Go Man Go Digital Marketing

Essential CMS Website Services & Resources�?? (Part 3)

Marie — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:28:25 +0000

Taking up from where we left off in (Part 2)… it may be of consolation to some small and medium businesses to know that building and launching a CMS Website requires other online services. In other words, no matter how big or small your business, you are definitely not alone.

Essential CMS Website Partners
For an online business to operate successfully on the internet, the following partners are essential:

Business Domain Name Registrar
Email and Web Hosting Partner/s
Web Development Partner (Internal or External)
Internal Web Content (Publishing) Team
IT Technical Support (for internal computer network)
Internet Service Provider

“Do It Yourself” Websites
Some businesses like to project manage and develop their websites in house, contracting individual web designers and programmers to help them work through and understand the entire process from the ground up. Others are happy to try an even more hands on approach learning how to build their website all by themselves. As mentioned in an earlier post “10 More Reasons To Build Your New Business Web Site Now! “ there are a number of do-it-yourself blog and web site templates such as Wordpress, Weebly, Blogger and Typepad readily available. All of these applications are especially useful for new small businesses and sole traders.

And yes, these options do require an investment in time and resources. However, if you have a plentiful supply of both, then the knowledge and experience gained can be invaluable for future website builds. Equipping you and your team with a much better understanding and appreciation of the different tools/applications (eg. content management systems) and processes involved.

Web Development Partners
Professional Web Development Teams are well suited to those businesses that have had some experience online and are ready to invest more time, money and resources into their next website. During the site build the Web Development Team is responsible for ensuring that the most appropriate technologies and services have been selected based on their client’s business strategy.

The Developer provides the site architecture, the design, look and feel, programming, testing, content management system training and project management services. They oversee the site build, liaising with the business client and internal IT staff, design and development teams, as well as some of the other essential partners (Domain Name Registrar, Email + Web Hosting companies).

Once the website is launched, the relationship continues in the form of online support and maintenance when required. Having a knowledgeable web team available to a business is very reassuring. Especially when something goes wrong with the website and there are 101 other tasks (non related to the web) to take care of.

Some Web Developers are also able to help clients with outsourcing requirements, SEO and online marketing services.

Internal Web Content Team
The internal web team is responsible for the overall online strategy, vision, and publishing of content. They liaise with the essential partners from time to time to ensure the smooth running of their website.

Online tasks and responsibilities can and do vary from one business to another. A small business may have part-time staff writing and publishing content onto the website. While a larger business may have a full time publishing team, creating advertising/ marketing campaigns and analysing and managing campaign-specific performance reports and web statistics.

Other businesses may be so busy that they require help updating content on their website and decide to outsource this role to a web content specialist.

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To find out more about essential CMS website services you can contact Paul or Marie. Go Man Go specialise in Web Design and Development, Web & Email hosting, Digital Marketing and Web Content Outsourcing.
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Coming soon:
CMS Ecommerce Websites �?? �??require a team effort�??
Business Domain Registration - do it yourself (Part 1)

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Astro & Smiley Sun: Ernest von Rosen

Content Management System Websites… (Part 2)

Marie — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:01:22 +0000

Choosing the right team for your CMS Website
In CMS Websites- “with great power comes great responsibility” (Part 1), I focused on having a long-term strategy for your website and content management system. The article touched on the importance of choosing the most appropriate technologies and building a strong foundation in the early stages of development.

Another area just as important to the success of a CMS website are the people who will be involved with your content management system training, maintenance, marketing and management of the site.

Some business owners/managers like a hands on approach, keen to learn how to use the content management system themselves, while others prefer to share responsibilities from day one.

Below are some questions to contemplate while in the planning phase of your CMS web development strategy.

