A Website's two key sucess factors

I've asked Michelle from Zeald.com for some information on websites, and here part one of a series.....

With people flocking to the internet to conduct research, request information and shop online, it is vital that local business owners understand how to use their website as a powerful sales and marketing tool. 

So where do you start?  The good news is that when it comes to online success, there are only two key factors to focus on.  The first of these is the number of unique visitors (or people) who come to your website.  The second is your conversion rate – that is, the percentage of visitors who buy something from you or make an enquiry. 

Your ability to influence these two factors for your own website comes down to the two ‘P’s’ of website success which we call ‘Promotion’ and ‘Persuasion’. 

The promotion of your website will directly influence visitor numbers and the persuasion of these visitors will determine your conversion rate. 

When it comes to where to put your energy, persuasion should always come first. 

Unfortunately, many people fall into the trap of spending lots of money on promoting their website and watch in sorrow as the website fails to persuade anyone to buy or show any interest in their products or services.  It’s like turning on the tap with a leaking hose and lamenting the lack of water at the other end. Fix the hose first, then turn on the tap!

If you’re wondering what makes a persuasive website, then stay tuned.  Over the coming weeks, we will explore this further so you can turn your website into a persuasive part of your marketing mix before you start focusing on its promotion.

Low Cost ex-lease computers

By Lindsay,
PC-TECH.BIZ is able to source low cost, name brand, ex-lease computers.  Both desktops and notebooks.  We are also able to get ex-lease displays as well.

Pricing - Desktops between $100 to $300 depending on specifications.  Notebooks between $300 to $400.

These computers are good for:
*   The kids need a computer (because you don't let your kids use your work computer), or
*   You need a back up computer (as mentioned in previous blogs, you should have 1 more computer than the number of computer users in your business).
*   You have an old, specialist application, that needs to be on a stand alone computer, and you can use one of these rather than spend the money on a new computer.

Call/email for details, and specifications that will match your requirements.

VOIP Revisited

By Lindsay,
As someone who thinks that voice over internet protocol (VOIP) has a future in  all small businesses, let me tell you how we have been experrimenting with it in-house.

First, we use a hosted service, and both the normal office number and 0800 number come to the same place.  We have two lines, and the second line has been set up so that caller ID will show the main office number - nice. 

We have also set up the incoming calls so that both phones ring at the same time.  And voicemail is automatically emailed to us.

Some nice features here.  All for $10/line/month.

The click of death

By Lindsay
One day you may turn on your notebook, and hear a clicking sound.  If you are lucky, your computer may start.  If unlucky it won't.  That's the click of death, as your hard drive has failed.
What to do?  Well if it still starts then backup your important information to a USB flash drive or external hard drive.  If it doesn't then there are only two courses of action.  These are:

1.  If a new computer (say less than 3 years old), and you have recovery DVD's, then you may be able to get a new hard drive, and recover it back to factory fresh, otherwise

2,  If it's an older computer, or you don't have recovery DVD's then it's time to go shopping and buy a new one.

If the hard drive had important information on it, there are forensic companies that can recover data even from crashed hard drives.  This can be an expensive undertaking though.