New Marketing Agency Website

[mike@engagemarketing]

Good afternoon solo'ers,
My marketing company has recently redesigned and redeveloped our website to better match our principles of design and marketing.

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions on the Engage Marketing website if any of you have a minute to spare.

There is also a marketing blog that you can subscribe to in which we will release weekly with various thoughts and tips on marketing and design.

http://www.engagemarketing.com.au

Cheers,
Michael

[Burgo]

A minute is far too much time to ask for but I could spare 60 seconds would that be OK

[mike@engagemarketing]

haha yes that would be quite alright thanks Burgo!

[Tristan Boyd]

Hi Mike,

I can see you are going for a clean slick "web 2.0" sort of feel. The site is definitely neat and I like the simplicity, but it just doesn't grab me the way a marketing site should. It's a bit bland.

I think you need to take the message from the last line of text on your front page:

"We recognise the ability of design to stimulate the senses."

...and apply it with gusto!

Looking at some of your competitors: http://www.connectingimages.com.au these guys grabbed me. I have no idea what the ball of wool is about, but the colours got me interested, and the typography is interesting.

These guys: http://www.marketforce.com.au/ also got me in with the animation.

.. and both these competitors lead with cool tag lines:

"Small enough to imagine possibilities, big enough to deliver them" and "Intelligent, imaginative, energetic", while you guys lead with "Engage Marketing is a marketing & design consultancy business based in Melbourne." I know it's good SEO but it's a bit boring.

I hope you find this constructive. Like I said, I like the site, it looks good.

[OM Strategies]

Hi Mike,

I think the website could do with a bit more colour. The grey tones don't really scream 'marketing & design' or 'creativity'.

Perhaps a few more interactive tools also.

Regards,

Rebecca

[LeelaCosgrove]

Okay, I'll leave the design stuff up to the designers - not my area of expertise.

But in terms of copy ... and this is going to be harsh, so skip if you don't want to hear it ...

Personally, I would refuse to hire you based on your front page. It breaks every rule of marketing.

Your front page is all about you. It's not about me. It's not about my business. It's about you and your business ... You might get away with that if you were in design or construction or something else ... but if you want to sell yourself as a marketing company, it's a good idea to use the basic rules of marketing yourself.

I don't care that you're a marketing and design consultancy.

I don't care who you've worked with (I will, but later on).

I don't care what you do.

I care what you can do for me.

This is a basic mistake that people make when they open their businesses ... I consulted for a phone accessories company who, when they opened their first Victorian store, handed out flyers saying "New Store Open!". The response was dismal.

I move things around, got rid of all reference to the new store and instead tested a few flyers with headlines like:

"Do you want to steal $189 from the cops?" (Advertising blue tooth headsets for your car, so you don't get in trouble for using your handset and get fined $189)

The difference in response was in the order of magnitude of 1,000%.

There are some mistakes you can get away with in a new business and some you can't - the ones you can't are the ones that make you look like an amateur at your own game ... like a graphic designer with a really awful website ... or a printer with crappy business cards ... or an editor with spelling mistakes on their front page.

[mike@engagemarketing]

Thank you all for your time. All of your comments have been very helpful.

Its a tough job finding balance between good SEO and good copywriting. My feeling is that the front page has been written entirely for SEO, rather than maximising the value of the visitors with effective copy.


Rebecca, thank you for your feedback as well. I agree with you that the website is perhaps stuck in too much of a two-colour theme. We have a photo-shoot scheduled in the coming weeks which will help a bit in this sense, but I'll have to sit down and have a look at any minor adjustments i can make.




Any other thoughts from anyone else would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

[LeelaCosgrove]

Originally Posted by mike@engagemarketing

Its a tough job finding balance between good SEO and good copywriting. My feeling is that the front page has been written entirely for SEO, rather than maximising the value of the visitors with effective copy.

What's the point of SEO if the visitors get there and then leave in 2 seconds? You'd be better off having NO SEO, have visitors find you via other methods, and convert them into sales.

Getting 2 million visitors a day is of no use if your web stats reflect that visitors are staying for 10 seconds and not buying anything.

I would MUCH prefer 10 visitors a day with one sale ...

Hell, I'd prefer two visitors a day with one sale!

You need to get yourself a professional copywriter - it's tough to find the balance between SEO and good copy if you don't know what you're doing ... if you're a pro, it's not hard at all.

Try Daniel Lizurek at Fast Profits www.fastrprofits.com.au

[ahortin]

Hi Michael,

I like the nice, clean nature of the site. With that said though, I agree with some of the other comments, it could do with a bit more colour. As your advertising your design services, it'd be good to see something that's a little brighter. Even some sort of a banner image up the top would help.

Cheers,
Anthony.

[mike@engagemarketing]

Hi Anthony,
thank you for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Michael