5 Qualities of an effective Web Design

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Lindsay Adams

1. Straight forward Communication
Use fewer and more affective wording or images to visually communicate to your viewers. Short simply phrases are better. Use read more links.

2. User Friendly
Focus on making the site functional and intuitive to navigate as most viewers are coming to the site to look for information and a good looking site is just bonus!

3. Focused Attention
Assist the viewer knowing where to be guided on the site. All sights are scanned for what a viewer is looking for so the more intuitive the better. Be able to answer the question what is this website about in 2 seconds.

4. Use Conventions
Use the norms that have already been created to make it easier for viewers by choosing icons, product placement, folders in easily found ways/places

5. Add a Few Key Design Elements
Allow your typography (3 types max) photos & buttons to customize your site. Choose your color wisely as each color evokes a mood.

Give us a call (1-800-787-0317 ext 2) and let our friendly staff here at Full Partner show you how easy it is to have a new look to your website in a very short amount of time. Take a look at our affordable templates here at www.fullpartner.com/newtemplates. Lindsay is also available to customize a design for your unique web needs.

Top Online Usability Tips for Your Website

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Renee Shannon

Creating a good, user aware website is essential for online success. Consider your website as a living marketing tool; a window to the world that is alive. There are several factors in your online approach that will help to move your site higher in visibility.

Steve Krug, a great online marketing guru, explains in his book "Don't Make Me Think," to make your website easy for all visitors to figure out what you want them to know. Be obvious in your intentions and the directions you wish your visitor to go. Know the clicks you wish for them to make and the call-to-actions (CTA) you wish for them to take. Your goal is to make your web site easy for your prospects to find what they are looking for in just two or three clicks.

Jay Berkowitz created a summary of Steve Krug's suggestions of the top web standard design tips that are becoming the standard for web surfers everywhere, here is an excerpt from "The Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing," (www.tengoldenrules.com, 2009).

• Website logo goes on the top left corner and when clicked while on secondary pages throughout the site, it returns users to the home page.
• The home page should make it clear what the site offers and how to use it. Often a clear tagline can explain what the site is all about, if not, a short paragraph of the copy at the very top should accomplish this objective.
• Navigation (links to take you around a site) should be on the left side or across the top
• Twenty percent of 30 percent of web surfers prefer to search when they come to a site. The top right corner is becoming a standard placement for the search box. The box should be big and white and beside it the world search should be clearly readable.
• As users travel through the site, it should be clear what section they are in, where they came from and how to get back to the home page from where they are.
• Make it easy for your internal team to update the website on a regular basis so there is a reason for prospects to come back again and again. One great way to accomplish this is to put a section on the home page to feature a newsletter article. Each month (week or day) you can feature an article from your newsletter. This achieves two objectives, it keeps the site fresh and it promotes sign up for your newsletter which gives you permission to re-market to your prospects and keeps you top-of-mind.
• Test the site for usability. This can be as simple as watching friends, family and employees navigate the website, or it can be accomplished with professional web site usability studies. User testing is a must for all new web projects.

Here at Full Partner, we have a varied collection of templates that you can chose from that follow these great marketing tips. If you are one of the many web site owners that has not upgraded your website in 4 or more years, it is time to consider creating a fresh look! Check out our templates here www.fullpartner.com/newtemplates or call me, Renee Shannon, at 303-800-0723 and let me show the possibilities available for you.

Basic Questions to Get Your Affiliate Program Launched

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Sallee Haerr

I thought I'd share some basic questions that you need to consider when setting up an affiliate program. Here goes:

1. What is the commission rate you want to pay your affiliates? 
Your affiliates are doing you a favor by referring clients and customers to you. What is a fair rate to offer them for this favor? Some companies pay a flat percentage rate on sales, and others pay a fixed dollar amount.

2. Will there be one level of affiliates, with one commission rate, or different classes of affiliates with different rates?
Some companies have a basic affiliate group and a more elite group for more involved business partners.

3. Do you want access to the affiliate section to be public or hidden and only available if you send a link to your prospective affiliate?
If you only want your affiliates to be at your invitation, you would want the affiliate sign-up and information to be hidden from public view.

4. Do you want approval to be automatic or would you like to screen affiliate applications before approving?
Automatic approval saves you the work of having to review every application. If your Affiliate Sign Up was by invitation only and hidden, then automatic approval would be the obvious choice. If you have no need for screening who becomes an affiliate then automatic approval makes sense. Screening makes sense if your affiliate sign up is open to the public and you want to review who becomes an affiliate and who doesn't.

One of the many features Full Partner offers is a complete affiliate package which allows you to set things exactly the way YOU choose. You can define the commission rates paid on specific products or events and you can set up different classes of affiliates, and also determine whether or not you automatically approve your affiliates. With the Full Partner Affiliate program, you can automatically calculate commissions to be paid and find accurate reporting on your affiliates for tax purposes.

Sign up here for a free consultation on how Full Partner can help get your affiliate program launched,
or call or email Ross at 800-778-0317, ext 1 / Ross.Harrington@fullpartner.com.

Need a Logo?

