Recently in Website Design Category

In the age of online marketing a business website is a make or break feature. Done well it can capture your intended audience's attention and draw them into a relationship with your brand. Done badly it can turn off a potential customer in record time. And with platforms like Drupal and Wordpress making web design and development accessible to the masses there really isn't any excuse for doing it badly.

This month we've scoured the Approved Index directory to find the very best examples of B2B websites. All of our 400+ active suppliers were in contention and over the next few weeks we'll be presenting the very finest examples of online customer interaction from the following sectors:

• Office Equipment
• Business Services
• Automotive
• Training
• Construction Equipment

and finally, the incredibly competitive categories of

• Marketing
• Internet Services

Approved Index suppliers are, in general, a pretty web savvy bunch so the standards have been high and most categories have presented a very hard decision.

The translation: you shouldn't be downhearted if you're an Approved Index supplier and didn't get an award. To double the amount of website love we can dish out though we'll also highlight an honourable mention in each category.

The Judging Criteria

We'll give full reasons for each of our decisions in the award announcement post but in the interests of transparency here's what we were looking for in our search for the best supplier websites of 2012.

At Approved Index we're all too familiar with the nexus that exists between buyer and seller and what can go wrong in that oh so delicate zone both at initial contact and in subsequent steps of the buying process. The website should present as few hurdles to the potential customer as possible while providing all the support and information they need to get them through the conversion process.

Design - A good customer facing website should make the presentation of information a priority. The layout should be clear and provide your users with everything they need while still being easy on the eye.

Navigation - Users should be able to work out easily how to get to the information they need and be able ot navigate there quickly.

Contact Options - The more ways you give your customers to connect with you the better - some people are more comfortable ringing in while others like to email. An online form can be the perfect solution in many an instance but leave users feeling cut off in others.

Content - Whether in the form of text, audio, video or pictures, content is king. No matter what your business does the visitors to your website can be described as looking for one thing and one thing only - information. A great business website provides as much information to its users as possible and always makes sure that the content is engaging, relevant and satisfies visitors' neds.

Pizazz - The least important factor to us but one which can make the difference between a really good website and a great one. If you can not only provide your visitors with a great looking, content paked, easy to use website with tons of options for following up but also do it with style and personality then you are truly a master of the B2B web.

The Announcements

Will begin tomorrow, so keep an eye out.

First up... Office Equipment.

This is exciting!

In our last blog post we laid out the case for not following the predictable path of cost-cutting and downsizing that most businesses fall prey to during a recession. We argued that in the current business climate large companies are mostly locked into a beggar thy neighbour type strategy of cost reduction (in fact where they are pursuing growth, they're doing it through takeovers and mergers) and that small businesses hold the key to recovery through their innovation and risk taking.

Over the next few posts we'll try to suggest some ways in which small businesses can take measured risks in order to reap large rewards. We'll point to some potential avenues of growth that, while they do involve some up front expense to exploit, could lead to capturing some of the markets that the large corporates are too cautious to go after and emerging from the downturn in a much stronger position than before.

The first such suggestion is ecommerce.

Taking your sales online not only opens up your catalogue of products and services to a much wider audience who are suddenly only a couple of mouse-clicks away but also allows you to exploit the accessibility and cost-efffectiveness of online marketing channels. With only a few hours research any business owner is able to start taking steps to promote their business online - be it through social media channels like Twitter and Facebook or by tweaking your website to make it appear higher in Google search results (a process known as Search Engine Optimistion). With an ecommerce website in place, any successful marketing activity will drive customers directly to your place of business and potentialy result in sales.

As well as facilitating this have-a-go approach to marketing using tools like Google analytics with your ecommerce website make it possible to track exactly where on the interent your website visitors are coming from, which search terms they're using to find your site and which ones are actually converting into sales  - allowing you to work out who your best customers are and tailor your marketing efforts for these kind of people.

Getting an ecommmerce website up and running won't be cheap - you're looking at an expenditure of at least £1k for a decent website. In straightened economic times and with bank finance so hard to get hold of we understand that that's no insignificant sum. But when you consider that online sales in 2011 topped £62bn while high-street spending dwindled, and that over the last year the number of small businesses trading exclusively online rose by 31%, you realise that getting your products and services online is a no-brainer.

