Online marketing is great and getting high rankings is always nice, but how would you like to absolutely dominate your field? How would you like to be known as the go-to person/organization for your niche either in your local area or nationally? You can.

Dominating your niche isn’t just about getting high rankings in the search engines, though that’s certainly part of it. Dominating your niche is about making it so wherever people go; they just keep running into you. When you dominate your niche, you can even start to transcend the need the high rankings as people become familiar with your name/brand and simply go to your website because you are the main source in your niche. This isn’t just a business thing. Churches, schools, ministries, people, who/whatever can all dominate their niche. So, how can you dominate your niche?

It Starts and Ends with Your Website:
Your website is the heart of your online presence. A heart pumps blood out to your organs, but then draws the blood back from those organs. Similarly, your website the source of much of the content you will produce. You will send that content out to other places (social media, blogs, search etc.), but all those places will send traffic back to your site. So, your website needs to have a good design and quality content. It will be very difficult to dominate your niche if people are turned off by your website and even if you are still able to dominate, you will lose conversions if your website isn’t good.

Search Engine Optimization:
Search is still the primary way people find things. So, it’s important that you optimize your website for the search engines and target as many relevant keywords as you can. When you are starting off, you probably won’t rank well for all of your keywords. You may only rank well for a few, but by getting your site optimized, as you start to grow your online presence in other ways, your rankings will improve as well.

Authorship:
Authorship is quickly becoming very important for a variety of reasons. It’s helpful for search rankings in Google (and possibly other search engines), which is great, but when you want to dominate your niche authorship has another even more important role. It establishes who you are. You and your organization can become known in your niche. People can see you on Google+ and your name and picture will be displayed right alongside your search results. This is extremely powerful. If you’re not yet familiar with authorship, check out, “Don’t Think You’re an Author? Well, You are Now?”

Blog:
Quality content is key. Not only do you need to have quality content on the main pages of your website, but you need to be regularly producing new, quality, original content. A blog is the perfect way to do that. A quick tip for creating your blog…Your blog really should be on your site. As easy as it is to install WordPress these days, there’s no reason to have some blogger.com blog somewhere off your website.

Video:
I can’t say enough about the power of video for establishing yourself in your niche. For now, however, let’s look at four great benefits to video.

1. Video creates a connection audio and print just can’t. You can see a person and get a sense of their personality. Video is like having a conversion with someone. Don’t underestimate the power of the feeling of connecting which video can create.
2. All the major search engines display videos in their search results. So, they can get you showing up in the results for keywords your website can’t.
3. There are several video sharing sites that are very popular (can anyone say Youtube?). So, videos give people more places to find you which is key to dominating your niche.
4. People tend to be attracted to video. People who otherwise wouldn’t click to read an article, may be willing to watch a short video.

And don’t think that video is too expensive or too difficult. You can get a great HD webcam for under $100 and videos don’t need TV quality editing. As long as you are engaging and have interesting, quality content, a simple webcam video can do very well.

Social Media:
So, you’re producing great videos and blog posts, now you need to let people know about this quality content. So, you have to post that content to where the people are. Facebook has about a billion users, so that’s a good place to start. Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, even Pinterest. You need to be in these places and don’t just use them to push your content. Social media is about connecting people with people. So, engage and connect.

Other People’s Blogs:
What’s a better endorsement than someone giving you their platform (their blog) to talk to their audience. That’s exactly what guest blogging is. The more you can guest blog, the more audiences you can reach and the more people there are endorsing you. Start by connecting with other bloggers in your niche. Comment on their posts and reference their posts in your posts. Once you’ve formed that connection, offer them some unique, quality content you’ve produced for their blog.

Everything Else:
These are just some of the more important ways you can start to dominate your niche. There are other places you can be participating to further establish yourself in your niche. Find important forums where you can engage people and answer questions. Answer question on question sites like Yahoo Questions and Quora. Encourage members and customers of your organization to post reviews about you. Write up press releases or be a source in new articles. In general, just look for places online that are important to your niche and be there.

The Secret Sauce:
This all sounds like a lot doesn’t it?  It is…and it isn’t.  If you do all of the above yourself manually, it will be too much.  So, the three secrets to being able to dominate your niche are…

1. For everything you do, you need to create an efficient process.  Take the time in the beginning to develop the process.  It will save you tons of time in the end.
2. Only do what you have to do, outsource and automate the rest.  The great content of the a video will probably require you in the video, but you don’t have to edit the video, transcribe it, or post it to Youtube.
3. Leverage everything.  A video can be uploaded to Youtube, posted on Facebook and posted on your blog.  That’s 3 uses for something you created once.  A couple of blog posts can become a whitepaper.  A forum post response can become a blog article.  I’m not suggesting you become overly repetitive, but usually a piece of content can be used in a few different contexts with little to no overlap.

