On the internet, just as in person, the first impression can make or break your business.  Imagine walking past a store and the outside is falling apart, and the little bit you can see inside is no better.  Odd are, you won’t be shopping at that particular business.  On the internet, your website is your store, and making sure that the outside looks as good as the inside is important.  It’s vital to your business to make that person’s first experience with your website a positive one.

The initial contact your customer is going to have with your business will most likely be on a search engine.  A potential customer will search the internet for a particular service, and you obviously want your business to be near the top.  Customers are much more likely to visit a site that is in the top five on a search than one that may be buried further down the list.  So making sure that your website has good placement in an engine is imperative.  Search engine optimization companies specialize in helping businesses customize their website in order to give them better positioning on search engine results.  So enlisting the help of an SEO company can help drive more business.  Additionally, your company name, as well as additional information that pops up on a search will help business.  Make sure that your site has key words attached to the site name so that potential customers know that your business specializes in what they are looking for. 

Once a possible customer clicks on your link, the first thing they will see is the homepage.  This is going to be their first real experience with your company, so it’s important that the homepage is a good representation of not only your company, but of your target customer.  Make sure that the site content reflects what you want your customer to think of your company.  Have an image in mind of your company, whether it’s sleek and stylish or warm and inviting, and have a website that reflects that image.  Like a good first sentence in a book, a good homepage will keep the viewer interested and will compel them to stay and explore. 

Finally, in addition to the layout and theme of the homepage, make sure to keep the first site current.  Whether it be through a daily message and weekly blog or monthly specials, it’s important for customers to know that you are maintaining the site.  Like a rundown store front, an unmaintained homepage gives potential customers the impression of a faltering business.  Show your presence to your customers so they know that you care as much about the appearance of your company and website as you will about their business.

You can never make another first impression, so make sure it’s a good one.  From search engine results to image to upkeep, a potential customer is going to judge your business on the first few clicks into your site, so make sure that those few clicks are memorable.  It will help drive business and keep people coming back for more.

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Check out the new dynamic website design for Ed Hoy’s International, who specializes in wholesale art glass and supplies. Visitors to the site will quickly find how many great resources it offers, and see what an easy to navigate website it is despite the size. You can browse their new products page for their latest offers, or if you are looking to learn more about the industry, Ed Hoy’s offers many great resources on the website. For example, art teachers can find out the latest on their ceramic kiln at the art teachers page, which even includes a School Spotlight to learn more about local school art classes.

The homepage design includes a large flash banner, which scrolls through multiple pictures of Ed Hoy’s products. Visitors can also view the calendar of classes and events to find out what’s going on soon. It is easy for the administrator to update events, and viewing one even shows you more details and gives you the ability to register for the event online. Finally, this art website includes a virtual catalog for anyone to browse through.

From Ed Hoy’s International: At Ed Hoy’s International, exceeding our customer’s expectations is a daily goal. We have been a leader in the art glass industry for over 30 years. Throughout these years, our goal has been to consistently bring our customers new and innovative products, education and marketing ideas.

For more examples of web design and to contact us, visit our website design portfolio.

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We are proud to announce the release of Timothy Whaley & Associates’ new website. This is the latest design for a photography company that we have added to our web design portfolio. This photography company wanted a new and expressive website to showcase all the romantic wedding moments that they capture. For instance, it includes galleries like local weddings, destination weddings, engagement portraits, other portraits and venue images.  The new website has plenty of pictures and videos; it is easy to “feel” every great moment for a lifetime when you move through every page.

The home page for http://www.twaphoto.com includes images of their weddings, and the menu bar helps you browse all the useful information for Timothy Whaley & Associates. This website offers the ability to schedule a consultation and view many of the easy to navigate picture galleries. If you have proofs that you want to view, simply login to the website and you can see them. The Timothy Whaley & Associates website gives you the opportunity to see beautiful photographs and do everything you need for your wedding photographer in one place online.

To view more of our E-commerce website designs and other new custom website designs Systemtek has developed, just visit our portfolio here: http://systemtek.net/portfolio.php

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Systemtek is pleased to announce the completion of the new website for the Heaventree Candle Company! This handmade candle company out of Lake Zurich, Illinois wanted a new website where they could sell their assortment of candles online and give people a chance to learn more about their company.