Posted on November 10, 2010 Sallee Haerr

Here is a great resource for logo design:

www.crowdspring.com

They have designers for hire, they have a pretty fast turn-around time, AND you will get a lot of choices to consider once you put your project out there.

Is your Small Business eCommerce System Killing Your Business?

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Dave Westfall

Yes, it could be killing your business, if your Small Business eCommerce System looks like this process map diagram that I put together for one of my clients:

                   

This is the kind of multi-vendor Internet Marketing model that I've found some my Social Media Optimization (SMO) clients using or attempting to create as their Small Business eCommerce System.  What we've found in my practice working with these patched together eCommerce systems is that it takes as much as 2-3 times the effort, requiring as many as 4 or 5 full or part-time people to maintain, just in an effort to produce some online sales.  Which means that the odds of success could be stacked against you...  For example; with a stand alone blog versus an integrated blog you potentially lose up to 90% of the visitor traffic that never get back to your main website...

Now, I understand why they use systems like this, because you have to know where your customers and sales are coming from.  As they say; "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it!" So, email marketing, opt-in squeeze pages, sales letters, landing pages, event management, affiliate tracking codes, auto responders, up-selling and cross-selling are all integral parts of a successful Internet Marketing campaign.

But, a recent Social Media Marketing study showed that 94% of coaches, consultants and other small businesses fail to generate sales from Internet Marketing or Social Networking websites... I'm seeing the same statistics in my Social Media and Internet Marketing practice.  I can understand that, especially if they are attempting to use and maintain this many separate disconnected systems.  So, dont' become "road kill" on the Information Super Highway!  All of that time and effort they are expending on building their Small Business eCommerce System is killing their business! 

That's why I use and recommend the seamless Full Partner Small Business eCommerce System to my Internet Marketing clients.  It's my secret time management weapon!  Using Full Partner, I know that 64% of my online sales come from my Social Media Viral Marketing efforts.  As shown in the diagram below, everything a Small Business needs to succeed in online marketing and more is contained in one robust cost effective Full Partner fully integrated website system that provides web power for business:

The fully integrated Full Partner system is quite a contrast to the multi-vendor model shown above and I've found that it requires a lot less time, cost and effort running my 4 websites using the Full Partner eCommerce system.

The Full Partner Web System has been developed to create and build powerful, fully integrated yet affordable Small Business eCommerce website solutions for its clients.  Full Partner has invested millions of dollars in this unique, proprietary system, with the purpose of “renting” its functionality to its clients at a very low cost, while providing a broad set of features and benefits usually reserved for expensive custom coded systems costing tens of thousands of dollars. Ask for your Free Demo.

Dave Westfall, MBA is Your Social Media Mentor and Internet Marketing Consultant who provides solid advice and proven solutions that work to help you grow your business.  Dave was recently quoted in the Wall Street Journal and uses his extensive business wisdom and knowledge to create winning Social Media Optimization (SMO) strategies and Viral Marketing campaigns for his clients.

Click on these links to follow Dave on Twitter or connect with him on Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn. Or for more information please visit Dave online.

Warmest Regards,

Dave Westfall, MBA
www.Your-Social-Media-Mentor.com 
DewPointe Ventures LLC

Landing Pages

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Renee Shannon

When Creating your sales funnel for your website, it is important to remember a few important points:

What is your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)?

1. A UVP is an offer or a free tool that engages consumers in an interactive relationship with your website, such as a free download, or a coupon for a percentage off their next purchase
2. What is the Call to Action (CTA)?
3. A CTA is an action that is required of a consumer to move through your sales funnel and take action on your UVP.
4. An example might be:
   • Get your Free Subscription with an email address
   • Sign up for your Free Ebook.

Creating a Landing Page/Sales Page

• A Landing Page or a Sales Page is a specific page designated on your site that allows users to gain information about a specific offer or unique product. 
• Landing pages create credibility for your company and message and Search Engines recognize Landing Pages and rank them higher. 
• Keep in mind using testimonials for your Landing Pages creates a personal touch that draws viewers in closer to your message. 
• Check out and example of one of our Landing Pages
  http://www.fullpartner.com/fullpartner/Public/LandingPages/AuthorSales/index.cfm

Web 2.0

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Renee Shannon

I invite you to come along on my journey into the exploding world of Social Media Networking and Internet Marketing 2010.

My head has been swimming in the last 18 months with the explosion of all the different Social Media Networks. How could anyone, (i.e. a normal non-IT/computer-programming person with a willingness to apply technology to business), keep track of all the different avenues of connection that have appeared?

I decided to start by taking a class that promised to “pull it all together” for me. Let’s see: There is HootSuite which will allow me to Tweet, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Blog in one handy place. I have Tweeted once, and this is my first actual blog, so my learning curve is going to be steep.

I then decided to master the internet with an online educational Mastery in Internet Marketing program from the University of San Francisco. And this is the journey I am inviting you to take with me. I am here to share with everyone what I learn and how we can help you make your internet dreams come true with Full Partner. So, stay tuned. Let’s see how we can make 2010 the most productive and abundant year ever for our web based businesses.

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