Start Dominating!
There are really three key aspects to dominating your niche:

1. Produce interesting, useful, quality, original content.
2. Be everywhere. Whenever someone looks for something related to your niche, they should come across you.
3. Create a unified identity across the web and connect with people. Don’t have a different username on every website. Don’t use different pseudonyms/personas on different platforms. Don’t use impersonal avatars. Use your name, use an image or video of you, have one username for all the sites, and reference your organization consistently.

By consistently doing these three things, you can establish yourself and dominate your niche.

Share Your Thoughts:

• Do you want to dominate your niche?
• What else would you add that could help to dominate your niche?

In this video about the website development process, I talk about why the platform on which your website is developed on matters and which platform is best.

You can read the full transcript at: Website Platforms: What Is Best & Why Does It Matter

The platform used to develop your website is going to have a huge impact on the future of your website, specifically:

• What it can do
• How its updated
• Who can update it
• Whether it can be moved to another host if necessary

Here are 4 questions your web team can ask to determine the best platform:

1) What do we want our website to do?

Blog? eNewsletters? Online event registration?  Make sure the platforms you’re considering can provide the functionality you want.

2) Do we want desktop software or a web-based platform?

Desktop web development software like Dreamweaver is often more powerful than a web-based CMSs (content management systems) like WordPress.  However, I highly recommend most organizations go with a web-based platform because:

• There is no software to install or maintain on your computer
• They are usually much easier to use
• Updates can be made from any Internet-connected device
• Because updates can be made from any Internet-connected device, responsibility for updates can be shared among multiple administrators 

3) Is the software/platform proprietary?

There are proprietary and open source web-based platforms.  If you choose a proprietary platform, you will not be able to move it to another platform. If you choose an open-source platform you will.

Many web hosting companies (including OurChurch.Com) provide a proprietary web builder at no extra charge with their web hosting accounts, and often they are simple and easy to use. So, there are reasons to choose a proprietary platform; just understand that if you go that route and want to move later on, you’ll have to build a new site.

4) How easy is the platform to use?    

Check online reviews. Talk to other users of the platform. Look into their reputation for support.

The bottom line is that the platform you choose for your website will have a huge impact. Yet, there is no platform that is perfect for every organization. So, ask the right questions and do the research so you choose the platform that’s best for your organization.

What are your thoughts on these questions? Are there other questions helpful in determining the best platform?

On the television show The Bachelor, on the first night of meeting all the women, the bachelor will give out a first impression rose to the woman who gave off the best first impression and he would like to get to know better.

You church is competing for the first impression rose multiple times a day when people visit your website.

Consider this:  your churches website is your first handshake and smile with a visitor.  It is their first impression of you.  Is your handshake strong and firm?  Do you make good eye contact?  Just like meeting someone for the first time can tell you a lot about them, your website can tell a lot about your church.

Many people these days will do their church shopping, or searching online first.  Your website is essentially their first visit to your church.  Your website can communicate several traits of the personality of your church before they even drive onto the parking lot.

The colors of the website, the font, the logo, they should all communicate your personality.  If you do not set up your website intentionally thinking of it as your first impression, then visitors could get the wrong idea about your church.

The photos, text, videos, events, Twitter feed, and so many other things contribute to how people will view you.  For example, the photos you place on your website show visitors the kind of people that attend your church.  The visitor can then ask, “Will I fit in with those people.”  That is just one example of how you can introduce yourself to an online visitor and help them know more about you.

Important Reminder:  No False Advertising!  Be honest in your portrayal of your church.  Show your church how it is, not how you want it to be.

I challenge you to look at your church’s website with fresh eyes.  And while you do that, ask yourself these questions:

1. What is the overall first impression?
2. Is it accurate?
3. Based on what I am seeing, and not what I know to actually be true, would I visit this church?

This may a visitors first look at your church, but it could also be their last.

What do you think: what could churches put on their websites to make a better first impression to visitors?

[photo by mromega]

One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “How soon can the website be done?”

So, in this video I talk about 4 factors that impact how fast a new website can be developed, plus I’ve added 2 more factor in this blog post not mentioned in the video.

If you prefer, you can read the full transcript of the video at: What determines the build time of my website?

4 Factors That Impact How Fast a New Website Can be Developed

1) Is it a custom or pre-existing design?