Preaching to the converted?
Okay, we know we're writing a blog entry here and that if you've found our site because you're interested in the internet and business that you're probably trading online already. So, do we have a suggestion for you, the experienced e-commercant?

Yes: M-commerce.

Mobile phone users were the source of 2% of all ecommerce transactions in 2011 and with the proliferation of smartphones that figure is expected to more than treble over the next few years. With that in mind, ask yourself this: how mobile friendly is my ecommerce site and am I doing enough to embrace smartphone using customers?

If your site isn't optimised for use on a mobile device which has a small screen resolution, limited bandwidth capabilities and possibly no support for Flash you could already be missing out on a significant number of sales - especially if what you're selling is aimed at younger, more tech-savvy customers.

Whether you need to develop a mobile website or mobile app is a question to which you should give careful consideration (and you can get more advice here) but what's certain is that smartphones users are the future of ecommerce.

It's time to upgrade your website, you've realised that as a business you need more flexibility with your website in order to maintain a strong web presence. You want a CMS system, but where do you begin?

As a business you now acknowledge that being able to edit the website quickly, upload new content, add new videos and pictures is of great importance. You now know that a CMS (Content Management System) system is what you require to keep your online marketing strategy fresh and relevant.

I have used a number of CMS systems in the past and I have found them all to be extremely intuitive and easy to learn, and the speed with which you can add or remove content is of great benefit to any business looking to ramp up their online presence. The increased functionality that you can get access to is almost limitless from adding your own questionnaires, online shopping functionality and creating your own blogs and forums for your users to interact with.
So with this in mind I have pulled together some of the key points you should consider when choosing a CMS system for business.

Firstly is Suitability

If you require a simple brochure style website, with a small number of pages and no functionality then a CMS system won't be for you. They will prove too costly for what you require, and the functionality will be of no use to you. I advise you go and find a respected web developer who can produce well made brochure style websites that are far more suited to your budget.

If you want a website that can be added to and edited regularly, can take reservations or payments, has the functionality for video, downloads, questionnaires, information storage and you have some employees willing to muck in and learn how to use these systems then read on, also check the Approved Index CMS System articles and guides here.

If you are still unsure, ask yourself the following questions and this may help you to choose your next move.

• Do you regularly ask your web designer to update text / images on your website, and are you frustrated with the lack of dynamic content that's on your website?

• Are you reliant on external web developers and designers to maintain your website to keep it in line with other marketing activities?

• Do you have long waits when requesting changes to your website, changes that appear simple but due to the system you are using you're unable to complete yourself?

• Are the costs of maintaining your website with the use of an external developer increasing year on year, yet you feel value for money is lacking?

• Are you over-reliant on external suppliers who are slow to respond, expensive and don't fully understand your business model, and would prefer to bring these activities in house?

Budget

I have worked with both small and large businesses who have invested varying amounts of their budget into CMS systems. Of course, your budget is relatively closely tied to the amount of functionality you should expect to have. In the past I have worked with businesses that are spending anything from £4,000 up-to £15,000 on a bespoke CMS system, what you must remember is that this does not cover the cost of the web development or the design of the website, these costs will be extra and you should budget for these costs.

The CMS system is the basis on which the designers and developers can develop the look and feel of your website, and once the development process has been completed they metaphorically hand the keys to the website to you the business owner. So it's important to assess what your needs are, so that you can reflect the cost of design and development in your overall website budget. For a more detailed look at costs of CMS Systems, read the Approved Index CMS System Price Guide here.

CMS Systems - The Benefits

You have spent a large part of your budget on the CMS System, now what can you expect to be able to do with this new system? Some of the key functions and benefits that you will have access too are listed below, but this is by no means the end.

• You are quickly able to update you website with news, new product details, special offers & a whole host of other updates.

• Articles and newsletters and many other types of content can be stored on the site and archived, then when you need you can re-publish these items.

• Dynamic content such as blogs and forums can be created to increase interaction with your website and brand.

• Vacancies and job information can be uploaded to the website for prospective employees to access.

