Consultant Shares Mojo Behind Website Facelift

The popularity of creating a dot com for your business has evolved to many websites in need of a facelift. The website facelift, like the human facelift (rhytidectomy) is a procedure used to make your website look more appealing by removing old programming and design wrinkles and enhance graphics with or without losing your brand recognition.

The website facelift is the role of your marketing consultant and brand manager or creative director. It's also a good idea to run your plans by the business owner before you start tinkering around with the brands image.

"If you are the business owner, you know how important it is that your businesses image reek with honesty, credibility, value, and intrigue. When you first had your website built, much like the date you were born - everything was beautiful. But as the years have past, much has changed on the outside and the inside - the same can be true for older websites"

The website that brought you new customers just 3 years ago, may be running out of steam as new points of distribution are created and innovative technologies (Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress, Digg, orkut, befo, Netlog, Flash, iPhone apps, Android, etc.) become more mainstream - many innovations may not integrate well with your website graphics, programming language, and marketing of your current website. So, how do you get your website's mojo back?

Fig. 1 (Dustcollectorco.com - Before Website Facelift)

Fig. 2 (Blastequipmentco.com - Before Website Facelift)

You might need a website facelift if your website looks like Dustcollectorco.com or Blastequuipmentco.com (Fig. 1 or Fig. 2). These websites were built more than 4 years ago. Though they both have great content, they both are very heavy in the text department. This text is valuable, however the way it is delivered needs to be updated and bring take advantage of some new innovations.

The steps you take can very like the wind, but there is a course of action that leads to a new website you can again be proud to own. There are 3 basic steps that business owner's can take:

1. Look at your competition; visits websites that "you" would feel confident if they represented your companies brand, mood, and appeal.
2. Ask the professionals to examine your website; locate a website designer and Internet marketing consultant.
3. Make a decision; let go of what has stopped working and promote your brand.

Like the human facelife, the website facelift may have a bit of discomfort in the first few weeks as you get use to the new look of your business. Sometimes there are new technologies related to how you manage your email or how your website content is updated, but many new advancements and innovations make owning and operations of your small business more manageable than just 3 years ago.

Fig. 3 (Dustcollectorco.com and Blastequipmentco.com combined into 1 Flash website with updated brand)

In Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, you see the first screenshots from the recent re-launch of Dustcollectorco.com and Blastequipmentco.com websites after the webiste facelift. In this case, our client took our suggestion to combine 2 older websites into 1 micro website. The website facelift brought a new logo design, new programming language and a rich user experience. Like a new baby, there will be growth and enhancements in the months and years to come, but now the client has a website (business storefront) that "reeks with honesty, credibility, value, and intrigue..." – now the website is more marketable and stands out among the competition. So when the opportunity exists, the first impression appeals to visitors.

Fig. 4 (After Website Facelift with Flash animation and enhanced layout to increase visitor experience)

Fig. 5 (After Website Facelift with advanced navigation and Flash animation to free user ability browse website)

Small business owners can benefit buy using advance experience software like Adobe Flash for websites. Although Flash has not made it to the tiny screen (mobile) just yet, Google has made it clear that significant strides in the ability of Google's search engines to index Flash content. This makes Flash an even brighter solution for your website design than anytime in dot com history because Google and Adobe have a growing relationship.

Get your website mojo back with a website facelift by Oevae Marketing Consultants, "the best marketing consultants in the world" – ask Google.


Make a brand difference.



Reference
Envirosystems Group
Oevae Marketing Consultants
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog

Express Yourself - Boost your brand over leading brands

To boost your brand over a leading brand is no easy task, but it is possible. And, unless you are drenched in connections, you really haven't a clue what move the leading brands are planning to do next. You can look at a companies history and wonder how a Kinko's Copy turned into FedEx Office (with Kinko's Inside sign on the door). You still hear the work "Kinko's" on television because the experience Kinko's offered was very unique, genuine, and provided what you need, whenever you needed it - kinda like having toilet paper in the bathroom - Kinko's was the Shizznit!

Somehow Kinko's lost the way into billions of dollars on an assorted bath of ownerships, partnerships, mergers and whatever else keeps the CFO smiling. That said, to have a successful brand (growing, evolving, loved) you should really stop depending on the leading brands to shape your road to success. This is especially true for the small business owner because you will not have the capital to zig when you see the leading brand zig. Instead you will be in zag and freezing cold in the "What's Hot" department.

"Stop following the leader; start spending your time with pad and pencil. Yes, this is similar to vinyl records, when compared to today's mytouch-blackberry-latte-mocha generation, but the time will allow you to uncover or rediscover your brands the unique qualities."
kinko's gave away kinkoid co-workers inside a ballpoint pen (above) to build brand recognition

I had the unique opportunity to sit in a small round table discussion with the founder of Kinko's, Paul Orfalea. We were there to discuss the reasons behind Kinko's success and what to do next. Mr. Orfalea clearly defined in just a few words, how the Kinko's brand started and where it was going. It's a remarkable story to listen to and ask questions about firsthand like I did. But over the years Kinko's has taken some fascinating moves in technology. You could say Kinko's would zig while others would zag. Other companies like Copymax tried to take a larger slice of Kinko's pie but they couldn't because Kinko's had crossed over to the viral. Even the 1999 movie Office Space mentions Kinko's. Who can compete with this type of branding? It's the same when you ask for a Kleenex, now knowing that you're really using a Puffs.

The name Kinko's name came from the founder's curly (kinky/kinkos) hair, the services arrived from the founder's basic needs as a college student and provided solutions for Paul Orfalea's disabilities (Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Boost (boast) your brands unique qualities and do not mimic those of the leading brands – don't follow the leading brands – it's far easier to be yourself than trying to be something you're not.

Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultant, the best marketing consultants in the world – ask Google.