Creating a website from a pre-existing template is much faster than creating a custom-designed website.  If you want a unique, original site, you’ve got to allow the designer time to create it.

2) The number of revision cycles in the design process.

A revision cycle involves several steps: the client reviewing the design, then sends the developer a list of changes, and then the developer implements those changes.  Typically, the number of revisions in a particular revision cycle will not slow down the development process nearly as much as the number of cycles. It’s the logistics of the back and forth communication, scheduling time for reviews and revisions, etc that takes time. If the client can get all the revisions listed the first time and the developer can make them all correctly, it will reduce the project time greatly.

3) Amount of content that is being entered.

How much is being entered by the developer versus how much will be entered by you later on?  If the client is willing to insert most of the content themselves, that will reduce the project time.

4) The developer and client response times.

Does the developer have a required turn-around time when it comes to responding to your e-mails or your phone calls? We here at OurChurch.Com, we strive for a maximum of one business day turn-around time. Oftentimes, it’s much less than that. It’s within a few hours.

Does the contract specify how long the developer will take for each phase of the web development process? How quickly revisions will be made?

In our experience, though, it is the client’s response time that usually delays web development projects the most. It’s understandable…

• It’s usually the first time the client has gone through the process.
• Often they need to get approval, feedback and content from other people, and
• Usually, the website is not clients number one priority in life.

But, if you are about to embark on having a website developed for your organization, just keep in mind the faster you can do your part of the project, the sooner you’ll have your new website.

5) The complexity of the website

A fifth factor that determines how quickly a website can be developed is its complexity.  If the website can be developed with WordPress existing plugins, it can be done fairly quickly.  If the website requires custom plugins to be developed, integration with other systems or migration from an existing website, that can add significantly to the development time of a website.

6) How busy is the web developer?

Before hiring a web developer, be sure to ask how busy they are.  If you’re in a rush to get your new website, you don’t want to sign on the dotted line only to find out they won’t even be able to start for 4 weeks.  You may even want to ask for a project timeline to be included in your contract.  Keep in mind, though, if you do include a timeline, you have to keep your end of the contract, providing reviews, revisions and content on schedule.

If you’ve developed websites or had them developed for you, what factors have impacted the schedule of those projects most?

Today we continue our series of vidoes & blog posts about the web development process. One of the most common questions we receive is, “Will I be able to maintain the website myself?”

So, in this video we look at the pros and cons of maintaining your own website vs having a developer do it.

You can read the full transcript at: Will I be able to maintain the website myself? 

The decision to maintain your own website vs have a developer maintain it for you is a big decision that needs to be made before you build your website or hire a web developer, because the type of website that is built is going to impact the way it is maintained.

Empowerment Philosophy

Our philosophy is one of empowering organizations to update their own websites.  We believe this saves money and enables organizations to get new information up on their website more quickly.  In order for most organizations to be able to maintain their own website, there are two critical factors:

1) Web-Based Admin

If you use a desktop program to build and maintain your website, everyone who edits the website must have it installed on their computer.  This usually limits the number of administrators (often to 1), which creates a bottleneck as well as issues when that individual is busy, unavailable or leaves the organization.

With a web-based admin tool like you get with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or our NE1 Web Builder, there’s no software to install. Admin responsibilities can be delegated to lots of people.  Those admins can update the site at any time from anywhere.

2) Simplicity & Support

Having a web-based admin is great, but it’s only as good as it is easy to use.  If it’s extremely complex and not easy to use, many organizations will get stuck.  It’s important to…

• Research the platform you’re considering ahead of time.  How do other people rate its usability?
• Find out if training and tutorials are available
• Find out what kind of support will be provided by the developer if you need help understanding how to maintain your website

Discussion

• Do you maintain your website yourself or have a developer do it for you?  What was the reasoning behind your decision?
• Is your website updated via desktop program or web-based admin? Why did you go that route?

Why do some websites cost hundreds of dollars while others cost thousands?  In this video, we look at 8 factors that impact the price of a website.

You can read the full transcript at: What determines the price of a website?

8 Factors That Determine the Price of a Website

1. Is it a consultative approach or a cookie cutter process?
2. Is there content mapping that’s included?
3. What’s the design? Is it premade or custom?
4. What kind of functionalities are being included?
5. Content input, are you putting a lot of content in or are they putting a lot in for you?
6. What kind of training are they providing?
7. What kind of support is included?
8. What kind of hosting, email or domain name registration is included?

A full explanation of each of these factors is included in the video above.

