The Importance of Good Web Design & Available Internet Marketing Options in Zimbabwe

1. The Importance of Good Web Design &Available Internet Marketing Options in Zimbabwe byDereck Goto (Web Entangled) | 18 July 2013 | Digital Pulse www.webentangled.com

2. The Importance of Good Web Design

3. A well designed website A poorly designed website reflects badly on your level of professionalism and your seriousness as an organization. Ultimately, the website’s quality should represent your business. Whether your’e on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, a website is usually the backbone of your online presence. After engaging users on social media or anywhere else online, you will lead users to your website to perform specific tasks. Once they get there you need to impress them, otherwise they will go elsewhere. Professionalism Online presence backbone www.webentangled.com

4. Aesthetics | Functionaly People are quick on the web – largely because of the large amount of options available to them. You only have +/-15 seconds to make a statement with the website visitor. You have to make your website’s overall aesthetics appealing, while at the same time all graphics and images have to load within those 15 seconds. Visitors to your website should be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, if they can’t, they will just go to another site. This has becomes such an important element for websites that a new career has emerged from it – the User Interface Designerwhose sole purpose is to make sure the website’s elements work together to best serve the website’s user. Visual Appeal & Speed User Experience www.webentangled.com

5. Conversion | Impact We all design and develop our websites for a specific reason. It may be to make sales directly or it may be to have people sign up for your e-newsletter or just to provide them with information. Whatever it is you are trying to accomplish your site has to be designed with this in mind. There is little value to getting lots of visitors to your site if they are not doing what you need them to do. People have been overly exposed to the internet with some estimates stating that the average surfer views hundreds of websites per month. Most people now know a good website when they see one. You need to stand-out to make an impact on your site visitors A good website will help build your brand and reputation. Call-to-Action You need to stand-out www.webentangled.com

6. Branding | Relevance Your website can actually be your client’s first interface with your business. This is particularly true for SME’s with an online presence. You would not want a client to have negative assumptions about your business because of a poorly designed and developed website. A well designed and maintained website remains relevant. If you do not update products and services on your website, users might think you are no longer in business or not current with the online age. Good Branding Relevance www.webentangled.com

7. Visibility | Security Remember a website is visible 24/7 to people all over the globe, your website is your most powerful marketing tool. No printed brochure or newspaper advert reaches more potential clients or offers the flexibility to easily update content as your business grows. This has been a largely ignored aspect of Zimbabwean designed websites because we have had no e-Commerce industry to talk of. Now that local banks are issuing online usable cards and we have v-payments and maybe Ecocash API soon, it is important to invest in your website’s security. Hackers are waiting for Zimbabwean companies to start transacting online to exploit any security loopholes. Visibility Security www.webentangled.com

8. SEO | Cost Comparison Not only does your website need to be effective to human readers, your coding and website content should be easily accessible to search engine robots. A website optimized for search engines is well placed in the organic search results. At Web Entangled, over 90% of new business comes through Google. We have managed to go on-top of the search results page for industry specific keywords and phrases. The benefit is that we are the first option presented to the surfer by Google when they search for “web design in Zimbabwe” . How much money did you spend on your office reception? The expensive leather sofas, the custom lighting, the artwork? Now, how many people come through your reception each day? 10, 20, 30? Compare this to the hundreds or thousands of visitors who visit your website per week. In most instances not many receptions even come close to reaching such a broad audience.  Search Engine Optimisation Consider this: www.webentangled.com

9. …and then? Anyone who invests in a god website needs to know that it is a huge responsibility to keep their website relevant. You need to commit resources to keep your website relevant with the latest company and product information and in-sync with the latest technologies. Today, more than ever, you need to creatively invest in Social Media into the future After the good website, what next? www.webentangled.com

10. Internet Marketing Options in Zimbabwe

11. Google | Social Media For most Zimbabwean companies getting listed on Google’s first search result page isn’t very difficult as long as you follow good search engine optimization techniques. Obviously as more companies develop websites, the competition is only going to get tougher. You can also pay for an advert on Google’s search result page. Facebook – create and manage a professional account Twitter – create and manage a professionalaccount You might also consider engaging users with with many Likes or Followers on their profiles to ask them to link to you website. You can also pay for adverts on these social media channels Google Social Media www.webentangled.com

12. Classifieds | Mailing Lists This has been so successful that it has hundreds of thousands of subscribers and posts and should have millions of hits per month. In addition to free posting of adverts you can also open a storefront for your company for greater visibility. You can visit the website on www.classifieds.co.zw for more information Particularly relevant to the SME/Startups Leaders are: Dipleague Finditfast.co.zw Zim-Biz Mailers Classifieds.co.zw Mialing Lists www.webentangled.com

13. Niche websites | News websites If your website targets a specific group of people you can advertise on specialist websites. Examples: Techzim Bulls & Bears Creative Loop CZI Portal Online news websites are the most visited websites in Zimbabwe. They offer advertising space for a fee. Examples: New Zimbabwe Herald Newsday Bulawayo24 Nehandaradio Daily News Techzim Niche Websites Online “Newspapers” www.webentangled.com

14. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME +263772652348 | dgoto@webentangled.com | www.webentangled.com