July 22, 2015 - Vertū Marketing

In the age of Google and Facebook reviews, businesses can no longer rely on outdated and poorly built websites to meet the needs of the average consumer. As a consumer myself, I frequently visit websites simply to get additional information about an exciting new product or service, only to be discouraged from actually initiating a transaction because the site is slow, confusing or lacks basic information. Marketing experts would agree that first impressions are paramount to building and sustaining a thriving online business, making website design a critical component to your success.

If your site is outdated, tired or only marginally acceptable, consider some of the following elements as possible additions:

Video backgrounds: These can be a great way to capture the attention and imagination of your customer. Video backgrounds can add an element of excitement to an otherwise straightforward website.
Large images or fonts: It is vital to capture a customer’s attention within the first few seconds of arriving at a site. Using large fonts can draw the eyes to critical information that needs to be communicated quickly, such as “SALE” or “Now offering new services!”
Updated information: When sites are not updated and improved on a frequent basis, potential customers will notice. Keeping websites as up-to-date as possible is critical for practical purposes, but also communicates a sense of pride, urgency and excitement to those visiting the site.

Many business owners do not have the skills needed to professionally update a site’s design and function. However, that is something that we do at Virtue Marketing. Members of our team are uniquely skilled in providing the services needed in order to improve a site, update the design and make it more navigable for customers. First impressions count, more than ever before in the business world, so it is vital that a business’s site makes a strong opening statement.

Science has spoken, and there is good news for the owners of online businesses: working at home is actually more productive than wiling away the hours at an office. Stanford University came to this conclusion after comparing two groups of workers against a base of approximately 12,000 employees at an overseas travel agency.

Researchers divided a total of 508 employees into two groups, giving one group the green light to start working from home while sending the other group back to the workplace. Each employee’s work was then monitored, with factors including hours worked, phone calls answered and overall productiveness. Non-work factors, such as happiness, were also included in the study.

So, what were the final results? When it came to productiveness, the telecommuters blew their commuting counterparts out of the water. The study concluded that the telecommuting group was happier and more productive while working at home and that they were even less likely to quit. With the cost of training a new employee, business owners might be especially happy to learn of the benefits that workers can get just from being allowed to work within the comfort of their own homes.

Of course, there are many telecommuters who do not work solely from their homes. Some employees still go into work a few days a week and telecommute on the others, while other employees might be full-time telecommuters who prefer to set up base at their favorite coffee shops or cafés. Although this study did not examine that aspect of telecommuting, it is fairly reasonable to assume that telecommuting might be less about being at home and more about working in an environment that makes an employee feel comfortable and relaxed.

First Impressions Count

Scientists Confirm That Telecommuters Really Are More Productive