Is it a crucial part of Online Marketing to have a professionally designed website? This question can often be overlooked, but while I have been working in the Promotion Department for Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc., it is apparent that an essential part of marketing depends upon an appealing website. It affects the ability for promotion to bring optimal results. The goal of Promotion is to bring traffic to client’s website. Blizzard is very successful meeting this goal with expert tools to target relevant traffic. Unfortunately, some of our clients experience a high bounce rate, meaning relevant traffic are coming to their site homepage and then leaving. Tracking a client’s bounce rate confirms that while promotion is important, it is half the investment when implementing Online Marketing. The technology of the internet is dynamic and continually changing, and it is therefore crucial to stay current with the marketing trends, including continual updates to website design. Impression and perception are the cornerstones of Online Marketing, therefore when updating your site, the following ten steps contain information that will give your website the leading edge, and help develop it into a strong marketing tool representing your products and services.
Developing a clear and consistent Header/Logo Navigation System. It is important to convey an image that is simple and concise for your customer to remember and relate to your business. This includes keeping the navigation buttons, color scheme, and content simple for the customers to remember and support the brand image. If your site has outdated images and colors or does not flow from one page to the next, the visitor can get the sense that your property is outdated. According to Web usability expert, Jakob Nielsen, a good navigation system should answer three questions:
*Where am I?
*Where Have I Been?
*Where Can I Go?
The top portion of your website is prime real estate and should feature a visually appealing header/logo navigation system with eye-catching graphics. Your navigation buttons, as well as, the name of your inn has good positioning at the top portion of your site. Another important part of navigation is positioning contact information and reservation links in a prominent place, making it easy as possible for your website visitors to book. The links to your online availability calendar, reservations page, and contact information should appear prominently on every page of your website.
