Posts Tagged ‘marketing’
What SEO Companies Actually Do
Does your company need an award-winning website optimization service with the goal of your growth at the forefront of everything they do? With trained, professional SEO consultants, marketing experts, website content writers and project coordinators on staff to assist you, you can set new goals and be confident you’ll be able to reach them.
SEO companies can do much more than just get you on Yahoo’s first page. They can help you to establish improved brand recognition, control reputation management, increase your company’s sales, and assure you of improved customer retention. They can also help to launch a new business, save a failing business, establish e-commerce initiatives, and help you track the effectiveness of all your advertising efforts.
Ask your local search engine optimization expert, up-front, how much time they think it might take you to reach your objectives, and what they are willing to do to help you to attain those goals. The answers you receive should make sense, should be quantifiable, and should address your concerns over getting a good ROI. If they don’t, look for a consultant that can.
Professional web development companies are growing in numbers across the world, and as businesses get wise to how today’s consumer finds what they want online, the natural SEO field is expanding faster than anyone could have predicted. Almost any search engine optimization company can promise you better online visibility. But here’s a few tips to save you time and effort as you look to make a longer-term partnership with a search engine optimization company that is concerned with your long-term success.
Ask for references. Read case studies. Talk with other clients of the professional web design or SEO firm you’re considering. Get an understanding of the process by sitting down with your prospective SEO service provider and having your questions answered.
Internet marketing is sophisticated, scientific, and artistic in nature. Because of all that change, many business owners shy away from it, especially if they aren’t doing e-commerce. What you must know is that even if you don’t do business online, chances are very good that your prospective customers and competitors ARE online. That’s how they go about searching for companies to do business with. So, even if you don’t do e-commerce, you still need a website that works, is easily found on Yahoo, and one that directs and inspires action from customers.
This is no time to be wasting money on marketing initiatives that aren’t delivering the results you need. This is the time to get leaner, to operate more efficiently than you ever have before, and to streamline your marketing efforts down to only those initiatives that pay off. This is the time to get smart and to understand what SEO can be doing for your business today and long into the future. Contact a partner with one of the most reputable, growing, and knowledgeable Search Engine Optimization Companies in the country.
Search through The Los Angeles Times and/or by searching in Google Blogsearch to possibly locate related resources on these topics.
Capture your Piece of Online Profits with the Help of the Perfect SEO Consultant
The Search Engine Optimization industry was born from the exploding commercial and social Internet development movement of the early ‘90s. Just ten or so years ago, at the time of the ecommerce boom, businesses were only beginning to respond to the increasing need for developing a marketable web presence – what is now called the seo consultant. No one seemed to talk much about what made for the best web sites – outside of easy page navigation, cool design, and fast-loading pages. That’s because few seemed to fully understand the depth and grandiosity of the potential. And most new web development companies were more than busy enough just building web sites without needing to care much if those sites were actually performing for their customers.
Let’s fast-forward through a brief Internet history. As the Internet boom rippled out across the world, hundreds of thousands of businesses were literally online within weeks. Or maybe millions within months. Let’s just say it happened so fast, nobody could keep track! (I’d be more than willing to revise this statement if anybody out there has a reputable source for precise data on the matter!) Anyway, it’s safe to say that today, there are millions upon millions of web sites out there. And today, if your business doesn’t yet have an online presence, you already know that you can barely exist outside the range of your own home community.
Impressive Industry Growth
Back in 1995, the United States had less than 1000 web development companies. Now, there are more than 40,000, and the organic SEO consultant industry is widely expected to grow another whopping 20 per cent over the next two years. This is encouraging news, despite recent speculation among governments, small and big businesses alike, all bracing for a discouraging recession. Fueling the tremendous growth in the industry, in large part, is the relatively fast emergence of smaller web design companies, and the continued automation of medium and large business selling virtually any sort of product imaginable around the globe. Yet another contributor in the success in the industry is the steady drop in the cost of web development fees.
The past decade has seen an incredible transformation in commerce, with the Internet driving e-commerce, led increasingly by more and more sophisticated web design. With the growth in e-commerce comes a natural wonder about how to host web sites that can track visitor activity and report on commercial advertising results in much the same way as more traditional forms of marketing. Beyond that, web site owners also want to improve numbers of random searchers easily targeting their web site.
