E-Marketing: Web solutions for engineering company

Contents

Domain Name

Web Site Analytics

Search Engines

Search Engine Optimisation
Directories
Key Word related links
Pay-Per-Click

Web Presence Development
Content

Online Advertising
Banners and Ads

Email as a medium of communication

Online Promotion of the product ‘Modellers Stand’

‘Dot’ E-Marketing Consultancy is outlining several suitable solutions for Shelbyville’s web presence, which can be adopted by the overall marketing strategy. Therefore, we hope, by implementing an e-marketing strategy, to achieve and support the company’s aims and objectives.

Domain Name

The domain name is of particular importance for Shelbyville Engineering, as it represents the business online and might build up potential customers’ first impression, either through e-mail contact or the web site. It might be even assumed that this part is the most important part of e-marketing in general. As a domain name consists out of the prefix ‘www’ (world wide web), the most suitable name for the site and the suffix (e.g. . com). (Charlesworth, 2003)

The company’s main use of the web site is to provide information for about the company and its services as well as a promotional tool. The suggested suffix for Shelbyville’s web site is ‘.co.uk’ as it indicates the origin of the company and prevents from possible confusion, if another company existing with the same name. However, suffixes like ‘.eu’ or ‘.com’ would be applicable, but as Shelbyville trades predominantly throughout the UK, particularly the North East, and has only occasionally supplied other European customers, ‘.co.uk’ appears to be the best solution. Nevertheless, the company could register both, ‘.com’ and ‘co.uk’ if international sales increase and it seems appropriate. The two web pages could contain the same information but adjusted to its audience. So could the ‘.com’ web site incorporate a “more global perspective on the organisation” (Charlesworth, 2003).On the other hand, ‘.info’ would not be recommendable the web site is not only intended to have informational value.

Concerning the actual name, it can be advised to take the full company name even though it is known under the acronym SE or just Shelbyville. The starting letters of each word should be capitalised in order to facilitate the reading of the name, as it otherwise appears to long and it is not obvious enough where one word starts and the other ends (i.e. ‘shelbyvilleengineering.co.uk’). Therefore it would be suggested to decide on ‘ ShelbyvilleEngineering.co.uk ’ as the domain name, because the aesthetics appear clear on any company literature. Even though the company is primarily operating in the North East and it could be of benefit to include ‘Sunderland’ in the domain name as a ‘third level address’ (i.e. ‘Sunderland.ShelbyvilleEngineering.co.uk’), it seems too confusing and long drawn-out, especially for the use of e-mail. An only possible alternative in the writing of the name could be the separation with a dash (i.e. ‘shelbyville-engineering.co.uk’). Finally, the company has to buy the chosen domain if still available at the responsible licensing authority, which is ‘Nominet’ for the UK.

It is highly recommended to change the prominent email address given you by your ISP as this does not represent the company professionally. A solution for the email addresses could be the actual domain name. It is pretty long, but an abbreviation SE, by which the company is known in the industry, seems not possible as an option, as the most two or three letter domains are already gone. However, it could register only @Shelbyville.co.uk as the email, because many customers and other players in the industry recognise the company only by ‘Shelbyville’. Furthermore, at least each department should have its own computer, so that suppliers or customers can communicate directly with the department or even the person they have to talk to. Business can be facilitated when customers can speak directly to the sales manager, instead of going through administration.

Concluding this section, it must be outlined that the company’s domain name choice is the most crucial and significant in Shelbyville’s e-marketing strategy. The domain name has to reflect the company with all its values and strengths. In order to convince customers of the quality of Shelbyville Engineering, the first step in e-marketing terms relies on the domain name.

- Domain Name www.ShelbyvilleEngineering.co.uk
- Email Address name@Shelbyville.co.uk (or generic titles, i.e. sales)

Web Site Analytics

In order to access the web sites performance, the e-metrics can be a valuable tool. The Merchant Model is the most obvious e-metrics we can suggest the company as we can compare the data of sales against the visitors of the web site. The main objective of the e-metrics will be to increase revenue through its online presence, provide up-to-date after sales services and generate sales leads through the enhanced communication method. The actual definition of the necessary data can be collected by any IT company specialised in this field. However, the e-metrics will provide Shelbyville with very important information as the traffic on the site is not expected to be high due to the limited number of projects and the very particular field of interest. Therefore, it can be measured for example, how many page views there were, in which parts of the site the visitors are most interested in or in other words, which clickstream visitors take, how long they stay on the site (measure the stickyness), which part of the world they are coming from according to their IP addresses and also how and where they reached the site (entry and exit points). This way, Shelbyville Engineering can update and adapt to the customer requirements and make customised offers or respond to particular questions that arise regularly. If it is analysed from which parts of the world, people are accessing the web site, it is possible to automatically insert supplement information about delivery and services outside the UK, which could be the case after supplying Nissan, a global player, in 2007 with its products.

Search Engines

Nowadays, most of the people use search engines to find out specific information on companies, services, products etc and an increasing part of online sales derives through search engines. Therefore, search engine marketing is of particular importance.

Search Engine Optimisation

‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (SEO) is the organic technique of optimising the web site in order to rank as high as possible on the search engine results. In order to not rank poorly on the results, Shelbyville has to consider how search engines work and optimise the keywords that the company wants to be found. It might be recommendable to consult an expert in search engine optimisation as the criteria after which search engines go, are changing constantly.

- Directories

One very suitable option for Shelbyville Engineering is the appearance on directories, which are either geographic portals such as;

- http://www.touchlocal.com/nat/t-23235-Sunderland
- http://www.freeindex.co.uk/North_East/Tyne_and_Wear/Sunderland/
- http://www.sunderlandontheweb.com/directory/

or industry specific portals or trade associations like;

- http://www.centralengineering.co.uk/
- http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/directory/industry.asp?industry=67
- http://www.engnet.co.uk/
- http://www.applegate.co.uk/engineering/index.htm
- http://www.4engineering.co.uk/

This could be the best solution in SEO, as the potential customers or suppliers are assumingly searching more intense in business directories as they have some kind of professional reputation. Furthermore, its more focused and specialised than on general search on the web. However, Shelbyville has to be crucial about the description so that it is clear, descriptive, serious and straight to the point.

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