Various studies have been conducted to find out just what influences people’s perception of a website’s credibility:

• Stanford-Makovsy Web Credibility Study 2002: Investigating What Makes Web Sites Credible Today
• What Makes A Web Site Credible? A Report on a Large Quantitative Study
• The Elements of Computer Credibility
• Elements that Affect Web Credibility: Early Results from a Self-Report Study (Proceedings of ACM CHI 2000 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, v.2, New York: ACM Press)

We don’t know if Fever app is any good, but the sleek user interface and website make a great first impression.

One interesting finding of these studies is that users really do judge a book by its cover… or rather, a website by its design. Elements such as layout, consistency, typography, color and style all affect how users perceive your website and what kind of image you project. Your website should project not only a good image but also the right one for your audience.

Other factors that influence credibility are: the quality of the website’s content, amount of errors, rate of updates, ease of use and trustworthiness of authors.

Fan pages also provide a good source of incoming links to your website. Indexed by Google, fan pages often show up in the top ten results for brands.

Here are some of the ways you can make the most of your Facebook Page:

• Offer an incentive to become a fan, such as a discount or coupon, or have a draw for a gift certificate. This is a terrific way to build your number of fans quickly.
• Communicate, don’t advertise. Ask for feedback and have a conversation. Avoid relaying a message that’s merely saying “buy my stuff.” No one wants to see that in their Facebook feed.
• Add local events and share them with fans; encourage them to share these with their friends.

Go create a Facebook page for your business now. Be sure to include at least the following information:

• Info section with description of your business
• Photo or logo

Once you have your page set up, send a message to all your friends and let them know. When you’ve garnered 25 fans, you can get your own username here.

On a side note, you can also use Facebook Advertising to promote your fan page, focusing it specifically on your local area and target demographic.

Read more: http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=2&issue=484

The following are 10 popular strategies that companies use to maximize their digital-marketing mix:

1. Use email-marketing newsletters to announce new LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter feeds, directing readers to social-networking websites for signup.
2. Use Twitter to link followers to your latest blog post or email newsletter online to fuel interest and re-tweets.
3. Include an option to join the company’s social networks in the email-newsletter registration section.
4. Use the sidebar on your email-marketing newsletter to list all company social-networking profiles, and use those profiles to gather email-newsletter signups.
5. Invite customers to participate in YouTube viral-marketing video contests that show real consumers using and enjoying your products or solutions.
6. Read and respond to comments within social networks, developing newsletter or blog articles around topics readers discuss the most.
7. Launch a regular Q&A section in your company’s email newsletter that specifically addresses reader questions across all social-networking platforms.
8. Include a link to your Help forum or YouTube video tutorial within purchase-confirmation emails.
9. Include a social-bookmark console on product pages in case readers want to share your website or products with others.
10. Join relevant LinkedIn and Facebook groups, assigning knowledgeable representatives within your company to answer questions, thus positioning your company as a valuable industry resource.

Maximize Your Digital-Marketing Mix: read more…

1. Logo
2. Typography
3. Colors
4. Brand
5. Quality
6. Community
   
7. Culture
   

7 Ingredients Of Good Corporate Design.

Here’s how:

1.You’ll want to adjust your “notifications”, that way you won’t get an email notification each time something happens on facebook. That gets annoying and will control your inbox if you don’t change it. Then, bookmark facebook in your browser, so you can quickly go to it whenever YOU want.

2. You’ll also want to control your “privacy settings” to limit who can see you, talk to you, see pictures of you, etc… I limit everything to “Only Friends” so only people who you’ve accepted as Facebook friends can see your wall/status/etc…

If you want to know how to do this and more, here’s a good guide:
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

If you just want the quick links:

• search privacy settings page
• Profile Privacy page.
• Photos Privacy page
• News Feed and Wall Privacy page

Oh, and by the way, NEVER accept someone as a friend that you don’t really know!

Become a Fan of WorldLight Media

Today it seems as though there is a race for businesses to get online. Sure, they’re templates that allow you to “fill in the blanks,” add a few stock photos and throw up a website real quick. This is the cheap way to do it, but what most businesses don’t realize is that when you use a template that thousands of other websites have used, you’re business is also seen as “cheap.”

Your website should be custom designed with your customer in mind. You have spent time creating a brand and image for your company. Why destroy that brand with a website design that a thousand other people are also using? By doing so, you are sending out the message that you don’t want to be unique and that you are not better than your competitors.

