How To Deal With Unhappy Customers

Irrespective of the quality of their work, designers may come across some customers, who are definitely unreasonable and hard to get by. They should be handled wisely. No matter how professional you may be at web design, there are a few habitually unhappy customers who will always find something to complain about. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, you may use these tactics to handle the situation. Listen to them The primary way of dealing with unhappy customers is to have them speak out regarding their concerns. Do not interrupt. The aim is to allow them to speak and get it out of the system; that way you can genuinely know what is bothering them and how to help. When it’s your turn, tell them that you have understood their concern and will resolve their issue as soon as possible. They will be glad that you have heard them out and are willing to rectify things. So make sure that you ‘walk the talk’, and resolve it right away. However, you need to ensure that they do not resort to abusive language in order to make their point. Abusive words and actions need not be used to propel you to carry out your job. Take Time to Respond It is best not to respond to such unreasonable comments immediately. Given that your communication with clients is through email or telephone, take an hour or two before responding. This will allow you see the correct perspective of things, and also, stop you from responding unprofessionally. Stop Escalation If a client speaks to you in an annoying voice or is downright abusive, do not hit back in a similar way. Maintain an air of dignity and professionalism and do not stoop to their level. If not, things may get blown out of proportion.

Self-Introspection t is being very critical of you, DO NOT concentrate on how to ‘fight’ back. Just take a deep breath and reflect on the possibilities; maybe your work is indeed not up to the mark. The client may be right and some mistake may have occurred. If so, think along the lines of, what went wrong and how it can be fixed. It could be that the client is clearly mistaken and the error is of their own doing. But, in order to be sure of that, you need to think logically. Move On In spite of your self-introspection and promise to resolve any issues, if the client is still being unreasonable, then it may be the right time to move on. There is really no wisdom, fighting over a small amount, you may pay it off and let go. It really doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, you cannot afford to waste your time and energy on clients who is unreasonable. You may do so politely, pay those unhappy customers, and bow out respectfully. These are a few pointers on dealing with unhappy customers, which can go a long way ensuring the smooth running of your web design business.

Search Engine Optimization(SEO) Techniques Which Must Be Avoided

SEO is important for any website. However, it must be done in the right way; a few mistakes need to be avoided. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is very important for a website to increase its online visibility. There are ways to achieve it ethically. However, there are also some SEO techniques which are best to be avoided. Page Jacking of Competitors This is nothing but the copying of the entire website of a competitor in terms of its code, content, SEO keywords, links; and then changing those links to point toward your own website or products. If you don’t copy all the content except the optimization part, even then, your website will be flagged off as improper and will face a ban from search engines, sooner or later. Keyword Stuffing Some SEO techniques like stuffing a website’s content with keywords may have worked in the past; nowadays you get penalized for it by Google. You may instead create content on the website with one or two specific keywords. You may use Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) i.e., the use of similar keywords to avoid keyword stuffing. However make sure that the words you use are natural, and do not alter the flow of the sentence. Copying Domain Name A trademarked keyword cannot be used in your domain name. For example, we cannot use googleproducts.com or Yahooplacements.com, even if it may be available. If not, you may get a call from Yahoo or Google’s Legal team. Copyrighted words cannot be used in a domain name. If a website goes ahead and uses those keywords illegally, then it’s just a matter of time before they are penalized as per law of the land. Using TM keywords in Meta Tags Using trademarked (TM) keywords in meta tags may not be illegal, however, it is always better to be on the safer side and avoid incorporating them into our affordable web design. Instead of channeling our efforts into risky SEO techniques which can land us into trouble (or future lawsuits); we may as well do things the right way.

PPC Trademarked Sites There are certain keywords which are trademarked in Pay per Click (PPC). Those respective companies invested a lot of money so that they get a top ranking for the keyword, no-matter-what. Trying to outsmart them will again get you banned from Google and other PPC providers. Fully Depending on Back links with Bad Content Having backlinks to your site is not everything. There are other factors like the ones below.

Good Content
Social Media Links
Website (Optimization, Speed, Site appeal)

Along with backlinks, the above three factors decide your website’s SEO status. Thus, we can see that a good Search Engine Optimisation ranking is not attained by shortcuts. A lot of hard work goes into it, along with the above specified DO’s and DON’Ts.

Tips For A Higher Google Ranking And SEO Optimisation Of Your Blog Content

The whole purpose behind getting a new website is to make you visible to the online community. You have to keep in mind that there are search engines out there, and that SEO Optimisation is essential for the online visibility your content. Having said that, how do you make sure that your blog ranks high on search engines? Here are the basic steps to follow, so that your site remains a ‘search engine favourite’ and has a top Google ranking. Size does Matter: Ideal Length for Blog Titles Make sure that the titles are 55-60 characters long. If they are longer, they will appear ‘cut’ in Google search results. Your title is sometimes the only thing your prospective customer user sees. So make sure it is enticing enough for them to stop, and click on it. While you are at it, make sure that you don’t add ‘click bait’ titles. Click bait titles are usually misleading. So respect your audience, and give them more of what they want. Providing relevant content is also important for seo optimisation. Let your title deliver what it promised, and not just serve as click bait while your content has nothing to do with it. Break it Up Break up your post into sub headings. This will enable the viewers to scan your post and read the section which interests them more. It is also good for seo optimisation. Having sub headings dispersed throughout the post gives the reader a gist of what it’s about, just by skimming through it. Therefore, they can just scan the headings, get an idea as to what the posting is about and take the desired call-to-action (CTA). Value Added Content Let your content provide value to your online readers. That way, they will be enthusiastic about your next blog post and bookmark or subscribe to it. They will not only subscribe, but also share your blog post if it is good. Your audience basically wants solutions to its problems. So, you need to position yourself as an expert in your field and genuinely provide solutions to their most common problems. When your blog gets a lot of engagement, it also helps seo optimisation.

