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In This Issue
Do You Still Need A Website
How To Make Your Website More Social
Continuing Blogs from a Mad Man
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The state of the online world

CNet News reports that Stephen Haines, commercial director of Facebook's UK operations, told an audience in London that a time may be coming when companies won't bother to create websites. Facebook will be more than enough.

This would be great news for Haines and the rest of the Facebook family, certainly. But is it true?

In this issue of The Claymanite, we'll talk about why building your brand via other marketing channels (like Social Media) should supplement but not replace your company's website. We'll also share some ideas with you regarding how to make your site more engaging and interactive.

Speaking of interacting, we hope you will weigh in with your thoughts. Just respond to this email!



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Do You Still Need A Website?

Back in August of 2010, Wired Magazine announced that the web is dead. The argument was that because everyone is using mobile devices, which deliver information, news, rich media, and more via applications (or apps), no one really needs to go to a website or the world wide web. Everything you need can be delivered to you. Now Facebook is sending out a similar message - you don't need a website because everyone will be using Facebook.

But are these statements really true?

It's not a "This or That" issue

One common line of thinking these days is that when one idea gets "hot", other ideas immediately get "cold". As the web grew, people questioned if print was dead. As Social Media grew, people asked if traditional marketing was dead. This is faulty logic, however, and the same holds true when discussing whether you need a website now that Social Media and mobile devices are evolving into powerful forces in the marketing world. Building your brand in a new channel does not make your website obsolete. In fact, we argue that as your brand gets stretched into more and more marketing channels, having a core space for all of your company's information becomes more necessary, not less.

Five important reasons to keep your website

1. Own your content: Saying that Facebook is the wave of the future is okay so long as you realize that you don't own any of the content that you put there. Your company images, your posts, your status updates, and everything else you do on Facebook belongs to Facebook. On your website, the information is yours.

2. People expect to learn how to buy: On Social Media sites, the emphasis is on engaging and interacting with existing and potential customers. While you still want your website to engage visitors, it's not considered poor etiquette to sell your products and services on your website. It's expected. On the other hand, selling via a Facebook page or a Twitter account can result in you losing "fans" and followers.

3. A great place to bring leads: Whether you have a lead because of a Facebook fan page or a print ad, it's extremely important to drive that lead to a place where they can access more specific information. A website allows you to create different kinds of landing pages and a wide variety of informational pages so that leads from all over your marketing channels can feel welcome. Can you drive leads to an app?

4. Losing control is okay except when it's not: A lot of people in the world of Social Media talk about how companies need to learn how to "lose control." People are talking about your brand, your products, and your services, and the best you can do is try to make sure the buzz about your company is positive. For the most part, this philosophy is okay. However, there are some things you do want to continue to control. For example, if your product name is registered or trademarked, it's important to have that noted somewhere. If you have a sales network, it's important to let people know how to actually access it.

5. The Log-In factor: Especially for B2B companies, who sometimes need to distribute information to a distributor or sales network, it is important to have a way to protect information online. Because websites are hosted, controlled, and monitored fully, they represent the best option for housing sensitive information that a sales network or employees would need to access via a password-protected log-in.

All of this being said, there are plenty of good reasons to enhance the experience your website visitors will have when they land on your website. Static web pages that are all about your company and not at all about your customers are receding into distant memory.

In the next story, we give you some ideas on how to enhance your website for the social age without losing the benefits we outlined above.



 
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How To Make Your Website More Social
 
As discussed in the article above, Facebook is not the end all for a company. A company website is just as, if not even more important, than a Facebook page. If a company website is going to be more important than the company's Facebook page, the website needs to give visitors reasons to stay on the site and come back often.

In this article, we'll give you 10 different ways to make a company website more interactive.

1. Instructional Videos -  If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth even more. Rather than having a visitor read long text or jump between pages, it's more interesting to explain how your product or service works through a video.  

2. Interactive FAQ - Allow visitors to send questions about your product or service or industry in general. Once you receive a few questions, post them to a page on your website along with your answers.

3. Testimonials/Success Stories - Urge your customers to send positive experiences they've had with your products or services. When you have received a few, add them to your site to let other visitors know that you have a trusted brand.

4. Blog - A blog gives you a chance to talk openly to visitors about your industry and allows visitors to comment or ask questions. In order to make a blog work effectively, you must encourage visitors to comment and you must check back frequently and respond to questions.

5. Customer Image Gallery - Allow customers to upload pictures of themselves using your products or services. This serves as a mini-testimonial through images and encourages visitors to interact with your brand.

6. Trade Show Videos - This is another way to use a mini-testimonial. Next time you are at a trade show, record visitors who come to your booth and interview them about your products or services or the industry in general.

7. Website Promotions - A great way to draw visitors to your site is through promotions such as a contest to win one of your products or an item such as an iPad. This is also a great way to receive contact information from visitors.

8. Industry Talk - Your customers want to know what's going on in the industry in which they work. A great and interactive way to inform them of industry trends is through the company president. About once a month, or even once a quarter, the president of the company could give a brief overview or state of the industry and the recorded statement could be posted to your site.

9. Interactive Calendar - An easy way to let visitors and customers know what trade shows you will be attending is through an interactive calendar. Each time your company either attends or exhibits at a trade show, it can be posted on the calendar.

10. Social Media Open Graph - Have you ever seen the "Like" button on Social Media sites or news sites? These kinds of buttons can be added to any page on your website. This lets you know what your visitors like about your website or certain products or services you provide.

The reason Social Media is so popular today is because people can interact without leaving their homes. More and more companies are adopting this kind of interactivity into their own websites. How interactive is your website? Let us know if any of these ideas interest you!  
Continuing Blogs from a Mad Man   
Larry's trying to define what it is to be resilient. He's not quite there yet, but he's showing great resilience in trying. Read his blog to get his take.  
Sincerely,