Do I want to learn to manage and update the website myself?
Can I assign these extra tasks to myself and comfortably fit them in with the day to day running of my business?
Do I need to employ or contract other people to manage and maintain the website?
Do I currently have members of my staff who can manage these tasks?
How many hours or days per week, per month, do I expect my staff to be involved with the website? (Full-time, part-time?)
If on a part-time basis, will they be able to manage these tasks with their current workload?
Do they have the communication, imaging and organisational skills to do this for my company?
Who will be responsible for web maintenance and website enquiries?
Who will partake in the CMS training?
Who will write, edit and approve copy?
Is there a need for ongoing photographic images and video?
Who will schedule and publish the content?
Who will monitor and analyse the web statistics and data?
What are the types of online marketing that we want to be involved with short and long-term?
Who will be responsible for marketing the website?

If an ecommerce-shopping cart and/or advertising modules are also part of the plan, then more questions around resources and services will need to be added to the list. And certainly the more powerful your CMS website becomes, the greater the responsibilities.

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Coming soon:
CMS Websites �?? �??services & resources to help you�??
CMS Ecommerce Websites �?? �??require a team effort�??

Related articles:
CMS Websites - �??with great power comes great responsibility!�?? (Part 1)
Is your business website ready for a content management system?

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If you would like to know more about our content management systems you can contact Paul or Marie. Go Man Go specialise in Web Design and Development, Web & Email hosting, Digital Marketing and Outsourcing Services.

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PowerPuff & Astro images courtesy of: Ernest von Rosen

CMS Websites - “with great power comes great responsibility!” (Part 1)

Marie — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:40:30 +0000

Fans of Marvel action hero Spider-Man, may well remember the above quote from Peter Parker�??s Uncle Ben, in the Spider-Man 2 movie. Whilst it may sound a touch melodramatic, a CMS (content management system) website can be a very powerful publishing tool, especially when teamed up with an ecommerce shopping cart engine, revenue generating advertising module or ad server.

For small/medium sized businesses and non-profit community organisations, a CMS provides opportunities to publish upcoming events, new products and services, blogs, media releases, industry news, competitions, advertisements and more.

A CMS also becomes an effective marketing tool for a business that comes equipped with an online marketing strategy. It works especially well when the business has allocated dedicated resources and services to manage, maintain and publish content on a regular basis.

Build a CMS website for the long term
A website with a content management system is best viewed as a long-term investment. For example, say a business wants to start with a Stage 1 version of their website with the intention of expanding the site at a later date. This could be due to a number of reasons - budget, time constraints, staff, first website, lack of content and so on.

The most cost effective approach is to include the big picture planning and scoping in Stage 1 of the web design phase; with the appropriate technology and web hosting services selected to allow for future growth. Technical designs for the larger framework, including information/ content architecture and interface designs are taken into account to ensure that there is a strong foundation for Stage 2.

Without this forward planning, a business may find themselves throwing out the initial website and having to start all over again - an expensive exercise, that can reduce the business�??s speed to market and have an impact on internal staff morale and motivation.

Technology and planning aside, the key to a powerful CMS business website and its longevity are its people, both internal and external to the business.

Content Management System Websites… (Part 2) focuses on the web content team.

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Coming soon:
CMS Websites �?? �??services & resources to help you�??
CMS Ecommerce Websites �?? �??require a team effort�??

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If you would like to know more about our content management systems you can contact Paul or Marie. Go Man Go specialise in Web Design and Development, Web & Email hosting, Digital Marketing and Outsourcing Services.

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PowerPuff Image courtesy of: Ernest von Rosen

Is your business website ready for a content management system?

Marie — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:49:21 +0000

A content management system (CMS) is a very powerful tool that provides small and medium sized businesses with complete control over publishing important company, marketing and product/services information to their website. Businesses are able to easily manage, create, edit and publish content (text, images, video, audio, animations) quickly and efficiently.

With a CMS, you can say goodbye to annoying spelling mistakes and out of date information. Learning to use a content management system is so easy, with no special HTML programming or web design skills required.