When a potential visitor goes to Google to find, let’s say, a screwdriver, Bob’s Hardware wants to be the first company that comes up on the search engine results. This is where a SEO expert comes into play. SEO is the science of establishing, for any given website, a higher ranking in the search engine results than their competition.
A web consulting firm can help small, medium, and big companies improve their search engine rankings, traffic, sales, and overall profit. These firms can develop professionally customized SEO campaigns that guarantee results.
Anyone might be successful locating related data within The Washington Post and in Yahoo.
Ten Reasons to Market to the Online Generation Using Surveys and Questionnaires
Customers are demanding. They are extremely media aware and increasingly cynical and it is a clever marketeer who can get through to them. Online surveys breath new life into the traditional survey format and offer a unique way of interaction – providing you with all the benefits of the Internet without the programming. Here are ten reasons why they may be the silver bullet marketeers’ need, complete with examples supplied by Martin Day, managing director of Survey Galaxy – one of a new breed of websites making online surveys quicker and cheaper
1. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful
Select the right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and the cost to publish excellent value for money.
Useful information derived from survey analysis can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.
2. It’s easy
Anyone can create, design and publish an online survey. Survey sites allow people who are interested in the benefits of surveys, rather than technicalities, to side-step the required programming skills and create relevant up-to-the-minute surveys, instantly – surveys that are even easier to complete than they are to make.
3. Invite the world
Once the survey is online it is a simple step to promote it the most popular methods being either through email (with a link enclosed) or via a link from a website. Anyone who has the link can be connected instantly to the survey, at a time that’s convenient to them, 24×7.
4. We have an opinion – and we like to give it
Customers do not associate surveys as spam and most welcome the opportunity to make their voice heard and a chance to have an impact on a brand. Online survey’s are an ideal way for broaching sensitive subjects with concerned employees; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows the key issues to be raised in a positive manner and encourages employee participation. Online surveys allow the message to reach each individual and invite feedback in a manageable form.
5. Get inside your respondents heads
With traditional advertising you can lead a customer to an advertisement but you can’t make them think. Surveys engage the respondent, who think about the question before giving their response.
6. Seize the opportunity
It needn’t all end once a survey has been completed – while you have their attention you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making the most of the window when you have their interest.
7. If you like this, you’ll love…
One of the most important benefits of a survey is the ability to make inspired or useful connections instantly to other areas. By embedding links within the survey to other websites that offer more detailed information you are able to reinforce the marketing message.
8. Subtle marketing
Surveys can help associate, in the mind of the respondents, a product with a number of positive attributes. By listing the features of a product and asking the respondent to say how important they are to them, regardless of their response, the respondent will associate the product with the features.
9. Market, educate and gather market research
A survey is an effective, quick and easy method to help promote and gain acceptance for a difficult proposal; such as a public body trying to gain acceptance and support for a particular scheme.
Take the example of a city trying to gain support from the general public for their bid to host a future Olympic Games. With a survey you have the opportunity to explain each benefit putting the respondent in a much better frame of mind to appreciate an argument and be more positive in their response. Unlike other forms of marketing as well as promoting a cause, useful feedback can be gained that can then be used to fine tune the overall marketing strategy.
10. Engage interest
Think laterally and a lively and imaginative approach to surveys can provide a ‘hook’ to engage respondents. The survey subject can be focused towards a particular group on a subject close to theirs hearts. The survey’s marketing message can take the form of a simple brand awareness message by stating that ‘the survey is being sponsored by brand name’, or by finding a link from the subject matter to the product – something that is surprisingly easy to do and that is highly effective.
Attract more people to your website by providing a Public Survey section as many people who enjoy completing crosswords and doing word puzzles enjoy completing questionnaires. A public survey notice board is a low cost and automated method that will help increase traffic and establish a loyal and returning following. Unlike forums there is no opportunity for people to disrupt the site by inappropriate remarks as survey results can be displayed in summary form enabling them to dispense with moderators and maintenance.
The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will in fact welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand.
Many of the techniques and a few more are contained in the following Sample Marketing Survey.
