OilCityWeb.com

Why image is everything, and your website can't look like crap

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:02:00 +0000

Recent studies (an Edelman Trust Barometer study and a University of Melbourne study in 2011) reveal that consumer trust of companies has been steadily declining, and online shoppers are 30% less loyal to online businesses than in the past. The good news, is that consumers are 20% more confident doing business online than they were 5 years ago.

The challenge is gaining trust from the growing number of online consumers who care less about your reputation, and put more stock into first impressions, user-friendliness, speed, navigation and sheer good looks.

According to the author of the Edelman study, Dr. Brent Coker, the increase in online consumer trust is largely linked to the visual appeal of websites.

"As aesthetically orientated humans, we're psychologically hardwired to trust beautiful people, and the same goes for websites. Our offline behaviour and inclinations translate to our online existence. As the internet has become prettier, we are venturing out, and becoming less loyal. With websites becoming increasingly attractive and including more trimmings, this creates a greater feeling of trustworthiness and professionalism in online consumers."

While your company may have survivided (and continues to survive) on reputation and word-of-mouth success alone, one cannot ignore both the size of the Internet consumer market and its' vanity, and take Dr. Cocker's analysis seriously.

If your website has poor navigation, takes more than two seconds to download, or proves difficult to find information in a simple and timely fashion, prospective customers are more likely to navigate to another site.

The best way to stop defection to other websites, and increase loyalty, is to be interesting and stop creating barriers that are the sources of frustration.

A key statement to remember, coined by web design companies like Oil City Web is, "Content is King". Web designers preach this as they are exposed to front-line statistics and web site traffic analysis and see the difference quality content makes. That, and eye-catching visuals are critically as important to engage your visitors and build trust.

What you need to know about online recruiting

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:29:00 +0000

According to Internet Business Network, 77% of Internet users who are looking for a job use the Internet to do so. If your website does not have an online job board, you're missing out on a potentially huge talent pool shopping your company online for employment opportunities.

With the growing number of mobile devices and tech-savvy web surfers, job hunters are not only scouring job boards but also applying online, uploading resumes and seeking recruiment details within your company. Follow Scorpio Masonry's lead in providing excellent HR information for apprenticeships and foreign recruitment.

Today's online recruiting tools, like those built by Oil City Web, allow companies to post job openings in real-time, even from their mobile devices - a savior for time critical postings. What's more, is the ability to accept resumes online, securely store, organize, and archive applications for when future opportunities resurface. There's no faster way to reach the labor market than to connect with applicants online. Companies like the Canadian Industrial Paramedics use their facebook page to recruit new employees and offer reward incentives for referrals. In record numbers, oil patch workers are using mobile devices to connect with employers online - easily enough that traditional phone, fax, job fair and in-person job hunting alternatives are quickly falling by the wayside.

SEO, in a nutshell

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:45:00 +0000

SEO is like poker. You can learn the basics in minutes and take a lifetime to master it. The video below is a great introductory explanation of SEO (search engine optimization), and why it matters.

E-Commerce: The top 10 need-to-knows

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:19:00 +0000

As e-commerce becomes more of a mainstream tool for websites, it's more important than ever that you do your homework and understand what you're getting into. Note that the pricing quoted below is based on what we consider to be industry-standard pricing here in Edmonton, Alberta Canada.

1. Go with an experienced web design team
Browse portfolios of prospective web design companies and ask to look for examples of their e-commerce tools. You'll know right away which web designers are the experienced veterans, and which are the rookies. Trust the veterans.

2. Go with a trusted payment gateway provider
New payment gateway providers spring up every day. Most are cleverly disguised brokers who simply take a commission per transaction and provide no true online e-commerce / banking services whatsoever. Be careful not to fall for the crafty sales pitches and 2.0 looking websites that are not at all indicitive of a legitimate payment gateway provider. Trusted providers are easy to spot if you start at your bank - take Moneris for example, who's been recommended and supported by banks such as RBC Royal Bank for years. Moneris traditionally charges a $500 setup fee. We've seen clients negotiate their way out of a setup fee, and Moneris is generous enough to waive the fees for non-profits if you simply ask. Other fees to watch out for are 2-4% processing fees by Mastercard, Visa, and even higher for American Express.

3. Cover all of your bases
Move from a shared hosting environment to a dedicated one. Run your website off a unique IP, not a shared one, and install an industry-standard SSL certificate with a high level of encryption. Have your web designer help you source a 3rd party company to perform a security audit on your website and its hosting network. Low-end hosting services cost peanuts, however e-commerce hosting fees can cost upwards of $1,000 per year. Note that SSL certificates aren't free, and will cost you between $150 and $1,000 per year, depending on what kind of product you choose (each contain different levels of encryption and verification badges/seals).

4. Pay attention to online customer support (terms, returns, refunds)
Online sales are different from in-person sales. Make the necessary adjustments to your website terms and conditions, and shipping/return/refund policies. Beware of high chargeback rates when doing business online, mostly due to shotty online customer service. Most banks and payment gateway providers will side with the consumer if there's a dispute.

5. Don't stop at half way
If you're going to offer your customers the convenience of buy online or pay online options, don't stop at half way. Consider accepting all major credit cards, not just VISA and Mastercard, and also consider full online shopping cart functionality. While online payment forms can be build for under $5,000, full e-commerce websites with all the trimmings can be designed for under $10,000 these days, so consider the greater return on the bigger investment which is still quite affordable.

