If you are planning to or already have set up a website for yourself or your business there are few key elements that you should include as part of any good website.

Social Media Plugins
It’s almost a requirement these days that any good website should include links to social media sites. A plug-in is an element that can be added to a website that usually integrates with a specific web service. For instance, visitors to a website that features the Facebook like button plug-in can click the “like” button which then prompts visitors to log in to Facebook and then summarily post the content which the visitor “liked” to his or her Facebook wall.   So if a visitor to the Marlabs services Blog clicked the like button a snippet of that article and its headline would appear on that visitor’s Facebook page. Another popular social media  plug-in is a twitter button. Twitter buttons on website either let users access the company’s official twitter page or tweet about the article or site on their twitter profile.

About Us Page
We’ve already talked earlier about how every company should include an About Us page as part of their website. Check out our post here.

An Official Blog
Including a blog on your company’s website will give visitors a place to go where they can read about recent developments regarding your company or products and services. Having an official blog will also help improve your company’s media attention which can in turn increase your company’s  profits.

While it’s not something that is available on every webpage, many business can benefit from including links to the Wikipedia pages of their brand or products such as the Marlabs Wikipedia page. Writing content can be difficult, but if your company or product has dedicated following odds are that your loyal fans have already created a Wikipedia page for your company. However, it’s also important to remember that Wikipedia can be freely edited by anyone so it’s best to keep a close eye on it to make sure that all of the information is truthful and accurate. There are many people today that solely rely upon information from Wikipedia instead of seeking out a company’s official site. Also, if you plan to add a link to a Wikipedia page for your company there is no need to be afraid to create your company’s own Wikipedia page if there isn’t one in existence already or to add content to a existing Wikipedia page. One important fact to remember when adding content to Wikipedia for your business is to do so under an official account associated with your company so that the administrators of Wikipedia are aware of origin of the content.

Photo by 365 PSD

It should be a rule that every business website should include an “about us” page. It should be a rule but unfortunately it’s not – in fact, there are numerous businesses operating online without an “About Us” page, unfortunately leaving their customers little in the way to find out more about the company. An About Us page is the best way to educate customers about your company; there are a few key points that should be included on any About Us page.

Services
The services section of an About Us page should at the very least include on overview of the services that your company provides. It’s good practice to not list out every single service that your company might provide but instead to highlight the main services that are either of the most use to your customers or the services which attract the most business for your company.  Many sites have a one page About Us section while other sites like Marlabs Inc have separate pages that address the company’s main offerings. There’s no wrong way to list the services that your company provides but in most cases unless you are operating a national or global enterprise there is little reason to have separate pages explaining your businesses’ offerings.

Where your company is located
While it can sometimes appear as a separate page on some websites, many companies choose to include their location info as part of the About Us page. Not only do consumers like to know who they are choosing to spend their money with but also where that money is ultimately going. A list of locations can be particularly helpful to customers that are trying to find the correct contact information fora global company like Marlabs worldwide. Including a list of company locations will put many customers at ease, and listing the locations of your company’s offices, warehouses, et cetera will help establish credibility online. People feel comfortable knowing a company’s physical location if only just so that they know where to send their complaints, if necessary.

You should also consider adding a Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQ, section where visitors to your site can quickly get answers to common questions, such as how much does a service cost or what is your company’s return policy for instance.

Photo by Gustavo Pimenta

There are two very important reasons why having an official company blog is important for any business: for one thing, a company blog will help your business connect better with customers, and secondly, a official blog can boost your business’ online ranking.

Improve your Business’ Standing & Connect with Customers

For many people, reading official company blogs helps them connect with their favorite brands and products on a deeper level. An official company blog is normally used to write about on issues that fall within your company’s domain or market; however, a company blog can be used in any capacity that might attract readers and improve your business’ overall online presence and reputation. Some companies use their official blog solely to promote their products and educate customers on how to best use them, while others like the Marlabs Official Blog which offers free tips and advice, but there are even official company blogs that are dedicated to posting hilarious pictures. Different method will yield different results depending on the type of business, so a business IT company like Marlabs Inc writing about computer security is an effective way for the blog to increase its readership. The more people following your company’s official blog the higher the possibility that they will one day become customers (if they aren’t already) or attract other potential customers by sharing your blog’s content. Well written unique articles and catchy titles are great ways to encourage people to share your blog’s content across the internet, which can both increase the blog’s readership and help increase awareness of your company online. Plainly put, an official blog can be a great way to disseminate news about your brand to a guaranteed captive audience.  And every now and then it usually a good idea to reward your faithful readers with an exclusive piece of news. Google, for example, has announced many ground-breaking features exclusively on their official blog rather than relying on press releases.

Increase Sales and Search Rankings

Not only will an official blog help promote your business, but it can lead to a direct increase in sales, in certain cases. As people learn about your business and its products by reading your company’s official blog they are more likely to purchase your company’s products or services. People like to know that a business will continue to support it products and stands by its services and seeing a blog that is constantly updated reminds them that the company has not forgot about its products or customers. But the real attractor for many corporations for having an official company blog is that it can help increase a company’s search engine rankings online. The top search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing like to list content in their search results that are up-to-date and allow for some level of discussion or participation like commenting. If you can encourage commenting and discussion on your blog then it’s possible that your company might also see its search rankings improve.

Source: Google Official Blog

Facebook announced Wednesday that through a partnership with Skype they will begin offering their users free video calling in addition to a group chat service. These new communication features are sure to be a hit with the average Skype and Facebook users, but can also be used to improve a company’s customer relations management. Facebook and Skype have laid the groundwork for company’s to freely and effortlessly communicate with customers that “like” their page through Facebook.

Instead of relying on dedicated video chat programs, business could theoretically rely on Facebook’s new free video calling service. For instance, a business like Marlabs on Facebook could theoretically establish a Facebook video chat support line for customers or invite customers that have recently posted questions to the company’s Facebook wall to a video chat. Although, there is has been no word if multiple users can connect to the same Facebook video chat, but a company could still use Facebook’s video calling service to connect with a few users on an individual basis to bolster their reputation. On the similar note, a company could use Facebook’s new group chat service, which can accommodate multiple users, to hold Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions for customers.

Group chats and Q&A sessions are an effective way to engage a community and since Facebook will allow users to save the transcripts from group chats sessions, even the people that are are otherwise unable to attend a chat session can still find the answers to important questions or concerns. Question and Answer session are useful for customer relationship management because it is a quick way to address what are usually common concerns for a customer base that might have only recently become an issue. Not to mention that Q&A sessions are one of the easier ways to effectively disseminate information. The truth is that many users will not check a company’s website directly or for support if they have a question, but Question and Answer session are usually popular online and are usually reposted on social sites (e.g. forums, blogs, et cetera) or in the media. One of the main pillars to good customer relations management is interacting with customers and today Facebook may have just simplified that process for thousands of businesses and over 750 millions users.

Find out more about Facebook’s group chat and video chat services at the official Facebook blog