Choose a Website Designer that is Raising the Bar

When selecting a website design service, it’s vital that they not only fulfill your needs in the design aspect of web development, but also ensure that your website is a direct extension and reflection of your business. The right designer will assist you with:

Business Development – Your brand image, logo design, brand development and even the training of your own webmaster.

Business Consulting – Creating the color palette, icons and other nomenclature specific to your business that will create an overall professional look for your company.

Identity & Branding – Creating more than just business cards and letterhead, but also customized emails, newsletters and more.

Information Architecture – Creating a solution that allows you to create an easy to use solution for the update and management of your website.

Web & Graphic Design – Services that mesh your corporate identity with your online portrayal. Combining the components of your brand and identity into your web design creates harmony between your marketing materials and branding as a whole.

Logo Design – The creation of your logo because your logo is your business’s face. This is how customers will identify with you.

Business Collateral – Creating print material that corresponds with your website’s design and graphics. It should all work together cohesively and the right designer will help you to ensure just that.

Marketing & Sales Material – Ensuring that every aspect of your website works with your marketing and sales material as well from your letterhead to other promotional items such as press releases, fact sheets, press kits, and more.

Services Your Web Designer Should Provide

Not only should your website and business image work together cohesively, but it must appeal to the customer or client as well. A premiere website design service will ensure that your website does just that by providing you with:

An appealing header and logo that is easy for your customer to remember.

High quality photographs that show off your location, products and property.

A color scheme with aesthetic tones that convey an up-to-date view of your business.

A professional website appearance that shows you are an authority in your industry.

Browser compatibility that ensures all Internet users can view your site the way it was meant to be seen whether they use Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

Analytics that provide you with information on your traffic and the usability of your website.

Specific coding that influences on the search engines see your website and provide optimal usability.

Today’s process of web design should not be one that merely creates a cookie cutter website design. By selecting the right website designer, you should find customer service that goes beyond graphics and coding, but also ensures your business image as a whole is one of modern professionalism. Anything less means that you are sending customers to your competition.

via Does Your Website Send the Wrong Message? « Media Contour.

By Dan Weil • Bankrate.com

The explosion of the Internet over the last 15 years makes a strong Web site essential for almost any small business to attain success, experts say.

“If you’re a small business that doesn’t have a Web site, I would say today is the day to get started,” says Adeo Ressi, co-founder of TheFunded.com, an online community for entrepreneurs.

“If you’re doing anything innovative — from a family doctor to something bigger — you would gain more benefits from it than if you’re running a drycleaner or something like that,” he says. “But people are using the Internet more and more even to find things like their local drycleaner. So the benefits are there for any business.”

The rewards of a Web site extend to nearly every element of running a business. “We haven’t yet created a list of comprehensive business functions that says here’s what you can do better online,” says Adrienne Becker, chief executive of Ideastox, a Web site where people can exchange business ideas. “That’s happening every day — on both sides of the (profit and loss) statement.”

Marketing advantage

The most obvious area where the Internet enhances your business is marketing, she says. “You can send a single message to millions of people without additional cost. It’s an economy of scale.”An Internet presence provides a stamp of legitimacy. “A well executed Web site can cover up that you’re just one dude (trying to start up a company),” says Lawrence Gelburd, an entrepreneur, who also teaches at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

“It’s speaks to the aggregate,” he notes. “That’s a fantastic way to hook up with them. Instead of starting an e-mail list from scratch, you can work with a company that has lists of clients’ e-mail addresses. They may not be willing to share or sell the list, but they may be willing to do e-mail blasts. You’ll have a Web site and can say to an investor, customer or supplier that you have e-mail blasts going out to 30,000 people per month.”

A Web site also serves as a high-technology version of a business card. “It’s often the first form of introduction that you have to people,” says Robert Bertsch, a founder of RaiseCapital.com, an Internet site that matches small businesses and investors.

“For investors using our site, if a business they’re interested in has a Web site, that’s the first place they go. For a startup or an existing business, a Web site is a way to communicate at a broad level to everyone. It lets them know who you are and where you are.”

The Internet also gives your business a permanence that is unavailable through other means. “When you have a Web site, you can put the address on all your business cards, pamphlets, billboards etc.,” Gelburd says. “Since you own the domain and Web site name, you don’t have to ditch it even if you move or change your name. It’s an electronic version of a catalogue that you can send to just those whom you want, and any typographical errors are a lot easier to change.”

Before setting up your firm’s Web presence, Becker advises that you dissect every element of the business to figure out how it can work online. “It’s a lot more than marketing,” she says. “There’s customer service, account management. It just depends on the nature of your business.”