Ten Reasons Why Online Surveys are the Future of Marketing
Customers are tough and demanding. They’re extremely media aware and increasingly cynical – it’s a clever marketeer who can get under their skin. Online surveys breath new life into the traditional survey format and offer a unique way of interaction – providing you with all the benefits of the Internet without the programming. Here are ten reasons why they may be the silver bullet marketeers’ need, complete with examples supplied by Martin Day, managing director of Survey Galaxy – one of a new breed of websites making online surveys quicker and cheaper
1. It’s cheap and cheerful
Select the right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and the cost to publish is minimal.
Useful information harvested from surveys can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.
2. It’s extremely easy
Anyone can develop an online survey. Survey sites allow people who are interested in the benefits of surveys, rather than technicalities, to side-step the required programming skills and create relevant up-to-the-minute surveys, instantly – surveys that are even easier to complete than they are to make.
3. Invite the world
Once the survey is online it is a simple step to promote it the most popular methods being either through email (with a link enclosed) or via a link from a website. Once advised of the survey’s URL anyone can link can to the survey at a time that is convenient to them, 24×7.
4. Everyone has got an opinion – and likes to give it
Customers do not often view surveys as spam and the majority welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and the chance to have an impact on a brand. They can be particularly good for change management projects; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows the key issues to be raised in a positive manner and encourages employee participation. Online surveys ensures that the message reaches each individual and the feedback is compiled in a manageable form.
5. Get inside your respondent’s head
You can lead a customer to an advertisement but you can’t make them read it. Surveys actively engage the respondent, who think about the question before giving their response.
6. Beautiful relationships start here
It needn’t all end at the end of the survey – while you have the respondent’s attention and they are in the mood you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making the most of the window of opportunity where you have their interest.
7. Have you also seen….
One of the most important benefits of a survey is the ability to make inspired or useful connections instantly to other areas. By embedding links within the survey to other websites that offer more detailed information you are able to reinforce the marketing message.
8. Subtly rules
Surveys can associate a product with a number of positive attributes. By listing the many features of a product and asking the respondent how important they are, regardless of their response, the product will be associated with the features; if they are rated as important the positive impact is endorsed by the customer.
9. It’s not just about selling
A survey is an effective, quick and easy method to promote and gain acceptance for a difficult proposal; maybe a public body trying to gain acceptance and support for a particular scheme.
Take the example of a city trying to gain support from the general public for their bid to host a future Olympic Games. With a survey you have the opportunity to explain each benefit putting the respondent in a much better frame of mind to appreciate an argument and be more positive in their response. Your primary goal may be to promote a cause but you will automatically receive useful feedback that can then be used to fine tune the overall marketing strategy.
10. Engage your target group
By thinking laterally a lively and imaginative approach to surveys could provide a ‘hook’ to engage respondents. The survey subject can be aimed at a particular group on a subject close to theirs hearts. A survey’s marketing message can take the form of a simple brand awareness message by stating that the survey is being sponsored by brand name, or by finding a link from the subject matter to the product – something that is surprisingly easy and highly effective.
Discover the benefits of including in your website a Public Survey section as many people who enjoy completing crosswords and doing word puzzles enjoy completing surveys. Having a public survey notice board as part of a website is a cost effective and automated method that will help increase traffic and establish a loyal and returning following. No need for moderators as unlike discussion boards there is no opportunity for people to disrupt the site by inappropriate remarks as the survey results can be displayed in summary form.
The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will in fact welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand.
Many of the techniques and a few more are contained in the following Sample Marketing Survey.
Tips to Writing Effective Surveys
How to create a survey using Survey Galaxy
Designing surveys is easy; or is it? The truth is that writing surveys is easy but writing surveys that will be effective is more difficult. The following are twenty tips that if followed will help you with your survey questionnaire design and help you write effective surveys.
1. What is the survey’s purpose?
Surveys and questionnaires are conducted for many reasons. By correctly phrasing the questions and structuring the answers surveys can be used in many ways and for a variety of reasons. When designing a survey don’t lose sight of its purpose.
2. Title the survey
The survey title is key and an opportunity to instantly summarise a survey’s objective and grab the attention of invited respondents. Respondents need to invest time in completing the survey so encourage them that the investment they make will be worthwhile.
