DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS

A friend of mine is setting up a new business. Like anyone in the same situation, his budget – or lack thereof – is guiding most of his decisions. Coming from a financial background, he’s got the business plan and finance under control, but he came to me for advice on branding and the website.

He sent through an email that said ‘I’ve got the name but haven’t figured out the font yet’. I think you could have heard the alarm bells ringing in my head from a block away. His business is a physical shopfront with an online sales component.

He was planning on designing the logo himself. That same logo would be on his signage, business cards and website. It would shape the design of his website and marketing collateral. He was starting a new venture by shooting himself in the foot.

I started my reply by telling him that if he had any budget whatsoever to spend, on marketing or branding, that it should be spent working with a professional designer to create a custom logo. I told him that a designer will ask him to profile his ideal customer and create something that speaks to them.

THIS IN EFFECT IS THE REAL BUSINESS PLAN BECAUSE IT IS BASED ON THE CUSTOMER - YOU ARE WORKING WITH AN END IN MIND! 

This forced him to sit down and think about exactly who that person is - also a vital element to effective web design. Once he had a logo that appealed to his target audience, he could afford to start off with a basic web design that continued the branding shaped by his logo.

You might be thinking – shouldn’t your first website have all the bells and whistles? It depends.

While you want to launch with a website that looks professional, starting off with a basic website allows you to work in phases and improve your website according to feedback. You should be participating in social media regardless, which if done correctly, will give you a goldmine of insights into your customers wants and needs.

This is good news for your budget and will allow you to create an effective website later based on real data. Say you’ve been operating offline and you’re taking the first steps to get online. You may already know your customer thoroughly, however, I can guarantee you that there will be unforeseen opportunities that present themselves that you’ll want to take advantage of quickly.

In summary;

• Professionals save you time and therefore money.

• The business logo is part of the marketing plan.

• Set some of the budget aside for a logo and website.

• Your first website should be simple and fast.

WE SPECIALISE IN DESIGN, PRINT AND WEB SOLUTIONS. EMAIL US TODAY! WE CAN HELP YOU WITH THE RIGHT STRATEGY AND ACCESS TO THE BEST PROJECT TEAM.

Many users of Adwords will try advertising once or twice and when they find their advertisement removed after only a couple of days, they may give up on their campaign. Advertising online is similar to offline advertising.

A hit and miss approach with occasional Adwords is unlikely to reap any benefits, so creating a campaign to run over a period of time will benefit you more. To do this in the most effective way it is important to know what matters to Google.

Three of the most important factors are cost per click, click-through rate and your daily budget. All three begin with choosing the most effective keywords for your business.

1. Cost per click – Once you have determined the most effective keywords, it is best to begin with a minimum bid on your selections. Google will inform you of your position and you can always raise your bid if your ads do not appear on the first page.
2. Click-through model – Google cares more about the clickthrough rate than the amount you have bid for the keyword. Whatever keyword you have chosen, with this model, Google will only display the ads that are being clicked the most regardless of the amount you are paying. You therefore need a good advertisement for this model to work, an advertisement that is getting a great response from searchers. If you manage this, then leave it up. If you find it isn’t working then look at whether the keyword actually fits with the rest of the text in the ad and is definitely aligned in text with the intended landing page.
3. Daily budget – In this model you set a daily budget with Google for each of your AdWords campaigns, this amount is not necessarily the amount you will pay. Once your ads start displaying you will only pay for the advertisements clicked on and it may be that you are underbidding on clicks and overbidding on daily budget.

An effective Adwords campaign begins with some solid research into keywords. You want to try to avoid the most commonly used keywords and find some phrases that will cost you less to advertise. Although you may get less people searching for those words, you will be targeting potential customers who are more likely to purchase from you and end up getting a higher clickthrough rate.

Although there are other similar advertising platforms like Google Adwords, it remains the most commonly used advertising platform online and one of the most effective.