All you need is a web browser, access to the administration section of your CMS website (password protected) and some basic word processing skills. You can insert, create and update content yourself, delegate this to your own internal web content and publishing team, or outsource it.

Here is a quick checklist to help you decide whether your business website is ready for a content management system.

You and your business want to attract more customers.
You need to redesign and update your current business website, improve its functionality and overall performance.
You require more interaction and communication with your customers by publishing helpful, useful information that will be of value to them.
You need a system to manage a number of publishers/writers on your website team who will be creating, editing and publishing content on a regular basis.
You want to schedule the publishing of content in advance. Eg. Upcoming blog posts, news articles and marketing campaigns.
You want to promote and sell your products and services online.
You see your website as a valuable marketing tool with ‘free’ advertising space available to your business ‘exclusively’, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You want to experiment with different online marketing campaigns on your website.
You need your website to be search engine friendly, with the ability to update title tags, meta tag descriptions and keywords when required.
You want to monitor and track your website, to be able to analyse results, note successes and areas that can be improved upon.
You want to invest in a cost effective website system that will grow with your business.
You want to be empowered, to have hands on experience to learn and understand how your website can work more effectively for your business.

If you think your business is now ready for a content management system why not contact us (Paul or Marie). We have a range of content management solutions to suit all businesses and would be happy to talk with you about your own unique website requirements.

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Related articles: Coming soon!
CMS Websites - “with great power comes great responsibility” (Part 1)
Ecommerce Websites are powerful too! (Part 2)

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Free image: Ernest von Rosen

Are you updating your web site at a snail’s pace?

Marie — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:09:10 +0000

For web site content managers and business owners
If you have answered ‘yes’ to the above question, then don’t be disheartened - you’re not alone. Understanding how to firstly use your website content management system and then publish new and relevant content to your site ‘regularly’, can be a big challenge. It can also be of great value to your business. All you need to do is factor this work into your daily routine and marketing initiatives.

Of course ‘regular’ means different things to different businesses (and owners of businesses). Some update their website twice a year and consider 6 months to be regular, whilst for others it’s once a month or several times a week. It really does depend on your individual business, your target market, online strategy and your actual resources (read people + experience).

Expect content surges and slow downs… but keep going
In March of last year, I wrote a post “updating content online requires resources”. Unfortunately I didn�??t heed my own advice. Setting myself unrealistic goals and allocating a disproportionate amount of hours per month to write content, I found that other projects began to take up more and more of my time. The gap between posts widened and I eventually lost my momentum and stopped writing.

Sound familiar? Take for example this scenario - the launch of a new website. Everybody involved with the launch is fired up. The website is going to change the marketplace and direction of the company. The web team (made up of members from the HR, Admin, Sales & Marketing departments) are all excited.There are lots of great ideas - timeframes are tight but achievable.

Then… Sally leaves! John is assigned to other duties. Page impressions are down and now there’s a new CEO! Workloads increase. Members of the web team are needed elsewhere. And then….(car screeching to a halt, sound fx) “What? What do you mean, there’s nobody left on the web team anyway?”

Set a pace that works for you!
If you can identify with the above just try focussing on a pace that works for you and your team. Writing content and updating your website is actually very empowering and with a team of just one or two people, a lot can be achieved. All you need to do is get back online and make sure you have a better plan than the last one. Once you all begin to enjoy the process of publishing new content without ridiculous timelines or expectations, things can only get better!

New thought… ever considered outsourcing your content management to trusted partners?

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Westpac gives social networking the “thumbs up” and goes virtual!

Marie — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:49:32 +0000

Good news for Westpac Bank’s social networking employees! According to ZDNet Australia, all Westpac employees are now able to access their Facebook profile at work. Westpac’s CTO David Backley, seems confident that Facebook can be self managed with most people doing the right thing and ensuring others do the same.

The bank is also experimenting with their own Facebook-like social networking application that will feature firewall protected confidential information for Westpac staff only.