The homepage for www.heaventreecandles.com includes large images of their carved column candles, and organizes everything so you can start shopping right away. The left sidebar has all of the candle categories listed, so a shopper can go right to the category they want. There, you can choose among a variety of different products within that category. Once you have selected the exact product you want, the fun begins!

Depending on the style of candle, it may come in many different sizes and colors. One great aspect of this website is that you can click on different colors to see examples of that candle in all available color options. Once you have decided to purchase one, just add to the cart, make sure you have signed into your account, and proceed to checkout.

To view more of our E-commerce website designs and other new custom website designs Systemtek has developed, just visit our portfolio here: Naperville Website Design

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Are you a mortgage broker, lawyer, financial advisor or a plumber? Did you know a service business can significantly increase leads and customer loyalty by an effective website? Does your service business website generate leads and bring customers? If not, I’ll explain what went wrong.

1. Your website does not look professional

Your homepage is the first impression of your business that you give to your potential customers online. One main reason people visit a service business website, is to see if the company is trustworthy. According to a 2006 web user survey, 60% of people don’t trust businesses with poorly designed websites. If you give wrong the impression to your potential customers, they will leave and visit your competitor’s website. A professional look and feel gives your potential customers assurance of your credibility. Once a visitor opens your site, your business is judged for better or worse. What impression does your website give?

2. Your website contents are out of date

When did you last modify your website content? Is your website still advertising last year’s events? How efficiently does your homepage flow into your detailed service pages? How effectively do you introduce your services on your web pages?

When your potential clients visit your website, they are expecting to find answers for their questions. If you give them outdated information or fail to express your service details effectively, you can’t expect leads from them. You may also give a poor impression of your business.

3. You didn’t market your website

Unlike your actual business building, your website may not be visible to your customers. You may have heard about search engine marketing and website optimization. If you are not a computer geek or don’t have time to learn about HTML, try to focus on off-line marketing. Try to put your website address on every possible marketing collateral, such as your business cards and direct mail.

4. Your website doesn’t encourage visitors to take action

Action could be a call for free consultation, signing up for a newsletter or sending an e-mail to request a quote. If you have a great looking website with useful content for website visitors, you should try to convert them into customers. Try to put action items on every page with some urgency. People usually don’t react when there is no urgency.

5. You never measure the effectiveness

Do you know how many leads are generated through your website? And how many leads turn into real customers? If you know how effective your website is, you can enhance your website to improve in the future.

Impress your visitors with a positive and professional business image. Even if they don t become your customers right away, impressed visitors can soon become your customers.

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Skyline Balloons Screenshot

Systemtek is proud to announce our latest website project for Skyline Balloons & Advertising Solutions. The outdoor advertising company wanted a new and improved website to showcase their wide range of products in categories like character balloons, sky dancers, sky busters and window graphics. The new website has large pictures of many of their products, and gives interesting industry facts and quotes on every page.

Another feature of this Naperville Web Design is the custom contact form that Skyline Balloons wanted to include on the website, so that any interested customers could request any product they wanted and send an email to Skyline Balloons.

Checkout this bright new, easy to navigate website and others on our Portfolios Page.

About Skyline Balloons:

Skyline Balloons & Advertising Solutions is a fully licensed, bonded and insured company focused on getting you noticed with a whole new shape to advertising. The cost effectiveness and return on investment makes their products the perfect advertising tool.

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So you have a web site–Does it sell? Do you want to increase the conversation rate and sales on your web?

Then you definitely want to check this out: To add a real talking character on your web site and let him speaks for you!  It is the REAL PERSON that you are trying to attract so putting a real person on your web does make people feel refreshing and treated!

Check out our latest web site feature: Live web spokesperson that could let your web talk and sell product for you! Check us out if you would like your web site stands out and significantly increase your sales!

Having a real person walk onto your website is a new and powerful way to motivate your customers to take action. Using an Online Virtual Spokesperson on your website allows you to: introduce your home page, spice up your FAQ, guide traffic, drive call to action on lead forms, and create landing pages and tutorials. Tailor your message any way you want.

