Episode 34: Website Design Brisbane Southside

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[00:00:00]  Saul: Hi everybody, and welcome to the web design has been podcast. This is episode number 34. And today's episode is entitled Website Design Brisbane Southside. My name is Saul Edmonds, and as usual, I'm joined by the lovely Gillian Smith.

[00:00:13]  Gillian: Good morning Saul.

[00:00:14]  Saul: Oh, Hello, there. We are the co-founders and creative directors of Roundhouse the creative agency, a local business with a passion for helping our clients grow. Over to you, Gil. 

[00:00:23]  Gillian: Okay, well, thanks very much, Saul.  Well, it's often said that there's no advertising past or present, that compares to an excellent website so quality website has the power to drive customers to your business, and dramatically increase your leads and sales. It should be mobile friendly and of course, look right on every device and more than that, your website should be used strategically to grow your business, it has the potential to be your business's greatest salesperson.

[00:00:51]  Saul: Yeah, exactly. 

[00:00:52]  Gillian: So a quality website is important. But let's talk about the bigger picture. Now today, we're going to focus on website design for small business so this episode is particularly aimed at business owners who live on Brisbane south side and then we'll finish up with some specific tips on how to find local website designers on the south side, because it's always best to work with local Brisbane providers. Isn't it, Saul? 

[00:01:16]  Saul: Yeah, it is. But how do you actually find the right website designer for you? Let's get started and have discussion around this.

[00:01:25]  Gillian: Okay, so well, website design, it's a key element of the bigger picture for your small business or even your start-up. So the first question we need to ask is, how will the great website impact your business?

[00:01:37]  Saul: Okay, well,  how will it once again, how will it not impact your business, I think, even without even without all the things that you should be doing anyway, like marketing, or your website, and all those other really important things, just by having a side which on its own isn't, isn't enough, you have to do more than that but even with that, you've got a face online, that people expect, there's an expectation these days, different to found online, yet to be found online, just that that very simple expectation, it has much more of an impact these days than it ever used to have. In the past. If you don't have a website, these days, people's expectations aren't fulfilled. And that has an impact on how they view your business, rightly or wrongly. That's how it is that's a fact.

[00:02:37]  Gillian: Okay, so well, how can people use their website to actually grow their business and feed into the lead generation cycle?

[00:02:44]  Saul: Okay,  one of the very simple things, before you start talking about any form of online marketing, is that it's a really important point and needs to be said that, even with all these other tools online, and Facebook, and other social media platforms, and other tools to generate leads, and to create sales funnels, and all these things, it's really important, I still think to have your own little piece of real estate online that you own,  that not somebody else owns or that you list or obviously still has to pay for hosting. Ultimately, it's your presence that you've got control over. It's not a part of somebody else's platform. I think that point is actually a really important point that in this world of other services, is something that you've got complete control over in a particular way and that offering to people is quite, quite significant as at the heart of your brand.

[00:03:57]  Gillian: So what are some of the key ways that you can actually use website at the heart of your marketing and outreach activities? How can it help [inaudible)?

[00:04:05]  Saul: At the heart of things like email marketing, if you sending out information out to people, and referring them back to somewhere online, having those things as either articles or information on your website that might be tired, even specifically, to the content you send out on email marketing, or having landing pages on your website, or part of your website that are part of a sales funnel, or any other online tools you're doing with campaigns like AdWords, or Facebook advertising, once again, having them referring back to your website, adds a different layer of trust than just a any all landing page was those things are great. They do, I think need to be tied into a different level of authenticity, because people are becoming more and more aware of being sold to in certain ways.

[00:05:07]  Gillian: It don't sell, in educate, that's really the important thing. So just talking about then sales generally. So what are some ways that you can use your website to actually automate your sales process?

[00:05:19]  Saul: Okay, so there's different with content but I guess it is content coming in, in one way when people inquiring, or they're filling out information on your website, which could be in the form of surveys, your contact form, a brief form, anything that is has person engaging with content on your website, there's a lot of really fantastic ways that you can then to save you time and energy and probably money too, because as we all know, time is money to save you to integrate some of those ways that people give you information or send you details, integrate that with different other systems online, like CRM, where you've got your leads inside, and automating that process, that you can add a lot of extra value to how you use this great tool, your website, not only just to be a thing that sits there, and looks great, but it performs a number of other timesaving functions for you.