6. Understand the costs
Installing an e-commerce component into your website isn't as easy as flicking a switch, and costs do not remain the same. Ask your web site designer about increases in hosting fees (including SSL certificates), online merchant fees, processing fees and transaction fees in addition to the web development fees. As stated above, e-commerce websites can be developed for under $10,000 if built by an efficient and experienced web design company. If you've been quoted higher, consider some additional premiums that may have been thrown into the pot, such as: project management teams, copywriters/editors, data-entry clerks, travel time, meeting time, miscellaneous expenses, logo design, brand/identity strategies, email marketing, advertising, social media and more. As all e-commerce websites are not created equal, it's important to have your prospective web design company dissect their quotes and provide you with a item-by-item breakdown of each cost to help you better understand the budget.

7. If you build it, they won't come
If you're planning on providing an e-commerce solution on your website, support it with a solid online advertising strategy. If you're considering pay-per-click advertising campaigns, start with a budget of 25% of your web site development fees in order to see some results. Take the plunge, invest the time and money, and within 30 days you'll start to notice results and see trends develop.

8. Go mobile
Challenge your web site designer with creating a mobile version of your e-commerce application. Fees will vary, but on average mobile designs range between $1,000 and $4,000, and can include e-commerce functionality.

9. Know the limits
Offering an e-commerce solution can open many doors for your business, but can also pose several concerns. Know your limits and roll out your e-commerce solution accordingly. For example, consider the processes involved in operating a 24/7 online store as well as the logistics surrounding International sales and shipping.

10. Invest in support
Ensure you've invested in proper support for your e-commerce application. Start with choosing the right web design team, the right payment gateway provider, and then invest in proper maintenance, upgrades, hosting arrangements and backup services for your solution. Freelance web designs can still be found for under $50/hr, but most web design companies charge between $75 and $150 these days.

The truth about pay-per-click advertising

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Plain and simple, you'll get what you pay for, and then some.

The biggest advantage PPC advertising has over traditional options is that you can target your ad to specific markets and demographics. What's more, is that a specific message for a targetted audience will produce a greater conversion rate - which you can track easily.

A product for everyone is a product for no one. Those who ignore this principle will make a costly mistake in their advertising efforts.

Take for example, a radio advertisement vs a Facebook PPC advertisement:

A $10,000 radio ad to promote a masters degree in computing science will be broadcast to thousands of listeners. The audience is so broad that you'd be lucky to receive a response from 1% of the listeners. If the masters degree program cost $20,000 and converted 5 listeners into a sale, one could argue that your initial 10k investment netted 90k in sales.

The other side of the coin, is the almost guaranteed higher conversion rate for the same pitch advertised on the Facebook PPC platform. Why? Because facebook can display your advertisement to those who actually care about what you're offering and are more likely to respond. For example, those most likely to pursue a masters in computing science likely already have a post-secondary education, are over the age of 30 and have interests in computers, programming, networking and the internet. The wonderful value Facebook creates for advertisers, is that it knows its millions of users (consumers) better than its competitors. It knows the characteristics, traits, likes, dislikes, work experience and educational background based daily facebook user activity. Facebook can, without a doubt, reach a consumer audience better than any other advertising medium. Do the math, and you'll see how this approach may easily double or even triple your conversion rates without adjusting your initial advertising budget. Plain and simple, you'll get what you pay for, and then some.

Do content management systems still suck?

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:37:00 +0000

Over the last decade, content management systems (CMS) were all the buzz. If you're website had a CMS, it was cool, because you could edit it yourself. The problem then with a CMS is that the majority of them were proprietary tools considered to be a top web site feature that came at a premium cost. What's worse, was that these "proprietary" tools relied on 3rd party HTML editor tools that came with little to no installation support or help documentation. Although they ultimately provide the functionality required out of a CMS, these tools were clunky, poorly supported, incompatible and difficult to customize. Unless you had a background in HTML or were a very quick learner, a CMS solution was a costly struggle. With the growth of CSS and standards-based design for mobile devices, content created by a traditional CMS became quickly incompatible and obsolete.

The good news, and to answer the question here, is that content managment systems no longer suck. New products like the CK Editor make it easier for web designers to integrate a CMS solution into your website in record time - drastically reducing installation and configuration time costs. Reliable open source (free) tools like the CK Editor have chased away their pay-per-license competitors, and established a backbone of great online support, product documentation and easy-to-understand user guides.

Now that content management systems no longer suck, it's time to pull the trigger again. Today's content management systems, like the ones produced by Oil City Web, are state-of-the-art website tools that are easy to use and a must-have for editing time sensitive material on your website (such as job postings, news and announcements, event calendars, etc). Not only can an Oil City Web content management system allow you to edit your web pages in minutes, but they allow you to do so from your mobile device - quicker and more conveniently than ever.

Why we prefer to host websites that we build

noreply@blogger.com (OilCityWeb.com) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:19:00 +0000

It all comes down to service and support.

At Oil City Web, we believe that things are best serviced by their creator. In the event of a server glitch, a virus, downtime, etc, you don’t need 2 vendors (a host and a web designer) pointing the finger at each other. Anything related to the service and support of your web site should be and can be managed under one roof. Web design companies like Oil City Web who are truley dedicated to supporting their clients prefer to be accountable and responsible for all web site related issues.