3. The length of the survey needs to be as short as possible
Every question asked should be asked for a reason. Minimize the questions providing you with ‘nice to know’ information and focus instead on the ‘need to know’ questions.
4. Use plain English, avoid jargon and acronyms, be consistent and ensure that the questions you ask will not result in ambiguous answers
Word the question carefully. If a question is unclear then there is every chance that respondents may understand the question differently to that intended by the publisher making any analysis of the data worthless or at the very least suspect.
5. Avoid long questions
Where practical use short sentences. Long questions can cause a respondent to lose concentration and lead to them abandoning the survey.
6. Ask only one question at a time
Avoid confusing the respondent with a question like ‘Do you like tennis and football?’
7. Do not influence the answer
Do not load the question. ‘Should irresponsible shop keepers who sell tobacco to children be prosecuted?’ is likely to have no value.
8. Ensure that the selected answer format allows the respondent to answer the question being asked
Allow the respondent to answer how they really feel or they may be less inclined to complete the survey. As a last resort consider the benefit of including a “Don’t know”, “Can’t say” or similar response option.
9. While compiling your survey consider how you will analyse the results once the survey has been published
Appreciate that questions that allow for a free text open ended response, such as when asking the respondent for their comments, is likely to be difficult to score and/or summarised. Consider how answers can be grouped. For example “Indicate your length of service?” – ‘less than 3 year’, ‘between 3 and 8 years’ and ‘more than 8′.
10. Try and ensure that the questionnaire flows
Group questions into clear categories as this will make it easier for the participants completing the survey.
11. Target your respondents carefully
You may want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can’t control who responds to your survey consider including questions/answers that will allow you to filter out respondents who don’t match your target profile.
12. Allow the respondent to expand on their answer or make comments
Allowing respondents to make additional comments will increase their satisfaction level and will also give valuable feedback on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember that for large sample collections it may be difficult to analyze free text open ended responses.
13. If you are conducting a confidential survey ensure that your pledge for confidentiality is honoured
If you have guaranteed the respondents that the survey is confidential ensure that the individual data is not to be shared with anyone and not used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and any identifying information destroyed after the survey is complete.
14. Consider the benefits and disadvantages of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable
If your respondents are to be anonymous then appreciate that you will be unable to follow up or match “pre” or “post” surveys. There are advantages to allowing people to remain anonymous for example it would allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.
15. Carefully consider what the best response format will be
Maintaining a consistency in the format used for responses is good practice. When creating your survey keep in mind that when analysing the data single selection radio buttons are easier to analyse than multiple selection check boxes. Do not use a check box if a radio response would do.
16. Give the respondent an estimate as to how much time the survey will take to complete
Respondent drop out can occur if the survey appears to be a stream of never ending questions. It is good practice to indicate how long the survey is likely to take so that the participants can choose the best time to complete the survey.
17. Provide respondents with the survey end date
Encourage respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible but advise respondents as to the survey’s end date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.
18. Pilot the survey
Before publishing a live survey publish a small pilot survey to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the survey is aesthetically pleasing.
19. Before publishing the survey check the survey several times
Check more than once that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If practical get a colleague to check the survey before you publish, if no one else is available then take a break before checking again.
20. Remember to thank the respondent
To complete surveys respondents need to invest their time and they should be thanked at the end of completing the survey or in a follow up letter. You may even want to consider incentives such as entry into a prize draw or a reward.
Getting started is easy and there are many survey software websites to choose from.
Writing Effective Surveys
How to create a survey using Survey Galaxy
Designing surveys is easy; or is it? The truth is that creating surveys is easy but creating effective surveys is more difficult. The following tips will help you with your survey questionnaire design so you can write more effective surveys.
1. What is the purpose of the survey?
Surveys and questionnaires are conducted for many reasons. By phrasing the questions and structuring the answers surveys can be used in a multitude of ways and for a variety of reasons. When designing a survey do not lose sight of its purpose.
2. Give the survey a good title
The title of the survey is an opportunity to instantly summarise a survey’s objective and encourage respondents to participate. Respondents need to invest time in completing the survey so you need to encourage them that their investment will be worthwhile.
