Making SEO Sticky: New VillageWorks Web Discovery Helps Companies Use Right Content, Structure and Social Media Tools to Get Most from Web Site Traffi

Frederick, MD (PRWEB) December 5, 2007 -- In the online world, there may be nothing more hyped than SEO. Companies invest huge sums in making sure their web sites are returned at the top of popular search engines. Yet they do very little to make sure the visitors who are directed to their sites stick with the site and get what they need from their visit to convert into leads or even customers.

"You can drive as much traffic to your site as you want, but if you don't have the right structure and information available once people visit, it's just money wasted," explains Beth Schillaci, Founder/President of VillageWorks Communications Inc. (www.villageworks.net) in Frederick, MD."Search engine optimization is great but web site optimization is more important. That's what our Web Discovery(sm) process is all about - optimizing web sites and evaluating social media opportunities so that the user's experience delivers more than expected to keep them engaged with the company."

Web Discovery is VillageWorks' unique new tool that evaluates the effectiveness of a company's web site in not just meeting its communication needs, but in meeting its visitors' needs in both site content and social media. The goal is to create a site that keeps visitors engaged and generates true value for both the company and its audiences.

"Web Discovery takes SEO to the next level, and keeps people on the site once they've found it," says Schillaci. "Many times companies find they are getting traffic to their site, but those visitors aren't staying and they're not converting into viable leads. Web Discovery allows companies to not just get traffic, but to get the right traffic to make their site truly valuable.

We can also provide a review of social media as it relates to a company's site. That means we take a look not just at the structure, content and navigation of the site, but we also look at what other online tools are available and appropriate to enhance the company's online presence. For some companies, that goes a step further into our Social Media Management services, as well."

One client who has taken advantage of VillageWorks basic Web Discovery is Aberro Inc. The company provides sophisticated software testing and evaluation services to clients around the globe. But while Aberro excels at creating dynamic software testing solutions, they found they needed the help of the VillageWorks team to optimize their own marketing and communications goals.

"Our expertise is in software development," explains Doug Smith, Aberro CEO. "What VillageWorks brings is a much broader focus on the latest communication capabilities that are really not something we follow every day. What SEO doesn't do is give any kind of scoring to the quality of navigation of your site. You can get found, but people may leave once they arrive. What VillageWorks brings is stickiness - they have a good sense of the language that people use and what kinds of visual images are engaging. A search engine doesn't know if an image is engaging or just boring.

What was of value to me was to have an expert objectively look at our site and give critique of both the good stuff and the bad stuff. We got an objective evaluation of what looked good to prospects and what could be improved.

It was a very non-intrusive process. We had talked with VillageWorks about questions we had - where are people spending time, what's useful about the site and what isn't. All of those questions were answered and that allowed us to redesign the site based on facts, not just hunches - that was extremely valuable to us.

As a result of the Web Discovery, we changed the interaction with the site so that it is much more open space, it has more of a portal look to it - we have a few interesting words that capture a person's attention, then they can click to get more depth. What this has enabled us to do on our home page is fire off four of our most valuable strategic selling points, grab someone's attention and let them go where they want as opposed to trying to "write a book" and explain in great depth. The site is now more responsive to visitors' points of interest."

The Web Discovery process is reflective of VillageWorks shift to strategic marketing management and consulting for technology. Long known for producing effective, efficient web sites and the materials to properly market them, VillageWorks has recently become more active in strategic counseling for clients ranging from evaluating issues to auditing internal and external web sites for effectiveness and appropriate use of tools from content to social media, and making recommendations and managing full-scale projects from implementation to training and tracking.

"It's not enough to give a client a good site, and great keywords and then go away," Schillaci states. "Clients demand and deserve to know that a web site or presentation or tech marketing product is going to advance their strategic goals. They want to work with a company that not only understands that but can help them articulate that internally as well as externally. They want a partner who's on top of new technologies and trends - like social media - and can recommend what will work best to meet their goals. That kind of strategic focus is what VillageWorks is all about."

Doug Smith puts is more simply: "VillageWorks does quality work."

Web Discovery is available to any company wishing to optimize their audiences' web site experiences, and to advertising, PR and marketing firms for their clients' use. The evaluation and report are available on their own, with a Social Media Management Review or as part of VillageWorks distinct DARE process for complete project management: Discovery, Approach, Realization and Evaluation that results in a completed project that meets strategic goals.

For more information on Web Discovery, Social Media Management, the DARE project management process, or VillageWorks other services, contact Beth Schillaci at 240-529-3000, or at www.villageworks.net. For information on Aberro's software testing, contact Bill Rogers at 512-377-9070.

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