The internet should be part of every business's marketing strategy. The foundation of a successful online campaign is a crisp, user friendly website. It is as important as the curb appeal of your building and the look and layout of your sales floor. Here are some universal tips on web design to consider before inviting potential customers to your site:
Make it Easy to Read This may sound obvious but too many sites try to get creative with colored text on a colored background. Red on blue is especially hard for the eye to see clearly. Go for high contrast between text and background. Black on white or the reverse delivers the best readability.
Avoid Music, Sound Effects or Animations Features that seem cool and entertaining on the first visit to a site can be downright annoying for repeat visitors. Plus they can delay screen load times which is equally frustrating.
Make it Easy to Navigate Give the most important information prominent positioning on the site. Hours, directions, contact numbers and services / products offered are the most important. Also, make it easy to go from page to page and to return to the 'home' page quickly.
Keep the Site Up to Date Nothing says 'we don't pay attention to details' better than out of date listings on a website. Even if it's only a day or two, or happens over a weekend, this is a website killer.
Don't Forget Mobile Customers! A majority of consumers will have web-enabled smartphones this year. This gives millions of consumers instant access to the internet to research products and services before they make a purchasing decision. A website that looks great on a big 20" monitor can be a disaster on an iPhone, Android or Blackberry screen. A mobile website that is optimized for these current and prospective customers is crucial in today's marketplace. Delmarva Broadcasting offers mobile website design and hosting services for its clients.
Delmarva Broadcasting has 12 radio station websites, a teen safe driving site and a half-off retail discount site. Collectively we receive over 4.7 million site visits and 22.3 million page views a year.
Each visit to our sites is an opportunity to engage consumers with visual and audio sales messages. We also saw 1.8 million streaming session last year primarily reaching people listing through their computers at work. They are a great audience to target as they are generally employed and have the internet at their fingertips allowing them to instantly respond to a special offer or invitation.
We can target your advertising by station demographic and geography to give your message the best exposure among prospects most interested in your type of products or services.
Examples of Digital Advertising Products
Delmarva Broadcasting has an in-house interactive division that can produce digital ads if you don't have ready access to this type of ad material.
Banners
We offer several IAB standard banner ad sizes. These can be fixed positions or in rotation across one or more sites.
For the right project you may want to use video to expand on your selling message. This can be on a special landing page or in advance of video or audio content that is accessed through our websites.
Audio
Every radio station we have streams its content online and to smartphones through free apps available in iTunes and other app stores. The commercial content on these streams is separate from our terrestrial radio broadcasts and offers a very efficient way to reach digital friendly consumers.
Example
Reputation Management
This is an actual review that was posted on Yahoo.local about a car dealer in New Castle County, Delaware. It could be a disgruntled employee, it could be a dishonest competitor or, it could be true. Either way, if it was your business you need to know what people are saying about you online. Delmarva Broadcasting offers its clients an extensive Reputation Management software package that automatically alerts you whenever anything good, bad or neutral is posted about you online.
Our Reputation Management Software reports on:
Reviews on Yahoo, Google, Yelp and all the major sites
Mentions in blogs or articles
Uniformity of your listings on the net to help boost visibility to search engines
Your share of web activity compared to your competitors
Social media activity showing Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare activity for your company
This is an essential tool for anyone in business today and can be included in a variety of programs offered by Delmarva Broadcasting.
