Website design, SEO, and social media: 'for many people it's the new business card'.

• Author: Slaten, Russ
• Position: TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY

Web design, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media are three separate ideas and tools, but they all function to bring customers to a business. Engaging customers on social media, making it easier for people to find the website, and providing customer needs through a functional website helps to grow visibility, image, and ultimately sales.

"Many of your customers are going to visit your website before they meet you, and they will make assumptions about your organization before you even get a chance to pitch yourself, defend yourself, or communicate," says Lincoln Garrick, president of Solstice Advertising. "In professional services, decisions about buying happen even before the customer makes a call, so you may not be getting calls based on your web presence. For many people it's the new business card."

Website Design

Scott Gere, president and CEO of Gere Donovan Creative, has seen the landscape of web design evolve over the years but has kept clients like First National Bank Alaska and CIRI Tourism since 1997. Gere says a well-designed and functional website starts with reaching the right audience.

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"In the mid '90s it was mostly IT people building websites," Gere says. "I had an English degree and journalism minor, and I knew that you needed to figure out who you were trying to communicate with, so it was an opportunity for us to approach building websites a little bit differently while developing a long-term relationship with the client."

The long-term relationship continues from being able to integrate the website into the fabric of the business and its goals, Gere says.

"It used to be that businesses would have a website with words and pictures and that was fine, but now your website has to sell items or provide account access, and it goes beyond just the website," Gere says. "You have to decide how it integrates with the overall marketing plan and how it integrates with the online banking system, reservation system, or key element or function to the business."

The cost of a website varies deeply from the depth and breadth in which a client needs to overhaul or create a new website, the amount of continued participation from the agency, and the customization or intricacies involved. To get the best results, a website should be used as a marketing tool to realize a business's goals.

"We've reached a point now with analytics where we can really understand what people are doing online, where they're coming...