Website Design & SEO

MC Multimedia has launched a new website!  We’ve revamped our website to show our creative style.  You will find it easy to see our work and understand our process.  At MC Multimedia, we believe website design should be simple for our clients to accomplish, yet generate lasting and compelling results.

Our New Website:
www.mcmultimedia.com

Along with our new website launch, we’ve made a bold statement.  100% satisfaction guarantee on every website we design!

Our Guarantee
Our goal is to produce compelling, proactive, and revenue generating websites. If you don’t feel your website or marketing materials are competitive and boast worthy enough to use for your business, we will refund your down payment or continue working on the project until it meets your needs.

Contact us for more information on professional and profitable website design for your business!

Phone: 262-893-9011
Email: Contact@MCMultimedia.com

There are many different types of website design.  Some companies offer do-it-yourself options while others take total control over the project from start to finish.  It’s important to know the options and have the knowledge to choose what’s right for your business.  For the purposes of this blog post, I will focus on template design, custom design package, and a fully customized website.

If you’re just starting out and need a website, a template might be a good option. This will get your information online quickly and without costing you a premium.  Make sure to check the monthly or yearly hosting costs and ensure you’re not signing up for a long-term contract.  Template designs are basically like a brochure online.  They are often difficult to improve when your business grows, so you want to ensure that you can move on at any point.  You will most likely be responsible for providing and placing all copy and photos into the site yourself.  You should always look through samples of other sites made by the same company or software.  Its important to be realistic about how your site will turn out based on the other sample sites. Finally, ensure that changes can be made to content easily and quickly if needed, and that resources are available to help you if you have problems.

Many companies have packages to choose from for website designs.  These packages usually have specific requirements such as copy writing or photography to be supplied by the client.  This is usually more costly up front than a template, but if the site is made correctly it should be able to grow with your business.  It’s important to allow proper planning time to ensure the site will fit your needs.  It is also extremely important to look through the company’s portfolio to see what other sites they have created look like.  Most likely, your site will be similar to the sites already created by the same company. You will want to ensure the quote includes revisions to the sites design and content, along with some SEO done upfront. Another thing to ask about is the turn around time and the things you need to provide for the project to run smoothly.  Most website designers or companies will require you to provide all the copy, photos, and pages to be included in the site up front.  This means that you will need to write about your business in a way that speaks to your customers productively.  Lastly, you want to ensure the hosting cost is reasonable and you will have access to the site files if needed.

If you choose to let the experts learn about your business and completely take over the job of creating your website, you will want a fully customized design.  With this type of service, the company will do everything from research up front to fully completing your site without much help or requirements from you.  If you want a website that will be profitable and more professional than your competitors, you will most likely want to ensure the company knows how to market and advertise your business online.  To have a profitable website, it needs to be creative, energetic, and dynamic.  This means you will want to choose a company that has a background in advertising and will help you develop your site around your clients needs.  You will want a company that will help write your content and choose professional photos.  The difference between a website made with an advertising background should be noticeable.  It will persuade customers to contact you and purchase your product or services. The site will actively communicate your competitive advantage and clearly tell customers what to do next. A site designed by a company that does these things will be the most competitive and profitable website.  This process will also be less stressful for you because you will not be required to provide all the content for your site.

Overall, you will want to work with a design company that is helpful and has a teacher’s heart.  You will want a company that takes the time to educate you to make the best decision without pushing a certain solution.  In the end, you know your business needs better than anyone, and you should have the knowledge to determine what is best for your website.  Always remember that the company’s portfolio is the best way to determine their talent when it comes to designing websites.

Written by:
MCMultimediaDesign.com

Scenario #1:  You want a website designed, but don’t want to have SEO done on the site:
A website can be put online, but what good does it do if no one can find it?  Now days, customers will give up on short notice when it comes to finding a website.  Customers expect that a search on Google, yahoo, or MSN will produce the best of the best online has to offer for their needs, and rarely dig deeper than the first page of results.  They also, will rarely type your url directly into the browser and go directly to your site bypassing a search engine.  Because of this, your site needs to be searchable when your business name or services are typed into a search engine.  Without this, only the small percentage of users that know your url and go directly to your site will have access to it.

Contrary to popular belief, search engines are not perfect.  They don’t bring up all related websites by default.  Search engines operate using specific criteria to filter results.  They do this in order to filter malicious websites, but often filter good websites that have poor content or structure.  The criteria they use also changes several times a year to keep up with new techniques of hackers trying to outsmart the search engines.  Therefore, having a website designed that has not taken SEO into consideration, could possibly be filtered by search engines.

Scenario #2:  You already have a website, and just want SEO done to your current website:
Because search engines use specific criteria (that is constantly changing to outsmart hackers) to filter results, your website needs to be built initially with this criteria in mind.  Most likely, if you had a website designed years ago, it wasn’t built by today’s standards.  Also, if you had a site designed recently by someone who knows nothing about search engine optimization, your site most likely breaks some basic rules.

The first step in SEO is to optimize your website files and content to be search engine friendly.  The main component is your sites foundational structure, it needs to be built to show your content or writing above other site components such as code.  This means cleaning out extra code, organizing your content, and properly labeling every aspect of your site.  In many cases, websites are built on a poor foundation that would require serious reworking to be fully optimized.  Even if we generate a ton of traffic to your site using the second step in SEO which is social media and online advertising, your site will not capitalize unless the files are fully optimized.

Scenario #3:  You have a website designed and incorporate a SEO program:
This scenario gives you the ability to fully capitalize in the online marketplace.  With website files that appeal to search engines, and a campaign to generate new and productive visitors to your site, search engines will view you as a perfect candidate for their top listings.  Investing in one without the other is not going to give you good results, if any.  With thousands to millions of potential customers searching for your specific products or services monthly, it is essential to leverage both website design and internet marketing techniques for success.

View our portfolio online at www.mcmultimediadesign.com

E-commerce, the sale of products or services over the internet is a vastly growing division of our economy. With an expected $156 Billion in online sales expected in the year 2009, many businesses are considering the investment of selling online if they have not already stepped into the online marketplace. With many aspects to consider and the uncertainty of results, selling online can be an overwhelming task at first glance.

Here are some things to consider:

1.  Are your products or services unique and hard to find?
The more unique your products are, the easier it will be to market and sell them online. Many times, we find that products are in high demand in other parts of the country or world, even when our clients think they have fully tapped their market.  Just because you may have a lot of local competition, does not mean that your products are easy to find in other parts of the country.

2.  Is there a demand for your products or services online?
After some research is done, we will be able to tell how many consumers are searching for your products online.  This will help determine the demand for your products or services and the extent of your online market.

3.  How much competition is online for your products or services?
We can also research the number of competitors that are fighting for top rankings to sell similar products online.  Before selling online, you will want to ensure that the market is not flooded with others trying to sell your same products.

4.  Will you be able to beat your competition online with either price, quality, or customer service?
Whether or not you have a lot of online competitors, it will be essential for you to have a competitive advantage.  This can usually be obtained by having more competitive pricing, quality, or service.  This is one way to ensure that you are setting yourself apart from your competition.  Consumers know they can get a better product for a better price and will shop until they find it.  If you can obtain an advantage over other sellers, you will surely capitalize in the online marketplace.

Michelle C. Bruss
MC Multimedia

Welcome to our new blog addressing topics related to website design.  Upcoming posts will expand your knowledge on search engine optimization, internet marketing, e-commerce web development, content management, cascading style sheets, java, and much more.  We strive to ensure industry standards and promote cutting edge website design and internet marketing techniques.