And wait for it! Australia’s oldest bank has bought a virtual branded island on “Second Life”. That’s right. Westpac have been experimenting with the application, conducting centralised induction meetings for new employees from branches and offices around the country and are very pleased with their results.

While Westpac is by no means the only corporation or bank practicing this new style of managing internal communications and HR, just the fact that they are a “bank” is definitely news worthy. If one of Westpac’s main objectives is to attract the brightest new talent over the next few years, they are definitely on the right track.

Something to ponder:
Allowing employees the freedom to socially network, in and around work can be a good thing (even if it’s not business-oriented). These same tools can encourage more effective collaboration and communication within the organisation. For it doesn�??t matter how amazing your communication technology is, it�??s the people-factor that makes it sparkle and come to life.

Social Networking - Do Not Let Fear Hold You Back

Marie — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:40:10 +0000

Now is not the time to turn a blind eye and hope that this social networking hysteria will just go away. If you are not engaging in some sort of social activity online, you are not going to get it when the internet world moves on from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. And trust me, if you are running a business, you will not want to be in that space.

We fear only the things that we do not know.
Up until about 2 months ago, I was not an active online social networker. I was always putting it off, with excuses like “I don’t have time”, “I’ve got too much to do”, blah blah blah! It wasn’t until I found out that half of my family was on Bebo that I realised that I was seriously out of touch. (A person who considered herself very much on the pulse).

After that I went mad, digging out my passwords for MySpace, FaceBook and YouTube. I joined Bebo, Squidoo, StumbleUpon, Weebly, Lemonade, LinkedIn…and more.

And then a funny thing happened. Friends, family and business associates found me. A friend of mine in New Zealand, posted a welcome greeting on my Bebo wall. I had only just joined and been logged in for 15 minutes. It was incredible! Suddenly my email box had email notifications from people wanting to be my friend. I felt really special.

Since then I’ve written on friends’ walls, poked people, left gifts, shared photos and videos and laughed with them online. I’ve also become a Squidoo lens master, joined forums and met new people with similar interests around the globe. It has been a fascinating adventure and I’m so glad that I took the big leap into the unknown.

So how about you?… Which social networking groups do you belong to?
If you haven’t joined a group yet, then I urge you to make an effort to join one very soon. Don’t put it off with a blah blah excuse. Social networking is liberating. It gives you an opportunity to connect with friends and other like-minded people and to find your own voice online.

Yes, you have to invest time into it. But if you are serious about finding ways to improve and expand your business online, this is a small price to pay for the satisfaction that it can bring. As your online experience grows, social networking encourages you to express your unique story in different ways. Helping you to lighten up, have fun, and enjoy the journey.

Something to ponder upon:
“The Internet is a rich and compelling resource; jam-packed with billions of different stories from around the world. It is the ultimate business marketplace - colourful, vibrant, engaging and very competitive. Ideally suited to the brave and fearless.” MAF

Build Your Web Site On The Internet Today - Here’s 10 Reasons Why

Marie — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:19:13 +0000

If you are looking to build or redesign your business web site, then your timing couldn’t be better. Today, there are some great online marketing tools available to you that are easy to use, well designed and very affordable. And the exciting news is that there are more people connected and communicating online then ever before.

Your customers are ready!
That’s right folks. Your customers have seen the light and are using the Internet for domestic, business, educational, government and entertainment purposes. It is the new “TV” and people are just getting started. So…

10 reasons why it is a good time to build your web site.