This type of online video advertising is also known as a Spokesperson Video, Virtual Spokesperson, Web Commercials, Video Salesperson, Internet Spokesperson and Web Spokesperson  just to name a few that will bring your website to life! Now you can have your own Spokesperson just like TV that represents your company’s website, products and services by capturing your visitor’s attention, delivering professional dialogue and turning them into paying customers. Imagine having a company website spokesperson 24/7 that Greets, Informs and Sell your products/services to visitors right from the website.

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La Finesse Skin & Hair Care

We have recently completed the new website for La Finesse Skin & Hair Care. La Finesse is a line of products to keep your hair and skin looking beautiful. This beauty web design was made with a big, bright homepage image to showcase La Finesse’s products.

Products have been conveniently broken down into two different pages for skin or hair care. On those pages, visitors can view pictures of each product for sale, a detailed description and even purchase the products online.

Systemtek is currently working on other website design in Naperville and other cities in the Chicago area too. Stop by soon to see some of the other brand new website designs we have launched.

About La Finesse

The La Finesse Skincare and Haircare products were developed for the enhancement and revitalization of your skin and hair. The products are all natural and vitamin based for your personal well being, healthy appearance and are recommended for anti-aging.

www. llinternational.net

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Optimize Your Twitter

If you have set up a Twitter account, you’ve probably seen how different people use it for business. There are some companies that stand out with great tweets and a large number of followers, and then others that you might follow for a few days and then lose interest. So what sets them apart? Here are some Twitter tips I like to make sure I’m thinking about to get followers and keep them by getting people to react to your posts.

Get new followers by:

• Promote your Twitter presence at the beginning so that you gather at least 50 quality followers
• Link your company homepage in your Twitter profile, don’t link your LinkedIn or FriendFeed etc.
• If your brand is already established, use your logo as your Twitter Avatar

Keep them by:

• Don’t link back to your website every time you use Twitter, keep it occasional
• Don’t flood your followers by tweeting dozens of times per hour
• Limit your private tweets to a reasonable percentage, so it stays relevant to your industry

Get reactions by:

• Spread news stories early so that your Twitter profile views increase
• Follow some popular Twitter users and socialize with them, even mention them on Twitter
• Give promotions and even freebies from your company

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Get More Visitors!

Now that you have a great new web design for your company, you want to make sure people are actually visiting it. There are many ways to attract people to your website besides waiting on your search engine optimization efforts to bring you to the top of Google. Depending on your business, some methods of bringing more visitors to your website might be better than others. Here are a few ways we recommend driving more traffic to your website.

Social Media

The verdict is out: you need to be involved in the social media community! Remember, your goal with social media should be to get people to visit your actual website. By getting involved in the conversation on sites like Twitter and Facebook, you can discuss relevant information with people and start to develop groups that all share the same interest. Getting involved may take some time, but social media will only help your business as much as you let it. Facebook also has advertising functions that might allow your company the right exposure. It all depends on the market you are trying to attract and how many of them are using Facebook.

Blog

By having a blog for your company and updating it frequently, your website will have new, fresh content that the search engines like to see. Maybe more importantly though, you are sharing valuable information with people out there that you want to visit your website. You should also find other people’s blogs that have relevant information for your company. By following them, you will learn more useful tips and stay on top of the latest trends. It is a good idea to post comments on other blogs too, because that will get you involved in the conversation and help you grow valuable relationships. Some blogs even allow you to leave a link going back to your main website. Make sure your comments are of value though, because writing “Great post!” will not make people want to click on the link you provided for your website.

Google Adwords

Google is a powerful way to attract people to your website, even if your SEO doesn’t have you at the top of the keyword search results. By setting up Adwords for your company, you have the freedom to list your online advertisements how you want to. Your ad will appear at the top or the side of the search results page, in the area that says “Sponsored Links”. Adwords allows you to customize the ad, pay as much as you want to each month and make your advertisements appear for the keywords that you want. By using these targeted keywords, you can run very cost effective advertising online.

Other ways to get involved in online conversations and develop groups of people to communicate with include online article submitting sites like ezine.com, press releases and forums. There are a lot of people blogging and communicating on forums online. Start out by finding a few that are worth following and try adding a couple each week. By staying in contact with more and more people, you can watch the number of visitors to your site grow.

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