3. Don’t make the survey any longer than it needs to be
Every question asked should be asked for a reason. Pay attention to the ‘need to know’ questions and minimise ‘nice to know’ information.
4. Use plain English, maintain consistency, avoid jargon and acronyms and don’t ask questions that may result in ambiguous answers
Care must be taken in wording a question. If a question can be interpreted in more ways than one then there is a risk that any analysis of the survey results will be meaningless or at the very least misleading.
5. Avoid long questions
Use succinct sentences wherever possible. Long questions can cause a respondent to lose concentration and lead to them abandoning the survey.
6. Ask one question at a time
Avoid confusing the respondent with a question like ‘Do you like football and athletics?’
7. Don’t influence the answer
It is important not to load the question. ‘Should irresponsible shop keepers who sell alcohol to children be prosecuted?’ is unlikely to have any value.
8. Make sure that the selected answer format allows the respondent to answer the question being asked
Allow the respondent to answer how they really feel or they may be inclined to abandon the survey. As a last resort consider the benefit of including a “Can’t say”, “No comment” or similar response option.
9. When you are compiling your survey consider how you will analyse the results once the survey has been published
Appreciate that questions that allow for a free text open ended response, such as when asking the respondent for their comments, is likely to be difficult to score and/or summarised. Consider how answers can be grouped. For example “Indicate your length of service?” – ‘less than 1 year’, ‘between 1 and 4 years’ and ‘more than 4′.
10. Try and ensure that the questionnaire flows
Group questions into clear categories as this will make it easier for the participants completing the survey.
11. Target your respondents carefully
In some cases you will want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can’t easily control the respondents consider including questions/answers that will allow you to filter out respondents who don’t fit your target profile.
12. Allow the respondent to expand or make comments
By allowing respondents to make additional comments you will increase their satisfaction level and the comments will also give valuable feedback on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember though for a large sample collection it may be difficult to analyze free text open ended responses.
13. If you are conducting a confidential survey ensure that your pledge for confidentiality is honoured
If you have guaranteed the respondents that the survey is confidential ensure that the individual data is not to be shared with anyone and not used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and any identifying information destroyed once the survey has finished.
14. Consider the benefits and disadvantages of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable
If your respondents are to be anonymous then you will be unable to follow up specific complaints or match “pre” or “post” surveys. Allowing people to remain anonymous will however allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.
15. Carefully consider what the best response format will be
It is good practice to maintain a consistency in the format used for responses. Keep in mind that when analyzing the data radio buttons are easier to analyze than check boxes that offer the respondent multiple responses. Do not use a check box format if a radio response format would do.
16. Provide the respondent with an estimate as to how much time the survey will take
If the survey appears to be a stream of never ending questions then respondent drop can increase. It is good practice to indicate how long the survey is likely to take so that the participants can choose the best time to complete the survey.
17. Advise the respondents of the survey end date
Encourage respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible but advise respondents as to the survey’s end date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.
18. Trial the survey
Before publishing a live survey publish a pilot survey to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to confirm that the survey is aesthetically pleasing.
19. Before publishing the survey check the survey several times
Check more than once that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible get someone else to proof read the survey before you publish, if you are unable to do this then take a break before checking again.
20. Say ‘Thank You’
Respondents invest their time when completing surveys and should therefore be thanked at the end of completing the survey or in a follow up letter. You may even want to provide an incentive such as entry into a prize draw or a reward.
Getting started is easy and there are many survey software websites to choose from.
Don’t be Intimidated by Search Engine Optimization and Web Development
When you hear the words SEO Web Design, do your eyes glaze over in confusion? Feel like you missed an important meeting where it was explained what professional search optimization is, how it works, and why it is an essential component to every modern, successful marketing plan? You’re far from alone. Mainstream marketing professionals are only just recently becoming versed in the benefits and need for a professional seo company. No need to fear. SEO experts have all the knowledge and expertise you need, and then some. You don’t have to become a search engine optimization professional to reap the benefits of our website optimization service. We can do it all for you.