Now that you understand each of the 8 factors, you can decide for yourself which of them are worthwhile for your organization to pay for.  For example, you may be willing to pay for a custom design but you want to save some money by inputting the content yourself.

What are your thoughts on these 8 factors that impact website price? Any others you can think of?

We’re continuing our series of videos and blog posts to help you understand the website development process. Today we look at how to choose a web design company, including 6 criteria to consider to help you select the web design company that’s got the quality, longevity and best fit for your organization.

You can read the full transcript here: How to choose a website company?

I recommend basing your decision on these 6 criteria:

1. What is their mission?
2. Do they understand your organization?
3. How long have they been in business?
4. What are the other customers saying about them?
5. How responsive are they?
6. Ask for examples of their previous work.

Eventually you’re also going to want to get a quote or proposal before hiring a web design company. However, there’s no point even asking for a quote, if you have serious questions about whether they can deliver a quality website that will help you accomplish your mission and will be around long term to support you.

If you hired a web design company to develop your website, what factors did you consider? What questions did you ask?

What advice would you give someone who was trying to decide among web design companies?

Grace Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas has been partnering with OurChurch.Com for the past 3+ years with the Custom Pro website package. As a part of their Custom Pro package, they receive a free redesign to their website every three years and recently they launched their newly designed website.

Grace Baptist is a very traditional church, yet has done a fantastic job embracing the web as a way to help achieve their mission. Below are a few highlights of how Grace is using their website effectively:

• New updated design: Keeping with their church colors, they have created an updated look and feel to their website. The new design is still traditional, reflecting the style of the church itself.
• Audio and Video Sermon: They have made it very easy for someone to either listen or watch a sermon from a previous service. The services are indexed by date on a page that is easy to navigate and well presented.
• Live streaming: For those who want to watch a service live, they also offer live streaming of their services. Simply click on the menu titled “Live Broadcast” and if a live service is available it automatically connects to the video stream.
• Bible Conferences: They host an annual Bible conference, brining in speakers from around the country. They use their website to provide information about past conferences and upcoming conferences (when details are available).

All of these elements allow Grace Baptist Church to accomplish their mission online.

You can read more about OurChurch.Com’s custom web design services. If you are interested in discussing how OurChurch.Com can help you achieve your mission online, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We invite you to visit Grace Baptist Church in Tyler, TX. What do you think of their new site and the design choices made?

Before you start developing your website or hire a web developer to do it for you, it’s important to determine what you want your website to do. In this video, I talk about how to determine your website needs.

You can read the full transcript at: How to Decide Your Website Needs

Here are 7 questions that can help you determine your website needs.

1. What is the purpose of the website? What do you want it to accomplish for you?
2. What would leaders within the organization like the website to do?
3. What functionality will make it easy to maintain and manage? (Multiple administrators? Web-based editing?)
4. What functionality will save your organization time and money?  (E-newsletters? online event registration? online giving?)
5. What is the budget?
6. What are the needs vs wants? (Prioritize the importance of the functionality)
7. Can we implement this in phases? (Perhaps your budget only allows for immediate needs to be met now and a year from now additional you can budget to add additional functionality)

How did you decide what functionality would be in your current site?  Do you have any other suggestions that would help others determine their website priorities?

Continuing our series on educating consumers on the web design process, in this video, I talk about creating a web team. Why do I need one and how to create one?

You can read the full transcript at: Creating a Web Team. Why do I need one and how to create one?

What is a web team?

A web team is a group of people that is responsible for the website. They’re going to be the people that make the decisions and maintain the website. It can be as small as two or three people, but it needs to be more than one individual.

Why do you need a web team?

Having more than one person spreads out the workload. It gives added wisdom and authority to decisions that are made. It also enables more than one person to manage the website which is especially important when people are sick, busy, out of town or leave the organization.

How to create a web team and who should be on it?

Find people who are passionate about seeing your organization succeed. Involve people from different parts of the organization, so  the team represents a variety of interests for that organization. Finding people with good communication skills, who write well and understand websites helps too.

Set expectations about the web team’s authority.

It’s very important to make sure that the web team has the authority to make decisions without having to go to someone outside the web team. You don’t want the concern of a web team’s decisions to be second-guessed or reversed by someone outside the team because they don’t like the decision that the web team has made. I found that it’s very important to get people that are fairly high within the organization’s decision making process, so that they feel comfortable in the decisions that were made on the website.

Those are all very important questions to ask or things to think about when you go into the process of making a website.

What do you think?

• How important do you think it is to have more than one person responsible for an organization’s website?
• Are there other benefits to having a web team?
• What other advice would you give to someone creating a web team?