Firstly, thanks for all the useful stuff so far...already changing a few things on my site.

But, all this talk of great, fresh content; good quality inbound links, simple onsite navigation and lots of text has got me thinking....

I am about to find the money to actually pay someone (gasp!) to do a proper site for me...and I want some great examples of how to do it 'right'

Most of our products are not 'impulse / quick buys', they are ones that customers have researched, read about, chosen. Some of our products, although mature products in other geographical areas, are pretty unusual in the UK. We definately need to lead with content...We dont plan to have any adverts for other products (though this may change) as it is such a niche market, all the ads would be for our competitors

So news, a blog, articles, how to's, secrets of, case studies, ideas, guest blog to challenge people etc etc.

SO SHOW ME YOUR EXAMPLES OF THIS!

Who has seen the epitomy of good web design, content, seo'ing etc etc...?? You are only allowed one, and its got to be damn near perfect....

Go on, pick  up the gauntlet....

Matt

I'll pick up the gauntlet and thrust in my double-edged sword

As for design, content, layout, navigation etc - i will present you this site

http://www.webmarketingnow.com/

You will also see that the site contains lots of useful information about what you are trying to achieve

[i am not affiliated with that site, but i do get the occasional news letter from them]

It is a silly and myopic challenge, with the potential for self-destruction really. Each and every market and even the niches within them require a different approach. From design and development to marketing. There is truly no ONE BEST for anything related to internet business development.

We have been involved on over 400 web develpoment projects since 1998 and I just can’t establish an over-all gradation index that would suit.

Look at your situation with the Geo-targeting. What may be a GREAT approach for a North American market, will won’t necessarily work in the UK. A site for a client in Sweden is technically, artistically and organizationally different than one we’d do for a client in Hong Kong (yes we have clients in all the above locations).

So that’s MY perspective on approaching your goal setting in such a manner.
ALSO, what a designer thinks is great, rarely is what works in the larger market. Designers tend to over-design and generally don’t have a good hear for marketing (except properly trained graphic designers).

I could go on, hopefully you get the idea. I throw down the gauntlet of ‘finding your own identity’ not a patchwork of other ideas which you do not know are necessarily successful or would even translate to you market segment and Geo-targeting.

Anyone miss me? He he

thegyspsy wrote:

It is a silly and myopic challenge, with the potential for self-destruction really. Each and every market and even the niches within them require a different approach. From design and development to marketing. There is truly no ONE BEST for anything related to internet business development.

We have been involved on over 400 web develpoment projects since 1998 and I just can’t establish an over-all gradation index that would suit.

Look at your situation with the Geo-targeting. What may be a GREAT approach for a North American market, will won’t necessarily work in the UK. A site for a client in Sweden is technically, artistically and organizationally different than one we’d do for a client in Hong Kong (yes we have clients in all the above locations).

So that’s MY perspective on approaching your goal setting in such a manner.
ALSO, what a designer thinks is great, rarely is what works in the larger market. Designers tend to over-design and generally don’t have a good hear for marketing (except properly trained graphic designers).

I could go on, hopefully you get the idea. I throw down the gauntlet of ‘finding your own identity’ not a patchwork of other ideas which you do not know are necessarily successful or would even translate to you market segment and Geo-targeting.

Anyone miss me? He he

Well, I have done research

We sell sustainable building systems and products - niche, but rapidly growing (Ave. across our market in the UK is 40% year on year growth). The issues are about educating and informing; not the hard sell. Our customers will typically visit the site twice befere emailing or calling, there is usually a process of answering questions, advising, quoting etc before a final purchase is made. Most of our customers arrive with one idea / thought, that is then changed by seeing how we do things...You have to see that although the UK is at its least 30miles from Europe, we do things very differently (and not for the better in many cases), and the europeans have many, many great products that we just dont see in the UK in vast quantities.

As for drawring people in, there is huge possibilities in the UK. News and blog / articles will inform, provide a reason to return to our site - I think that these three can 'blur' into a resources section. See www.treehugger.com and www.hugg.com for how succesful this can be. Blogs - there are some great eco/sustainable blogs out there, but they do not try to attract the 'mass market' or promote themselves much. The news sites are either a) ill infomed national newspapers or b) overly opinionated and selective green magazines.
Forums - there is no one successful uk sustainable building forum, the few that do exist do little to promote sustainability, and are very 'one sided eco-hippie' vibe.

Our websites (three of them, targeted differently) are going to be a great resource - for our shop customers, web customers, our installers, architects, wlef builders, the whole nine yards...and its the only way of achieveing what we want to.

I have yet to see ANY site that does this really well - i can find good shops with a blog, good blogs with a little shop, big news sites that alienante as many as it draws in etc etc...I was after a good 'model' of this - even the web guys I have spoken to are struggling to think of an all-round site, bar something like Amazon, or my favourite  www.on-one.co.uk...

I was hoping someone might show me a good small business that has thrived through good web design / web content. Ok so i probably approached it in the wrong way, but hey, I though you lot could show me examples, not just tell me how to do it, but show me how you have done it (maybe leading to some business for you...)

Matt

I just think you should use YOUR instincts. Break the mould and think outside of the box. You seem to already have opinions on what works and what doesn’t. This would be my guide.

I am not a BLOG guy and have my own research showing it is NOT the big marketing tool that it was supposed to be (along with RSS and Pod Casts). So I am not advising clients to use Blogs and actually, I never have. Recent data shows consumers are not interested and often don’t even know what RSS and PodCasts are even.
Everyone and his brother has a Blog, Combine this will consumer disinterest and a incredible poor ROI, the Blog world, at least as a marketing tool is coming to and end.
You heard it here first, (no worries no one ever listens to me until it’s too late).

With a failure rate of over 90% in the 1st 5 years, trying to create a successful endeavor is the core of what I seek to accomplish. The BLOG model is not a part of that for us.

Also I would harken back you YOU being the important opinion in that the site you posted, (On One) is convoluted to me and I could not readily even figure out what the site was about or what they were offering.

So, to each his own. It is your business and you’ll be ultimately responsible for its success or failure. What I, or anyone else may think is erroneous in the end. Yeah I know, ‘you’re looking for some thoughts’, I understand that. I am just putting my view of the concept from where I am sitting.

Can you elaborate on the model again? It sounds like a;

1.Ecommerce shop
2.News outlet
3.Blog

Is that the elements?


"maybe leading to some business for you" --- He he...but can U afford it?  I never give away the goodies on forums, just the basics. I wouldn't want my clients happening along me giving out the same advice I charge them for...lol

OK, the model:

-'shop front' and information on products
-e-commerce shop
-news on exciting products
-blog ... actually, viewpoint  and 'how to' articles

All wrapped in a nice branded wrapper...

As I said, so many of our products are unusual / new to UK, and many are quite techinical / lots of information required.

I am kind of with you with blogs - i do 'skim' them a few times in a month, but never really take notice of them unless its a really interesting viewpoint, product or how-to - other stuff is not of interest to me...the classic  how to, secrets of, what they never tell you type stuff does work....but strangely, i find the daily blog on www.howies.co.uk rather drawring....