Legitimate organic SEO can become your most powerful ally in these changing political times when competition for ever-more-scarce time, energy and demands for better and better results creates a pressure-cooker business climate. Your plate is already more than full. Meetings, staff issues, the unexpected, almost daily crisis. The daily grind. How can you possibly cram in the tasks and duties of another critical marketing specialty without going back to school for years and spending considerable time staying current with the changing trends and techniques that make SEO Consultants so so valuable to your business, and so integral to helping you reach your company’s future goals?
You don’t need to burden yourself endlessly with learning the tools of the SEO Consultant’s trade. You just need your own SEO Consultant. You need someone with a proven track record of success in helping businesses like yours reach web site traffic goals. You need to know that while you’re busy dealing with your core business, a professional SEO service has got your back and is effectively handling all the web marketing details that neither you, nor your team, have time for.
Seriously – if you aren’t already doing effective SEO work at your company, it’s probably because you:
Don’t have the necessary skills
Don’t want to waste money while you train someone on your staff to learn how to do SEO properly
Don’t have additional, qualified staff available to take on the hefty task of learning SEO
You haven’t fully examined the cost-effectiveness and facts of SEO to understand the reasons why you should be doing it
Don’t let the potential intimidation factor of SEO get in the way of your future success. You don’t have to understand all the ins and outs of what SEO pros specialize in. You just need to give yourself – and your business – an opportunity to examine the results that we are presently earning for some of our clients. Then, we’ll do the same for you. A professional economical SEO firm with experience in SEO isn’t easy to find. SEO experts are in this business and marketing specialty for the long haul. It is their core business, so they can focus on it, while you focus on yours. Their goal is your growth. Call for a free SEO consultation today.
Search through eHow.com and/or by searching within Technorati to locate more resources regarding these subjects.
What Market Research Will Tell You
What are the things you can learn if you conduct effective market research?
Know your customers – Market research will help you better understand your customers in a number of ways including demographic information such as their age, gender and geographic spread. The better you know your customer the easier it is to target your marketing and fine tune your product or service.
Know your target market – Who exactly are your existing customers and where do they live? What age group does your service or product appeal to? Who are your potential customers and where do they live?
Know your competition – Market Research will help you measure your service compared to others. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your organization and are you improving in the right areas?
Products and services – Do you have the products or services that people want? Is what you offer value for money? How do your company’s products and services match up to that of your competitors? If you have a product can you deliver, do you deliver, should you deliver?
Ease of doing business – Do your customers find it easy to deal with you and when they visit your store and/or website do they find what they want? Is there adequate advice and assistance on hand? Do people find it easy to buy from you? Are all your staff properly trained, helpful, knowledgeable and available?
Marketing – Is your marketing reaching the right people and is the marketing message clear and effective. Which are the least effective marketing channels?
Is your marketing message understood? Does all your marketing correctly embody your brand? Do you use the correct advertising channels? Are you reaching your target audience?
With the power of the Internet it is now very easy to conduct market research using one of the many online survey software sites that make conducting surveys and collating good market research intelligence quick, easy and extremely cost effective.
The 3 Step Process For Preparing A Quality Business Awards Entry
If you are positive about the high quality of your products, then entering and succeeding at any business awards will give your company the much needed boost to your sales and will help you in winning big customers.
Given the significant advantages, it is not surprising that most business awards are hard fought, and the most important factor that will make a difference between success and failure will be your entry to the award.
A business award entry involves filling up of a detailed form, which will provide the judges an insight into your organization. You must read the rules for the entry carefully and make note of all the information that is being asked for.
Before preparing your business award entry, conduct a research into the history of the award, past winners, and the judges. Experts such as the ones at business awards can often help with this. Based on these factors, customize your entry so that it reflects the qualities that the panel will seek in a winner.
Grab the attention of the award panel by coming up with an interesting entry covering information on key facts about the company, significant accomplishments and key factors that give your company an edge over the competition. Make your entry more credible by providing details like objective testimonials from satisfied customers, companys financial records and press release clippings.
Before submitting, you must validate your entry and correct any erroneous information that might have slipped in inadvertently. You can get debarred from the business award if your entry contains false data that seems deceptive, as detailed at corporate identity london.
You must keep in mind that your entry is usually the only way the judges have to evaluate your organization. No matter how good your company is, until you provide concrete reasons to the judges to pick you as a winner, it will be hard to find success at business awards.