Stay Relevant with Keywords Keywords are seriously not what they once used to be, thanks to the regular changes in Google’s rules that govern SEO Optimisation. Stuffing keywords doesn’t do you any good. You content is what actually matters. Great content gives you results in the long run. You will definitely see ‘Terminator-like’ Google SEO algorithms come in future and destroy websites not adhering to Google Best Practices. Having said that, you still need to use keywords in the title and text; that’s the only way you can stay relevant to your niche and people will be able to search for you in the first place. Just make sure that these keywords are not over used or alter the meaning. Add Visuals Everyone is aware of the fact, that a picture is worth more than a 1000 words. Some people do not read the whole blog, they just skim through it. By having a picture with a description or perhaps an info-graphic, you can attract a lot more attention to your blog. Rather than having continuous and non ending paragraphs with no visual whatsoever, it is good to add relevant pictures in between to sustain visitors’ interest. No matter how interesting your blog may be, people will still not look at it, unless it contains at least one relevant image. Following the above factors can ensure that you get a lot of traffic and achieve a good Google ranking via SEO Optimisation. Do you have any SEO tips which we may have missed out? Do let us know in the comments below.

Tips for Marketing Online To International Customers

Getting a website done, exclusively for a foreign audience is not a bad idea. However one needs plan his moves carefully, in this relatively unknown territory to stand a chance of survival. Here are some tips on how to go about it. Knowledge about the legal Issues If you have the knowledge of the law of the land, it can save a lot of money and time. You need to know about the below issues beforehand: • The law of that country doesn’t allow your website or product to be sold in their homeland • In countries like China, you actually need to setup a physical office in their country, to start with. • Some countries are not internet savvy and still have a long way to go. • Some states of the same country allow a product to be sold, while others do not. Do Research on the Keywords We need to conduct a keyword research to see, which combination of words can be used successfully in SEO and Google Ad-Words campaigns. There are many keyword research tools available online. You need to know the kind of audience you are targeting, like their age, sex, interests, profession etc. A keywords research tool may not give you the exact results. You may hire locals to do the job for you. They will have more knowledge about the country’s culture. They will have a better understanding of the common search terms used by their fellow countrymen. Know your Competitors You must be aware about your competitors in the foreign market. They will certainly be more challenging than your local competitors. Once you shortlist your new competitors, you can research about their market share and strategy. Find out how they have built up their current positioning. This is very useful; it will in turn help your online and offline strategy accordingly. Localize your Site Have a local version of the site made. You can adapt it to reflect the target country’s culture, within the confines of your company or product’s color scheme. You could use the country’s flag wherever you find it appropriate. If you are selling products to that country, then use trusted and reliable payment methods like Paypal etc. You may also opt for their localized URLs like (1) .au for Australia (2) .uk for England etc. Checkout Local Search Engines In South Korea, Naver is more popular with a market share of almost 50%, while Google can manage only 30% of the market share. It is more suitable for the South Korean audiences and it caters to their local needs in the best possible way. Naver contains lots of images and flashy banners; in fact it may look too cluttered to the western audiences. Similarly, Baidu in China and Yandex in Russia are revered by the local audiences. Therefore, if you are thinking in terms of Google SEO for foreign countries, think again. Check out the ways in which you can utilize the local search engine to your advantage. It is a good idea to reach out to the customers in another country by starting a local website. As long as you are flexible and adapt your site content and Web design to the right audience. You will still need to compete mostly with local players. However, there are no shortcuts to success. You will learn to craft a successful path from your own mistakes and experience.

Principles to Power your Facebook Marketing Strategy

Facebook has a reach of 1.7 billion users. It means that 25% of all humans on planet Earth are its registered users. This is a massive database by all standards and must be utilised to its full potential. If not, your competitors will definitely overtake you by leveraging its massive reach to reach potential customers.

This means that you will need a solid Facebook strategy, to benefit from it. So here are a few principles to power your Facebook Strategy.

Show how they stand to Benefit

Once your product is publicised online and people come to know about it, they will be curious to know more about its practical applications. So engage with your new product, give them a live demo. This will obviously give you a firsthand experience of your own product. You will become aware of any issues with the product, even before you start getting reviews. You can also have a better understanding of its new features when you try it yourself. Let the audience perceive its value, via your demo and get to know how it works.

Be Data Driven

Whatever you post on Facebook or any other online social media channel must be analysed. Use Facebook Insights as well as Google Analytics to see which post is engaging and drawing a lot of attention. You will get an idea about the ‘anatomy of successful posts’. This will help you post more of what your audience likes, and less of that they don’t like to see.

Be Different, Be Bold

Don’t be afraid to be different. Speak out your mind. Give the audience a taste of your opinion; let them know that you are apart from the crowd. When you choose to follow the crowd, you will be drowned in the commotion. So, stand up for yourself and voice your opinion; the crowd loves original, strong and authentic people. Embrace what makes you different and stand by it. Resist the urge to play it safe; it’s okay to be a bit controversial as long as you are not being racist or inciting violence.

Converse with Customers

The advantage of social media is that you can talk to customers and have them engage with you. Unlike traditional ads, you may thus have a two-way interaction regarding your product and services. You may even invite some customers to try your new product. Have them engage with your brand, and experience it firsthand. Also, share pictures of your customers engaging with your product and tag them. Encourage them to comment about their experience with your product. All this creates a buzz about your brand.

You may use the above guidelines to power your Facebook strategy. There are many finer principles to guide your Facebook Strategy and we will reveal more of them shortly. Do you have any ‘secret recipes’ to spice up a Facebook strategy? Do let us know in the comments below.