sdesign1 Bulletin October 08

Business Support Bulletin - October 08

Welcome to our Business Support Bulletin - October edition. This month we have our top tips on turning your website into a intranet or extranet using Content Management Systems. There is also information about a Free Seminar that sdesign1 will be hosting in conjunction with e-blueprint in November. And, of course we have included all of the up and coming Business Events in the North West.

Top Tips

This month we are looking at turning your web site into an intranet or extranet and some of the advantages. Intranets and extranets securely securely share part of your organisation's information or operations with employees,suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or other businesses. They are one example where the web can show measurable return on website investment. They take advantage of the web's ability to share information in ways that other mediums simply cannot.

Providing you have a reasonably flexible Content Management System sitting behind your web site you should be able to create extranets which,

• reduce all those phone call enquiries by providing information on the web site
• store wholesale price lists or reseller agreements on password protected areas
• store company policy docs for employees in a secure section of the web site. Such douments might include: Grievance procedure, health and safety, fire procedure, etc
• add training manuals, powerpoints etc
• capture data by allowing people to add content in the form of articles in return for supplying their details
• track orders

So what are the benefits for your business of doing above?

• Increased productivity - bottlenecks will disappear and your company's productivity will increase
• Flexibility - For example, an extranet may allow you to provide customer-service information outside of regular business hours.
• Timely and accurate information - On an extranet you can instantly change, edit, and update sensitive information such as price lists or inventory information
• Build customer loyalty - The more you make timely, accurate information available to your customers, the more likely it is you'll keep their business.
• Reduce printing costs by maintaining up to date company information on the extranet
• Efficiency and communication are closely related so by making information more available you allow people to make informed decisions more quickly.
• Boost the reputation of your organisation, helping to position it as more advanced technologically and more responsive to customer, partner and supplier needs.

sdesign1 Business Support Seminar - 11th November2008

sdesign1 and e-blueprint will be holding a joint Seminar in November demonstrating how to easily add and updates content to your site using Content Management Systems and how to increase and monitor traffic to your website:

Does your web site sit there looking sheepish as the content on it hasn't changed in 12 months?

sdesign1 will be demonstrating two different Content Management Systems which can be used for updating a web site and creating extranets and intranets. We'll be looking at how easy it is to do the following:

• How new pages can be added
• Images added
• Pdfs uploaded
• News items added
• Videos added
• Pages password protected
• User permissions changed
• Securely share part of an organization's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or other businesses

Does your web site have very low visitor figures?

E-Blueprint take a look at some of the tools out there that are available to benchmark, monitor and improve your site rankings:

• How to choose keywords and what tools to use (Google Trends, Wordtracker etc)
• Optimising web pages and websites using those keywords
• Getting links into the website
• Measuring and benchmarking (Google Analytics)

To register for a place on the seminar click here or phone 0161 223 0001.

NorthWest Business Events

Getting Ahead with Flexible Working – Merit Seminar – 15th October

A free seminar looking at the economic, environmental and social benefits of 'flexible working' and what it means to your business now and in the future. To be held at Everton Football Club. For more information visit: www.merit.org.uk/events.

Survive the Slowdown in Chester – Seminar – 20th October

A free seminar to show you how to stay ahead in these uncertain economic times. The event will take place at Oddfellows in Chester on the evening on 20th October. For more information or to reserve a place, please call Diane Fowler 01244 404420.

Make More of Mobile – Seminar – 23rd October

A free seminar sponsored by BT to show you how to make mobile technologies work for you. To be held at the Radisson Hotel at Manchester Airport. Visit: www.smallbusinessweek2008.co.uk/october for further details.

Waste and ICT Crime – Seminar – 29th October

"Come to talk rubbish and find piece of mind!” An all day seminar at the BT Convention Centre on Wednesday 29th October. Email: events@liverpoolchamber.org.uk for bookings.

Merseyside Business Fair - 11th November

This event is free to attend for visitors and there is no need to pre book. To be held at St Georges Hall. For further information call Kathy Haines on 0151 709 8932.

Business North West – Business-to-Business Exhibition – 19th to 20th November

The exhibition and conference event is held at the Manchester Central arena (formally G-Mex) on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th November 2008. To register for the free event or to book an exhibition stand, call 01179 071 000 or visit www.businessnorthwest.co.uk .

Tech Exec Business Breakfast – Networking Event – 6th November 2008

An informal and high-value networking breakfast meeting at the Liverpool Innovation Park on Thursday 6th November 2008. For further details contact Mark Tock: MarkTock@weh-plc.co.uk.

DigiWorld Summit International Business Forum – International Event – 19th and 20th November 2008

Merseyside ICT in conjunction with Septimanie Export (of the Languedoc/ Rousillon region of France) are making available a very limited number of places at The Digiworld Summit and International Business Forum on 19th and 20th November 2008. For further information visit the Merseyside ICT site: www.merseysideict.org.uk.

BNI Riverside Breakfast Meeting - Networking Event - Every Wednesday

Find out how to increase your client base and generate new leads. Held at the Liverpool Marina every Wednesday - 6.45am - 8.30am. Location. If you might be interested in the chance to promote your business to a host of other businesses visit www.bni-riverside.co.uk for further information. Breakfast is free and substantial!