Twenty Top Tips to Writing Effective Surveys
How to create a survey using Survey Galaxy
Writing surveys is easy; isn’t it? The truth is that writing surveys is easy but writing effective surveys is more difficult. The following tips will help you with your survey questionnaire design so you can write more effective surveys.
1. What is the survey’s purpose?
There are many reasons for conducting surveys. By correctly phrasing the questions and structuring the answers surveys can be used in a multitude of ways and for a variety of reasons. When compiling a survey don’t lose sight of its purpose.
2. Give the survey a good title
The survey title represents an opportunity to instantly summarise a survey’s objective and encourage respondents to participate. Respondents need to invest time in completing the survey so encourage them that the investment they make will be worthwhile.
3. Do not make the survey any longer than it needs to be
Every question asked should be asked for a reason. Concentrate on the ‘need to know’ questions and minimise ‘nice to know’ information.
4. Use plain English, avoid terminology and acronyms, be consistent and ensure that the questions you ask will not result in ambiguous answers
Take care when wording a question. If a question is ambiguous then there is a real risk that any analysis of the resulting survey data will be worthless or at the very least suspect.
5. Don’t have long questions
Where practical use succinct sentences. Long questions tend to cause respondents discomfort and can lead to respondents abandoning a survey.
6. Ask only one question at a time
Avoid confusing the respondent with a question like ‘Do you like golf and football?’
7. Do not influence the answer
Avoid loading the question. ‘Should irresponsible shop keepers who sell alcohol to minors be prosecuted?’ is likely to have no value.
8. Make sure that the chosen answer format allows the respondent to answer the question being asked
Allow the respondent to answer how they really feel or they may be inclined to abandon the survey. As a last resort consider the benefit of including a “Don’t know”, “Can’t say” or similar response option.
9. While you are compiling your survey consider how the compiled data is going be analysed when the survey is complete
Appreciate that questions that allow for a free text open ended response, such as when asking the respondent for their comments, is likely to be difficult to score and/or summarised. Consider how answers can be grouped. For example “Indicate your length of service?” – ‘less than 3 year’, ‘between 3 and 5 years’ and ‘more than 5′.
10. Ensure that the questionnaire flows
Group the questions into clear categories as this makes the task of completing the survey easier for the participants.
11. Target your respondents carefully
In some cases you will want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can’t easily control the respondents consider including questions/answers that will allow you to filter out respondents who don’t fit your target profile.
12. Allow respondents to expand on their answers and/or make comments
Allowing respondents to make additional comments will increase their satisfaction level and the comments will also give valuable feedback on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember that for large sample collections it may prove difficult to analyze free text open ended responses.
13. If you are conducting a confidential survey ensure that your pledge for confidentiality is honoured
If you have made guarantees to the respondents that the survey is confidential you need to ensure that the individual data is not shared with anyone or used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and any contact information destroyed once the survey has finished.
14. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable
If your respondents are to be anonymous then you will be unable to follow up or match “pre” or “post” surveys. Allowing people to remain anonymous can however have advantages for example it would allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.
15. Give careful consideration to the best response format
It is good practice to maintain a consistency in the format used for responses. When designing your survey keep in mind that when analyzing the data single selection radio buttons are easier to analyze than multiple selection check boxes. Do not use a check box if a radio response would do.
16. Provide the respondent with an estimate as to how much time the survey will take to complete
Respondent drop out can become a problem if the survey appears to be a stream of never ending questions. It is good practice to give an indication as to how long the survey is likely to take so that the participants can choose the best time to complete the survey.
17. Inform the respondents of the survey end date
Encourage respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible but advise respondents as to the survey’s end date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.
18. Test the survey
Before publishing a live survey publish the survey as a trial to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the survey is aesthetically pleasing.
19. Before publishing the survey check the survey several times
Check and then check again that a survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible ask a colleague to check the survey before you publish, if you are unable to do this then take a break before checking again.
20. Thank your respondents
To complete surveys respondents need to invest their time and they should be thanked at the end of completing the survey or in a follow up letter. You may even want to consider incentives such as a reward of some sort.
Getting started is easy and there are many survey software websites to choose from.