Trading Online Voucher – The business development team at www.DigitalSales.ie have been all over Ireland to LEO Trading Online Voucher events from Donegal to Waterford, and back!! We have noticed a few trends, which we would like to share, and which we hope may shape your decision when selecting a Trading Online Voucher partner.
****This Trading Online Vouchers Scheme and Website Grant has just been updated (March 2020) where you apply for this website grant a second time up to September 2020 and also another important point, applicants can spend 2750 euro and get the grant for 2500. This is a Covid 19 related initiative, read all about it here. And if you need help with the answers for the questions on the Website Grant form, see this handy blog post. Or just reach out to the Digital Sales team.
We maintain that 50% to 60% of Trading Online Voucher attendees already have a provider lined up, 20% are not ready (nothing wrong with this whatsoever), 10% are there for the free lunch and 20% are still open for persuasion.
But first, if you are interested in our services at Digital Sales, check out this quick video:
Well, just to give you an example of some stories we heard on our travels: A competitor of ours rang one prospect a few days after the Trading Online Voucher event and the business owner openly said ‘you were the only one to ring me so I’ll give you the business’. What mistakes is this prospect making? Not to mention his compromised bargaining and negotiation position!!?
I personally experienced another prospect complain to me ‘why isn’t my website in position one, why is that competitor first when I own the domain name for that search string?’ Well I told him what was wrong with his site…..but he still reverted back to the provider that built his first website, yes, the first website that was getting ‘beat’ for the primary keyword that his domain was????…..questionable decision making from two business owners.
From a decision-making perspective you must appreciate your audience and understand how business owners and entrepreneurs make decisions? They are very instinctive, make decisions quickly and don’t always think through the process. Many are impulsive. Which is a distinct business character weakness. STOP AND REFLECT, you must consider your options and don’t decide to go with a provider that has got you at a good time or someone you know who does a bit in their spare time….below are some of the questions you should ask a Trading Online Voucher provider…….
WordPress template websites tend to VERY long, very long scrolls with your mouse or finger, which will effect your download speed (currently a strong SEO factor at the moment). Also, I recently said to a CEO of an international company, who was comparing his new website to three of his competitors:
‘Regarding the sites you mentioned: WE WILL HIDE THEIR IDENTITIES!! – these designs are WordPress templates, they are popular and appear modern because they are common, mainly due to their cost. Also, if you look at the downloads speeds on the above sites, they are very poor. This is mainly down to the length of the page and the lines of code. It’s important to get your homepage download speed at 90% plus, it will give you an edge on organic SEO and your competitors.
The problem I see with the scrolling down design methodology is that the user is bamboozled with way too information, has to scroll up and down the page and download speed issues.’
Summary, avoid template websites. WordPress was initially built as blog software or to be more specific a ‘personal publishing system’, and yes integrate a WordPress Blog into your website for future content marketing and SEO, but don’t purchase or engage with a digital agency which utilises template designs. You have to go custom.
See some of our WordPress blog examples below:
https://www.boilerreplacement.ie/boiler-replacement-blog/
https://www.careerguidance.ie/career-guidance-blog/
http://www.greenfeet.ie/lawn-care-blog/
http://www.bmstairlifts.ie/stairlifts-blog/
Make sure you take a look at some of the work these trading online voucher website providers have produced. Dig deep and find some of the not so ‘household’ names and brands, how do these types of websites look?
If your trading online voucher budget is say 3K, ask for a list of websites that cost that price, not the sites that cost 7K which may look significantly better!! Do compare like for like.
If the process is like the website design process undertaken by Digital Sales, well then they are on a decent track, see this blog post regarding the process involved for a pest control company who commissioned www.DigitalSales.ie to build their website and increase their online sales, presence and brand.
You must have a direct point of contact in order to manage the project successfully, an Account Manager as such. Will you have direct access to someone within the design company, and before you make a decision as to which provider you select, find out who that Account Manager is and check out their LinkedIn profile. Make sure you undertake your research and feel comfortable who you will be working with.
Have a look at the trading online voucher providers ‘customers’ link, pick up the phone and give them a call. Ask questions such as: How did you find working with them? Did they deliver the project on time? Who was your account manager, what was the relationship like? Post the website launch….how many leads have you received through the website? Would you recommend them? Did you have any issues at all? How would you rate your experience with them?
Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and have a chat with their customers, don’t ask for a reference to call. Have a look at their customer page and give them a call yourself.
At www.DigitalSales.ie we have helped companies all over Ireland apply for the Trading Online Voucher, NOT ONE of our voucher applications have failed to qualify. If you need any help completing your Trading Online Voucher application contact us today at 01 539 7207 or email info@digitalsales.ie we have pre populated Online Trading Voucher forms that have passed the selection criteria and we have helped delivered world class websites that help companies sell online.
Diarmuid Haughian – Business Development Director – www.DigitalSales.ie
Post Grad Dip. User Experience (UX), Dip. International Selling, Cert. Digital Marketing, MSc. BITS