[00:06:34]  Gillian: So are there any particular online tools that people can use to integrate with their website to help with the sales process there?

[00:06:41]  Saul: Yeah, well, you've got your Mailchimps and email marketing platforms to if people are signing up, they can automatically sign into those accounts to subscribe, that's one thing or if they've got CRM, some of the really popular co rooms like pipe drive, and fresh desk and a whole host of other ones like HubSpot, all of them really, almost without exception, have great tools to integrate elements of your website, either via a plugin, or by some other method, which you can sometimes do yourself. Or if you need a hand, someone like us can help you to integrate those things, to send information automatically from your website, over to those systems because a lot of people then managing incoming leads, and other aspects, other online marketing aspects from those other CRM, and they really want, it's almost becoming more of an expectation these days but a lot of people still just don't do that at all, and they certainly should be,

[00:07:56]  Gillian: I guess, the key goal of any of those tools, and even your website as a whole is to understand more about your customer.

 [00:08:03]  Saul: Yeah, if you can understand, if you if you can ask people for information that you might otherwise have to them manually enter when you're talking to them or, or to have not to replace personal call, or other ways of speaking to your clients or customers. But to add to that, and to give you information that you can use as a part of that sales process is really valuable.

[00:08:36]  Gillian: Okay, well, the next question is, if your business is located in Brisbane, South Side, how do you find a local website designer? that's right for you? What are some tips there? So,

[00:08:46]  Saul: okay, so if you're going to be looking if you if you're the sort of person who wants to specifically look for somebody who's actually really need new out of convenience, but like a lot of people they like, working with people and things that they know, and that often equates to people that are local..

[00:09:08]  Gillian: [inaudible test own?]

[00:09:09]  Saul: Yeah. And also because generally that flows into the idea of, of people wanting to support local business, too, because they're probably a small business owner, 

[00:09:19]  Gillian: Go  local. Grow local. 

[00:09:21]  Saul: Yeah, that's right. I mean, there's all those types of campaigns, as Yeah, as hokey as like, some of them are, they are good. And they do support people growing and helping other local businesses. So finding a local web designer isn't really that hard. Especially if that local web designer, if they, if their own website, is really optimized to show up well, for searches on Brisbane, SAS auto, for that matter of any local area in Australia or worldwide. It's the same deal that Google has, and other search engines, but if we're mainly talking about Google, the algorithms and the way that I help people find what they need to find a very good around local search as well, because they know that people are often looking for them., and those kind of terms are important because they want people want trust, they like working with local people so if you apply that same thinking to what you want, and then ultimately, that's a good match for a person who actually is local, then happy days.

[00:10:50]  Gillian: Okay, well, I guess when you find a potential website designer, the very first thing you need to do is to check out their portfolio.

[00:10:56]  Saul: Yeah, yeah, check out their portfolio people. And then start asking questions, talk to them. I mean, it's great if you can talk to them on the phone, too. But if they've got good information also, on their website, about what they, what they actually do, or their process, but simply looking at what they've done, as well as one of the best ways it gives you like a living, breathing example of their work, if there's links over to their website, and also, of course, how they present themselves if that's, if that's something on a very simple level that you like.

[00:11:38]  Gillian: Another really good tip is to just talk to other business owners in your local network.

[00:11:44]  Saul: Yeah, talk to asking for referrals. I mean, you can't be a word of mouth referrals probably still the top best why which translates all the time online at people giving referrals giving reviews is a huge and constantly growing part of the online experience of people looking to their mates of the business friends or colleagues for advice and so people generally who have great reviews that a real reviews not all the other reviews that generally we all identify as not real reviews, they seem to be pretty obvious. So

[00:12:34]  Gillian: now when they authentic anyway. 

[00:12:36]  Saul: Yeah, people have no idea, a lot of people do know that word of mouth marketing is generally always the best. And with that, that in mind, thank you so much again, guys for listening to our podcast. That's it for today. Before we go, please don't forget to rate review and subscribe to this podcast would love to hear your feedback. Also, if you'd like to read the transcript of this episode, please visit our website roundhouse.cc/web-design. We're on a journey to help local Brisbane businesses grow their opportunities online and exceed their goals. Thanks for listening and we'll see you tomorrow.

[00:13:21]  Saul/Gillian: Bye. Bye, guys.