically around
your Internet needs. Here are just a few of the items we consider in helping you
with your overall web presence.
- Timing: What is your time frame for your web presence
- Research: What is your business all about
- Marketing Strategies: Helping develop a consistent theme from print to
web presence
- Design and Image
- engaging design that reflects your corporation, business or service
- easy to navigate web site
- Relevant Content & Interaction
- content that is purpose specific
- concise descriptions (most people are looking for information not
show)
- streaming audio/video if desired
- online communication and customer tracking
- maps/directions to assist potential customers/clients
- contact information or forms if necessary
- organization
- tools to monitor visitors to your site
- Promotion
- newsletter and event mailing lists
- search engine strategies
- business cards, brochures, flyers: anything that will help promote
your corporation, business or service
ProMediaWeb is committed to developing a balanced
approach that will implement features for your site while remaining focused
on providing value to your business. By focusing on purpose rather than
technology we believe we can assist you in commissioning a successful web
presence.
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Yes! ProMediaWeb will use
whatever tools necessary to provide you with a unique looking web design. We do
not use templates and therefore your web design will be absolutely unique. Many
people have hired web design companies only to find another site that looks like
theirs. That is because many companies simply insert your data into a web
template. There is nothing wrong with this practice as it enables customers to
obtain a web presence for less money. However there can be several limitation to
using certain templates.
If you are interested in template design, we can direct you
to several good companies or show you how to obtain templates for free or next
to nothing in cost. We at ProMediaWeb are committed to unique designs that are
completely developed around the needs of our customers. Please see our
Web Strategies for samples and suggestions.
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Your uniquely designed web site with
ProMediaWeb will cost a fraction of the possible return you could see from having a custom web
presence. Since each corporate, business or service has different needs, the
price varies with each client. Our initial consultation with your company is
free. Our goal is to partner with your business and not sell you are service. We
believe that a long-term relationship is better for our business than a one time
score at your expense. Here are a few ball park figures and fees.
-
Web Hosting ($95.40/year including domain registration.
This is for basic hosting including 2000 MB of space and 500 pop email
addresses. This is usually more than enough for the average business.
-
Custom Art Work ($75.00/hour)
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Data Development ($90.00/hour)
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Media Production ($75.00/hour local. Remote same + travel
expenses)
-
Printing (see our
print pricing
page for current pricing)
-
E-commerce ($100.00/hour for set-up)
-
Consulting ($75.00/hour
including travel time if onsite)
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Please be aware, once a project
has begun, if project is cancelled, all deposits (if established) are
applied to hourly rates. Package rates or finished project quotes no longer
apply.
Your preliminary web presence with your provided artwork and
graphics can be custom developed for as little as $200.00. Since we do not use
any templates, even a preliminary web site will be unique to you. These splash
sites usually contain one to two pages. If you would like a more detailed quote,
please see our free quotes page.
On the average, you can estimate about $100.00/page for a web
presence. This is normally inclusive of basic design and artwork. Unlike other
web design companies, we are so confident in our abilities to help with your web
presence, we offer free consultation within our local area. We will travel to
consult with you or your business at your convenience. For corporations,
businesses or organizations outside of our local area, we offer free
consultation but do require travel expenses
We can provide you with a more accurate quote after our
consultation with you. Average custom web sites cost between $500 - $2500.00
depending upon needs. The sky is the limit depending upon your desires.
Regardless of size or amount, our commitment to excellence for each client is
the same. Thank you for considering ProMediaWeb as your custom web site design
solution.
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