• Questionnaire creation is feasible, as are creating sign-ups for an event you might want to create for various marketing events.

• Data storage - you will get direct access to the details of users who sign up to your website and this information can be seamlessly integrated into your CRM system.

• Online resources and downloads can be made available to users who access the website.

• Members areas can be created that are securely protected from unauthorised access.

• Video and animation can be uploaded and sits easily on the website, and this content can be quickly edited and changed when needed.

• Increased efficiency, this may not be a direct feature but the CMS system allows repairs or more in depth updates to be completed remotely via a secure login.

• CMS Systems are designed with the "non-techie" in mind. These systems are designed to be usable by novices and experts alike. After some brief training most people are happily updating their websites without a hitch.

• SEO benefits - now you have access to a CMS System you can update content regularly, search engines like a site that is updated regularly.

• Brand consistency is maintained when using a CMS system. The designers will create templates for the types of pages you want to create and then you choose the appropriate template when updating new content.

The Business Benefits of A Content Management System?

So its all well and good singing the virtues of a good CMS system, but what are the various business benefits of implementing such a system?

Reduced Website Maintenance Costs

Using a CMS System will lower the overall costs you incur. You will no longer need to spend your budget on external developers to update simple news stories on your website.
Initial cost outlays may be higher, but as you can update and amend the site in house then charges from developers will no longer apply.

Fresh and Up-To Date Content

If you were getting frustrated at the time and complexity of updating current business information, or you were tired of waiting so that you could upload new products to your website, this will no longer be a problem if you are using a CMS system.

When you see something of interest, or get a new range of stock into your business, this information can be applied to the website straight away, increasing efficiency and keeping your website looking fresh and contemporary.

Increased Content Flexibility

As mentioned previously you can integrate a large variety of media types easily and quickly when using a CMS System. Want to upload video, PDFs, images or newsletters? Simple, there is built in functionality to make this process as simple and as pain free as possible.

You can also update your standard content quickly and easily, want to change the text on your homepage, want to add more information to the about us section of your site, it's as simple as logging in and typing away.

You want to increase engagement with your brand, your products and your website, then a CMS is a great tool to do this with.

Increase Search Engine Visibility

Adding new content regularly from employees who understand the company and the products will help you to achieve better results within the search engines. Fresh and updated content shows that you interact with the website and that you actively care about what your users read and how they use your website.

Where as in the past adding more technical SEO facets would have been difficult, now it's simple to add Meta information (the information that tells the search engines what the page is all about). This information can be added when you are uploading new content and is incredibly simple to do, once you have completed training your SEO skills will begin to increase.

The Cheats Way To Becoming A Techie

In the past you would have been switched off at the thought of updating XML files or using HTML to add content. CMS Systems take away the complex behind the scenes techie bits and leave you with simple WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editing areas in which you can add written content, upload an image and then link it to a downloadable document, all without leaving the page.

CMS Systems give you the flexibility, simplicity and cost and time saving benefits that all companies crave in order to focus on wider business matters. It strikes the balance between having a simple yet technologically advanced website that is easy to update and not consuming time trying to organise external companies to do the leg work for you.

We are at the end of another busy week of work, so that means only one thing, its my roundup of some of the best blog posts that I have read in the past few days.

This week these posts are all related to one topic, that is the new development from Google, succinctly called Google+. I have posted a rather extensive rundown of its key features earlier so please check that out if you want to understand some of the rudimentary areas that I have personally found interesting when using Google+.

But as we all know, its always helpful to get information from other people in the know, hence the roundup.

Firstly, there is a great review from SEOmoz regarding their own early thoughts on this new system, you can read that review here Google+ 15 minutes a day.

The second article I found interesting, especially when trying to align marketers efforts with utilizing Google+ was the presence of businesses on this social sharing platform. At the moment this platform isn't available for businesses to use, but this post has some interesting thoughts about what may happen when it does open up it's doors to business. Read the full article here Google+ for business is next.

The third post I found useful and wanted to share is from Google themselves, this gives you the thoughts behind Google+ and it also displays some interesting videos showing you how to use the functionality on Google+. Read the article in full here Introducing the Google+ project.