The December holidays are, for most of us, just a fond memory as the demands of 2012 are back in full swing. It is very exciting time of the year but if you didn’t get time to plan or prepare you might feel overwhelmed. The good news is that it is never too late to stop and make time to put that strategy together.

A new website doesn’t only compete with local companies for visibility on the World Wide Web but also with international businesses. With more than 300 million websites on the internet, any new website will need to be launched across all online mediums, especially social media.

There are brilliant online methods to get a new website noticed on the internet. If the content has been Search Engine Optimised (SEO), search engines will over time boost its visibility. Web ads will lead traffic and press releases as well as competitions will also get your website out there.  It is when you include social media as part of the launch when you considerably enhance visibility and here is why...

In our last post we talked about the importance of integrating social media into your business and the benefits it could bring.
Today, I would like to provide some advice on the various steps that will get your existing company active in the social environment. 

Social media is not about what fans can do for you or what you can do for them. Instead, it is what the two of you can do for each other.  It is about a relationship built on mutual respect.  However, in order for your company to get to that level you need to put in time, effort and ultimately build trust in your brand.

How will you do this?

The most important aspect in any business should be to focus on making clients happy. Outstanding service is the first and foremost method to ensure this. However, improving your business offerings is a vital business strategy that is often overlooked.

Giving your clients the same product and service year after year without improvement at all, isn’t giving them value for their money. In times when things are tougher more companies are upping their prices but not their services. Not us though. DiaMatrix will be giving our clients more than four times the value for exactly the same price. (See our announcement below).

When a customer is endlessly impressed by your company, you will be able to build better and lasting relationships with them.  A satisfied client is also more prone to carry on doing business with you in the long run.

Email Marketing has proved itself over the years as a medium that goes from strength to strength. When faced with potential challenges such as Social Media, bulk email repositions itself and instead of competing with social, the two complement each other perfectly.

It is apparent that email is a powerful addition to any company’s online marketing efforts and as a result each campaign must be planned and executed with great care. I would therefore like to share some advice that will help you improve the success of your campaigns.

My Top 7 Tips for Effective Email Marketing

As mentioned in a previous post, social media isn’t replacing the need for email marketing. Instead, the two can and must coexist to effectively reach the levels of online marketing that your business is capable of.

If you want true online success for your company, you need to be where your audience is. And they are scattered between social media platforms and email. The more people hear from you on the mediums they use, the better they will remember you.

If business is slow, blogging is the answer to getting more visitors to your website and improving sales.  A business blog has several advantages, each of which contributes to the overall success of your company.

1. Blogging brings website traffic

A blog that is filled with good content will ensure that more people will visit your website to view it. Your blog will become visible to others through search engines, RSS feeds or social media links. You must therefore make sure that each post contains relevant keywords. You must also ensure that you Tweet and post links to your blog from your social media networks.

2. Blogging promotes yourexpertise

People do not want to read blog post after blog post about things pertaining to your company alone. They want to read something they perhaps did not know or about a topic they are very interested in. It is therefore your work to research industry related topics and provide your readers with tips, advice or guidance.  Through providing interesting and relevant content which will benefit your potential customer, you may over time gain trust and respect.

There have been many speculations that social media platforms will become so powerful that it will replace the need for email marketing altogether. The irony however is that the increase in social media directly influences a boost in email users as well. The two complement each other magnificently and the better companies are able to interweave the two, the better results they will gain.

Social media and email marketing can co-exist and when they do the advantages are remarkable. My next  post will centre on these benefits. Today, however, I want to focus on the reasons why social media cannot substitute email marketing, even if it tried.

Marketing your brand online is as simple as it is tricky. Although there are many avenues to explore and employ, the competition is fierce and you will need to position yourself cleverly and with immense vigour.

Previously, I wrote about the many ways of building your brand online and emphasised the importance of a professional company website to do so. Today I would like to share the various online opportunities that will help you market your brand on the internet.

A website redesign might seem unnecessary but there are many positive things that can come from it as explained in our website redesign newsletter.
This is something that Werner Hattingh, our second runner-up in our Website Package Competition found out first hand.

Werner is the owner of Quick-Cup, a company that supplies businesses with everything from coffee, coffee machines, cups and biscuits to health products and cleaning material.

Werner designed his original website himself but after winning a 10 page CMS website (Content Management System), we were able to provide him with a redesign.

Like explained in our last newsletter, a company’s brand is not only its name and logo but its reputation.  Branding is the reason a client chooses, connects and stays loyal to you over any of your competitors.

Today there are more than six billion people who use the internet on a regular basis for anything from business to shopping and entertainment. As a result companies big or small have the ability to market their brand across multiple divides online. However, in order to do this affectively, you need a company website.

Finding the right web site design company to design your website can be daunting, especially if you didn’t establish your needs first.  Take your time to answer the following questions and then head out to find various design companies to assist you with a quote.

Although email marketing is an excellent medium to promote specials, products and services to your subscribers, its ability to generate sales is far more astounding. Any business, big or small, needs to make sales to survive and by marketing by email you can grow your business effortlessly.

Bulk email marketing has an abundance of benefits but the ultimate goal of any marketing campaign is to generate a large return on investment (ROI).

A dedicated server could be the answer if you have outgrown your current shared or virtual server.

A dedicated server is usually not the option most people choose when looking to rent server space for their basic website, and rightly so. There are other hosting options such as virtual servers or shared servers that could cater to your needs more effectively at a lower price per month.

However, if you have considered upgrading to a more advanced server, DiaMatrix has launched cheap dedicated server packages that could be what you are looking for.

A website for your company is essential for business. As the internet becomes more accessible, the opportunities for a company to expand their business increase as well.  There are so many web design companies who will be able to promise you a professional website and you need to know what to look out for.

It is vital that you know your needs before you begin your search for the perfect web design company. When you know what you want it can be easier to look for a team who will be able to help you achieve your goal. Think about layout, colour and design, budget and if you want a content management system, flash website or interactive website.

A new website is very exciting and needs all the attention it can get to be advertised it to the public. You must therefore make time to market your website and launch it with a bang!

Here are a few tips that you can implement before, during or after the launch of your new website:

Before launching your new website:
Start creating a buzz on your social media networks. Social Media is a fantastic medium to share information, build relationships and gain trust.  Remember you need to take care when creating and executing social media campaigns ensuring that all efforts tie up nicely with all other campaigns.