The question isn’t can you, the question is do you want to and how important is it to you? Look around your neighborhood. There are varying degrees of lawn maintenance. Some yards are professional managed. Every week a crew shows up for an hour or so, mows, edges, weeds, blows away and hauls off debris.  Others choose to have a neighborhood kid mow the yard for them. They pay less for the service and they don’t expect it to look professional, but they do expect it to be done in a timely manner based on agreements made. Others choose to mow their own yard.  They may be disciplined enough to be consistent and mow it the same day and time every week, they may skip a week if they simply don’t have enough time, they may or may not choose to edge, weed, and blow off debris, but they are much more tolerant of their own management then if they were paying someone to do it.

What ever option the homeowner chooses they general get what they pay for or for which they may choose not to pay.  Facebook is no different.  Pages that garner the most “likes” generally are those that are well managed. The type of management a page needs depends on the business. Many, many, many business pages are started and the Admin is very enthusiastic. They make several posts the first few days, but eventually the newness wears off and then it just becomes another chore, kind of like a company newsletter.  In order for either to be successful you need content and that content needs to be fresh; much easier said than done.

So think like a consumer, when you visit other pages, what is your bench mark? If the company hasn’t made a post in a week or so or if you notice they generally make a post once in a blue moon, is that a site you wish to subscribe? If the page’s last post was made several months ago, do you assume the page has been abandoned? If a yard hadn’t been mowed all summer would you assume no one lived there or that no one cared?

So as previously stated, managing Facebook isn’t any harder than mowing your grass and it’s so easy that children are doing it. Businesses are busy taking care of clients and running the daily operations of their business. Stopping to make thoughtful posts doesn’t always make it on the priority list for the day nor does tracking posts and comments to see which ones garner the most interaction. That’s why our company, like many others offer Social Marketing management through www.connexionswork.com. We manage dozens of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. Packages start as low as $150 per month – about what you’d pay to have a small yard mowed each week and it takes about the same amount of time. If you need some help give us a shout.

Other services offered are:
SEO – search engine optimization
SEM – search engine marketing
Keyword and keyword string managment
Page rank management
W3C compliance
Google places managment

In this day and age websites are a critical part of business, or at least they should be. But we all know that establishing an online presence requires, time money and commitment. There are still companies that think their website is just an online brochure, but it should be much more then that. When executed correctly it can help increase sales, reduce costs such as support for example and it helps to improve customer relations. A website should be an investment that is nurtured over time. The first building block of a successful website is refreshing the content in a timely fashion. While all companies, even Blue Olive, has the best of intentions of keeping their website current, it is a more daunting task then most realize and can often be neglected because the business of running your business takes priority – but that’s a whole other blog…

Input is the foundation for a website and this worksheet should help identify the goals of a new site including audience, look and feel, functionality and content. You should allow every person involved in the project fill out his or her own form. Skip the questions not relevant to your project, and once all the information is gathered, collate into a single document and email it to solutions@theblueolive.com. We can help get your site off the ground or revise a tired and outdated site.

1. Project Scope
a. In order for Blue Olive to get to know your company a little better a brief background is needed. This will provide better insight into what you are looking to accomplish not just for your site but for you company.

b. This should be followed by a brief description of the project.

c. There should already be a budget set aside for your website so that miscommunication and disappointment is avoided. Budgets are a driving factor into what can and can’t be built and/or programmed.

2. Objectives
a. What do you wish to accomplish with your website? – a well thought out or defined goal must be considered if you want to build a successful site. Think things through, even if you start small, you can grow with ease if the site requires a particular approach or feature in the future.

b. What are the expectations of the website?

c. Do you want to sell a product online or will this be an extension to your traditional bricks and mortar business?

d. Will the website accompany a new product launch?

e. Do you want to collect information from your users (aka data mining) so that you can establish a better profile of them and have the ability to communicate with them via outgoing emails later?

f. Will you expect people to use search engines to find your site (if so SEO or search engine optimization should be budgeted) or will established customers use it for informational purposes?

3. Target and Project Management
a. Who is your company’s primary target audience? If Blue Olive has a profile it can be easier to plot out a design with that group in mind, so try to give us an idea about the audience including
     i. Age,
    ii. Gender,
   iii. Race,
   iv. Income level,
    v. Marital status, etc.

b. How often will the site be updated? CMS (Content Management System) tools allow for self management and therefore do not tether you to an agency when a small change is necessary.