Many of your customers now have access to the Internet and fast broadband connections.
They use the Internet on a daily basis both for work and socially.
They can connect 24/7 via computers, laptops, mobile phones, blackberries, and palm pilots…
They do their banking online, pay their bills, shop for groceries, book travel, books, gifts, download music, watch You Tube videos, send emails, do research, write their own blogs, talk to friends… and the list goes on and on.
Some of your customers are participating in social networks that are powered by intelligent software applications. Professionally designed, these networks are interactive, fun, very sticky and absolutely free. (Think Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, YouTube, Squidoo…just to name a few.)
Your customers are developing higher online expectations due to their frequent use of the Internet. Their online experiences are now positive and fun.
Your customers have very short attention spans and need to be persuaded in less than 10 seconds to stay and have a look around. They are attracted to web sites that can help them in some way or are new and unique. If you can achieve this then the rewards are great.
Many of your customers stumbleupon web sites and recommend them to their friends, and their friends’ friends, and their friends’, friends’, friends and even to people they have never met before.
Many of your customers may not necessarily come to you via your website, but they will expect to see you there on the Internet if they decide to take a peek.
Many of your customers will take your business more seriously if you have a well-designed web site that tells a unique story and provides them with all the information they need to make an informed decision about your products and services.

There you have it. Ten very good reasons that have hopefully got you all fired up, and helped to fuel your online journey.

Need more inspiration? Read my next article “10 More Reasons To Build Your New Business Web Site Now!”

Something to ponder upon:
“The internet is constantly changing and evolving. Continually stretched and challenged by more and more Internet savvy, unique individuals. As they experiment and test the boundaries, gaps naturally appear, allowing new ideas to filter through, engaging people in a multitude of different ways.” MAF

10 More Reasons To Build Your New Business Web Site Now!

Marie — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:54:48 +0000

If you are new to the Internet, then what you are experiencing right now may not be such a big deal for you. But did you know, that many of the web site marketing tools that are readily available to you today, were either not in existence a few years ago, or were too expensive for most small and medium businesses to afford? How times have changed. Hallelujah!

The Internet is a level playing field.
It’s true. For you as a business owner, there has never been a better time to build or expand your business on the Internet. With so much knowledge and information at your fingertips, all you have to do is roll up your sleeves, do some homework and get serious about building the right type of web site for your business.

Here are 10 more reasons to build your website now.

Your web site is a business asset and an important marketing tool.
Your web site will enable you to communicate your unique story to your customers, staff, partners, shareholders and potential investors.
You can now own a website that is media rich, with images, text, animation, video and sound.
Your website can be unique. Customised and designed by professional web designers and developers to your specifications. They can also provide you with online marketing advice and support at competitive prices.
You can become an online publisher through access to a variety of content management systems and tools to help you create, distribute and publish your own online content.
With a wide range of ecommerce systems to choose from, you can have your own online shop to safely sell your products and services to your customers.
You can hire the services of search engine specialists to optimise your web site and make it easier for your customers to find you on the Internet. Or check out sites such as Wordtracker and start learning about keywords and search engine optimisation.
You can advertise online, creating your own campaigns, setting your own budgets and targets and analysing your data.
You can use do-it-yourself blog and web site templates such as Wordpress, Weebly, Blogger and Typepad. (A great entry level for businesses short on marketing budgets.)
You can educate yourself about the Internet for free… online. Receive google alerts about “web marketing”, “business blogs”, “ecommerce booking systems”, “Internet trends” etc. Subscribe to email newsletters, get involved with social networking groups. Write your own blog or join a forum. Immerse yourself and experience the Internet in as many different ways as you can.

Something to ponder upon:
“Entering the online business marketplace, requires a willingness to learn new skills, keeping up to date with what is happening on the Internet and staying flexible and nimble. What works today online, may not necessarily work tomorrow, so be prepared to continually adjust and refine your web site strategy.” MAF

Ruapehu’s Visitors Guide, Out Now!

Marie — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:49:01 +0000

Visit Ruapehu have just released their new Visitors Guide brochure for 2007/2008. Available in i-SITE Visitor Information Centres throughout New Zealand, this 76 page tourism brochure features the famous Tongariro National Park and Whanganui River, along with Ruapehu’s top accommodation and tourism operators. The brochure is a must for anyone travelling/holidaying in New Zealand and also serves as a great travel souvenir with its stunning full page images. If you would like a copy of the brochure go to Visit Ruapehu.