So what's a small business to do? For starters, you're going to have to develop a web site that accurately reflects your business and incorporates the features that users have come to expect from web sites today. Studies have shown over and over again that customers make decisions based on "gut feelings," often based on their impression of your business (and your web site). If you present them with an old-fashioned, outdated web site, what do you think they will remember - if they remember you at all?

New Web Site Development

To create an effective web site, your focus should be on creating a custom-designed, purpose-built site that will target the appropriate market segments for your business. Search engine friendly web development is a big part of this process. The way your site is built, the site's organization, the navigation system it uses, and the use of solid design principles will present an image of credibility for your company. Customers rely on useful, informative, easy to use web sites when looking for products and information, so you must make sure your web site meets the needs of your customers.

Michigan website design firm Five Sparrows specializes in helping clients first determine the site's purpose, goals, and target market (or markets), then builds on this foundation with creative, professional design and intuitive site navigation. We work with small businesses everyday, helping them build web sites that get results and providing them with michigan search engine optimization services to help promote their sites as well.

Want to see what Five Sparrows can design for you? Contact us today!

Web Site Add-Ons

Online Shopping

If you have products or services to sell online, you need an online shopping cart for your site. Our shopping cart solutions include everything you need to get set up and get selling online, with the ability to add or change your products in-house from an easy web interface. Includes installation, initial product entries, and customization to match your existing branding and web site look and feel.

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Blogs

There are blogs on almost every topic imaginable, and businesses are finding that having a company blog helps them communicate with customers, get better search engine rankings, and attract a much larger customer base.  Here are a few highlights of how a blog can help promote your business online:

• Search engines LOVE blogs because the content is being updated constantly, resulting in higher search engine rankings for your business.
• Niche visitors are more likely to discover your business because blog entries can be very specific, often containing words that might not otherwise be in your web site text.  This will attract customers that would not have otherwise found your business!
• Blogs can be organized by topic, making it easy for readers to find topics that interest them.
• Blog entries continue to bring in web traffic 24/7.  Like many other forms of marketing on the web, blogs provide content and links that act like ripples in a pond – they continue to be shared, indexed, and published all over the web long after you have finished doing the work.
• Information on your blog can be easily distributed directly to your readers with an RSS newsfeed. RSS feeds automatically notify your readers whenever new content has been posted to your blog.
• You can differentiate yourself from your competitors with your blog.  You may even find that your competitors don’t offer this type of interactive communication with customers, which gives you an excellent opportunity to stand out.

Give your business an edge by adding a blog to your web site. Michigan web development firm Five Sparrows will install and customize your blog to match your existing branding and seamlessly integrate with your web site. Adding a blog to your web site is a low-cost marketing strategy that can help extend your marketing reach and improve your search engine rankings.

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Online Calendars

Online calendars are easy, inexpensive, and a great addition to your web site. Online calendars provide a way for web visitors to keep track of the events or programs that you offer, and can by updated by staff, web visitors, or both! You control the access permissions that enable users to add, delete, or change the information available on the calendar, making it easy to keep everything current. Includes installation, database creation, and customizations to match your current branding and web site look and feel.

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Online Photo Galleries

Do you have a number of photos that you would like to display on your site? Consider adding an online photo gallery! Online photo galleries are a great way to organize the photos on your site, and you can add captions and descriptions to each photo as well. Includes an easy-to-use web-based interface that allows you to upload new photos, change or delete existing photos, and edit photos in-house without any special technical knowledge required.

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CAPTCHA Modules

Are you human? You've most likely seen this question on web sites when submitting information, such as your email address. Typically, there is a box with some funny, squiggly letters and/or numbers that users must recognize and type into the form to gain access to the next step. This is called a CAPTCHA module, and it is a great way to prevent automated spammers from gaining access to your site or submitting unwanted information through a form on your web site. This is a great addition for sites that need an extra layer of security or want protection from automated spammers and data miners.

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Email Protection

Most of us are being overrun with spam filling up our email in-boxes, and the problem seems to be getting worse as spammers get better at "mining" email addresses from web sites, including yours. If you have a "Contact Us" email link on your web site (or even have your email address as part of your contact information), chances are it is being added to spammer mailing lists without your knowledge.

Of course, a "Contact Us" link on a web site is really important (it is often what visitors are looking for). but it's also important to hide your email information from site crawlers and spammers, yet still make it easy for site visitors to send emails to you.

Five Sparrows Email Protection is a very simple email system that uses form technology instead of live links. Once implemented, your visitors just fill in their name, email address, message, and click on "Submit" to send email from your web site.

The email message is sent to an address that is hidden in the form where site crawlers and data miners cannot find it. Then, the email is automatically forwarded to your own email address. This prevents your email address from being mis-used, yet lets email communication flow freely between you and your web site visitors

Email Protection Service:

• Hides your email address from spammers and automated data-mining programs
• Provides your web sites visitors with a simple, 1-click form to use when contacting you
• Forwards email messages to your regular email account (no additional email accounts to check)
• Lets communication flow freely between you and your web site visitors
• Includes all necessary forms, programming, server setup, and everything else necessary to customize this to work on your web site
• Fee is one-time only, no recurring costs or subscriptions

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