Month: February 2013

Reduce Operating Cost with Website Workflows

I have advocated in the past that websites and domains are assets not liabilities. With the right digital marketing strategies, these virtual assets can be used to connect with quality customers, broadcast your brand promise and build your brand credibility and equity over time. Did you know that you could also use your virtual assets (your website) to operate your business? Yes you can with the right website workflow application!!

The Internet is well known for it’s ability to act as a virtual store but it can do much more. In fact whether you are in the business of selling products or providing services you should consider the possibility of integrating and automating the back office functions of your business. Website workflows can be used to drive operating efficiencies and accuracies throughout your business.

Many business owners view their website and domain as an expense. Some business owners even avoid this perceived expense by dodging the virtual solution for their business entirely. This type of thinking puts limits on the power and possibilities of the web.

Reduce Admin Cost with Website Workflow ApplicationLet us explore some of the transactions that could be integrated and automated via a website for an Electrician. Below is a list of business processes that could be automated via a website.

Capture and submit Request for Quote
Capture Work Approval (linked to Request for Quote)
Dispatch Work Order to team remotely
Capture Work Completion details (on Client’s site)
Generate Invoice immediately (before team member leaves the Client’s site)
Collect Payment immediately
Capture Employee Work Hours
Update Accounting software automatically
Initiate Customer Survey
Collect Customer Survey data
Analysis Survey Data – Customer Satisfaction
Provide Performance Feedback
Improve Customer Experience
Sales Reporting
The automation of these types of business operating activities is what I call “Website Utilization”. It is also important to note that this level of automation via a website is possible for small, medium and large size businesses. This is one of the many beauties of the Internet. It is a great equalizer. This level of automation would reduce administrative cost, improve cash flow, automate workflow to drive efficiency and create business data repositories that could be used to grow and improve the business over time.

So I would encourage you to remove the limits and judgments you may have placed on the Internet and on websites. Think instead of how you could integrate this very important asset into the daily operating fabric of your business.

Your Website & Domain are Assets!

Your Website and Domain Name are Assets not liabilities. With the right digital marketing strategies and website workflow automations the value of your website and domain name will increase in value over time. It is therefore important to invest into the ongoing development and protection of your Website and your brand.

Below is a table that parallels the strategic marketing and business investments required to increase the value of a brick and mortar business versus a virtual online business.

Brick & Mortar Business

Virtual Online Business

Building Signage, Billboards, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Radio, TV, News Paper Pay Per Click, Affiliate marking, news Letters, Email Marketing
Trade Shows, Conference, Networking Groups Social Media Mediums
Technology, Operating Processes Workflows, Forms, Applications, Online Payment, Member Subscription
Sales, Customer Count, Goodwill Detail Analytics that captures and retains customer traffic and customer behavior information
Other Value indicators for a Website and Domain Name:

Key Points to consider when selecting a Domain Name:

register all Domain Extensions to reduce competition of brand confusionRelevance – A domain name that describes your business products or services is relevant. If the domain name is also easy to remember relevance increases. A relevant domain name could also positively influence your search engine results. These factors work together to increase the value of your website over time. Please note that it is also possible to take and obscure name and create brand awareness and relevance with the right branding strategies. Companies like Google and Facebook are great examples of this type branding strategy.

Domain Age – A domain that has been live for a long time could rank better in search engines. High search engine ranking will drive traffic to the site, which makes it valuable.

Generic Domain Name – If a domain name has common word or words and common spelling which is easy to remember and type it will be more valuable

Domain Extension – The most popular and best extension for a domain name is .com. Most users assume that domain name will end with .com. Similarly most browsers default to domain name that ends with .com. To further increase the value of a website you should register all extensions to lock out any future competition and increase the value of your domain extension in the future.

Domain Name Length – A short domain name is more valuable.

Number of words in the Domain Name – A domain name with few words is more valuable. Therefore a one-word domain name would have a very high value.

Conclusion

Taking the steps required to increase the value of your website and domain name over time will increase sales and brand equity today. Therefore you should work with the right digital marketing and content strategist to map out your online marketing plan annually. A marketing plan that integrates, tracks and analysis traditional marketing as well is ideal.