Advantages of outsourcing

Experts recommend that you seek professional assistance in constructing the Web site. “You can set up your own site, but it will require fairly technical understanding,” says Ressi of TheFunded.com. “There are no flick-a-switch solutions.”

Ideastox’s Becker puts it like this: “As a senior manager of your business, to learn about a wheel that is already rolling down the hill is not the best use of your time.”

Bertsch points out that if you want to start small, you can begin with a one-page Web site. “That can be done in 15 minutes at a very low cost, as cheap as $100,” he says. “There are plenty of freelancers doing this. If you go to CraigsList, you can find people and check to see if others like their services.”

If you want something a bit more extensive, “for starting level businesses there are sites like elance.com and 99designs.com where you can get everything you need, sometimes for less than $2,000, sometimes even for less than $500,” Ressi says.

Of course you will want technology support in case your Web site ever encounters problems. “For an extraordinarily low cost — as little as $10 a month — you can find a variety of providers that will carry the expense of 24-hour backup so your Web site doesn’t go down,” Gelburd says. Often it will be the same company that sets up your Web site. Ressi uses GoDaddy.com for his site’s Web maintenance.

An important point to keep in mind during this process: “If you do use a third party to build out your site, you want to get the schematics and codes from them, because if they go out of business, bringing someone in to figure it all out will be extremely difficult,” Bertsch says.

Six keys for success

Ressi has several recommendations for the actual structure of your Web site. In general, “You don’t need anything flashy or special, it just needs to be very clean and clear,” he says.1. Skip the flash: “You should have a simple home page that clearly explains what you do. That’s probably the most important thing.” Some companies make the mistake of adding too many bells and whistles to the home page, Ressi says. “The problem with overloading the page is that visitors don’t know what you do.”

2. Detail your product: He says a page or series of pages should give a comprehensive explanation of your product. “The one thing that drives us crazy is that in some cases people don’t do that,” Ressi explains. “I recently went to a Web site to inquire about hosting an event. They gave the price but not the capacity of their space. It could have said they hold up to 50 people.”

3. List prices: Often prices aren’t listed on Web sites. Many businesses assume that by concealing information they will force potential customers to get in touch with them. “But in the modern world, the reverse is true,” Ressi says. “Instead, people will contact businesses that do give them the information.”

4. Talk about yourself: Providing background about your management team also is crucial. “If I’m going to do business with this firm, I want to know who’s running it,” Ressi says. “A four to five sentence outline is fine, but it’s critical to show who’s running the company.”

5. Give your contact information: He also suggests a thorough “contact us” page. “These pages generally have an e-mail address, a physical address and phone number,” Ressi says. “But few have simple Web forms to allow people to send e-mails back right on the site. Generally, readers are more comfortable filling out an online form than picking up the phone or sending a separate e-mail. When we didn’t have that form on our site, top CEOs from around the world asked why not.”

6. Use blogs: Putting a blog on your Web site also can prove beneficial. “If you are trying to innovate in your category, then you should have a blog and talk about the innovations you are trying,” Ressi says. “People will read it, learn what you’re doing, and then you have real shot in acquiring customers. Blogs are viral, especially if you link to other blogs.”

What business doesn’t need a Web presence? “I can’t think of any,” says Becker of Ideastox. “More and more people are relying on the Internet for their consumption needs. If you don’t have a presence there, you will almost certainly miss out on business — whether you’re a physician, an auto repair shop or a gardener.”

1. Delegate More
2. Become a Better Judge of People
3. Communicate Well With Your Board
4. Get Better at Picking Winning Ideas
5. Develop a Sense of Humor
6. Just Be More Patient

Wow, Inc., groundbreaking stuff here.

Well, the purpose of this post wasn’t really to criticize, but rather to illustrate that it’s not really what you do, but who you are that makes you successful. Something I’ve been realizing from reading several blogs, books, articles and web sites about business leadership is that everything that is being taught comes straight from the Bible. If we just focus on being who we were made to be, we’ll achieve whatever success we can handle. It’s that simple.

6 Ways to Be a Better CEO | Inc.com.

Here is an overview of some considerations when first sitting down to design a web site. I would tend to agree, however I would out Audience at number 1.

1) Layout

A great example: YouLove.us

2) Navigation

A great example: Alex Buga

3) Usability

A great example: Tutorial 9

4) Audience

A great example: Bell Hospital

5) Colors

A great example: Icon Dock

6) Browser Compatibility

A great example: My Ink Blog

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