4. Site Structure
a. Most companies don’t have a structure in mind when they contact Blue Olive. However, a structure, blue print, or site map is an important part of the price setting formula. Blue Olive can help you in that area but it’s always better to do some research on that particular topic so that you can determine the number of pages your site will be. Just like a collateral brochure with numerous pages is more expensive than a tri-fold, so too are many web pages. Browsing the internet for examples of sites you like and don’t like is very wise. This will also help you identify and define the major content areas.

b. Think about the navigation and how to keep it from being complex. People will quickly leave your site if it takes too long to find something or they feel lost within the site. While people want content, good web design will have the right balance between visual appeal, content, and usability. A website with an amateurish design will not provide credibility and visitors potentially won’t buy anything from an untrustworthy looking site.

c. Will you need a back-end to house encrypted information or manage an e-commerce site? If so purchase of an annual security certificate is a must to include in your budget.

5. Content
a. This needs to be at the top of the list. Use the site structure as an outline and then define the content for each page. Knowing how much copy and or visuals (aka content) needs to be housed on each page on the front end and ensure that the design will compensate.

b. Content is king and it is necessary for a site to be searchable. It should also drive users back to your site. Like we mentioned previously, a regularly updated website is a factor not to underestimate. A well updated site together with cleanly coded pages will get a higher ranking on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

c. If the budget allows, a professional copywriter is the best way to ensure your site communicates its message – Blue Olive can handle that too.

6. Summing It Up
a. Company Info
     i. Contact Information
    ii. Brief background of your company

b. Scope, objectives, and Target Audience
     i. Brief description of project
    ii. Goals and general scope of the project
   iii. Target audience, to whom the site is aimed

c. Budget & Time Frame
     i. Provide and estimated budget – allow additional dollars for complex sites or ecommerce sites
    ii. Include time frame or upcoming deadlines – the larger the site the longer it takes to build

d. Design Information
     i. Site Structure
    ii. Overview of design elements that should or must be considered
   iii. Corporate identity guidelines (if they exist for your company)
   iv. Examples of site you like and dislike (at lease three of each, good to use competitor sites as a point of reference as well)

This list may seem long, but in fact it’s more efficient to keep your answers brief and to the point. This list simply provides us a reference to get the communication started. Only in an ideal world would all the items be answered, so use this as a guide to talk with Blue Olive or to any firm providing you a website.

Need social marketing help.. stay tuned for the next blog.

Blue Olive Consulting, LLC, a full service communications firm, has named Stacy Mayfield as Interactive/SEO Coordinator. As the Interactive/SEO Coordinator, Mayfield is responsible for the implementation of the agency’s search engine optimization tactics to help improve natural search engine rankings for our growing number of interactive clients.

“Stacy came to us as an intern and became such an integral part of our interactive team, we couldn’t let her go,” said Britton Watson, President of Blue Olive Consulting. “Her amazing organizational and analytical skills, along with her natural problem solving abilities make her a perfect fit for the agency.”
Mayfield works closely with the interactive and account services team, ensuring the use of the most effective search engine optimization practices. She is also responsible for trend tracking, reporting, researching SEO opportunities and implementing recommended content changes for new and existing websites.

Stacy Mayfield, Interactive/SEO Coordinator

 

“I am excited to be part of an agency that is ahead of the trends,” said Mayfield. “Blue Olive is focused on being in front of the interactive development and search engine optimization curve. I’m thrilled that such an opportunity exists in my hometown.”

Mayfield is a 2004 graduate of the former Bradshaw High School in Florence, Ala. She is currently pursuing a degree in Computer Information Systems at Northwest Shoals Community College in Muscle Shoals, Ala. She enjoys art, photography, fashion and music and is said to be most content when her desk is organized and her calendar is full.

 
About Blue Olive Consulting
Blue Olive Consulting, LLC opened in Nashville, Tenn. in July 1999 as an independent marketing consultancy. In 2005, Blue Olive relocated its head office to Florence, Ala. and in February 2006 expanded operations by acquiring a local agency. Blue Olive specializes in interactive development, search engine optimization, strategic marketing, and media planning. For more information about Blue Olive and its services, please visit theblueolive.com.