Web business strategy

Many businesses that run with mostly offline processes find difficulty relating to the web. The web is often portrayed with the allure of mystery....similar to that of the wild west shortly following the Louisiana Purchase. The web offers new opportunities for businesses to advance, expand their reach and access new markets. In essence,the web has expanded our collective ability to communicate and learn. It is becoming the backbone of information within the age of information. We have found our consulting practice to be vital for emerging businesses. Our approach is practical yet intuitive + responsive yet based in experience. Much of our consulting practice involves a sit down approach and the desire to internalize your business DNA before formulating a method. In terms of time commitment, we try to keep this open...it is for you to decide. Many companies wish for only a one time or temporary meeting scenerio, whereas others hope for long term and studied partnership--we do both.

Integration of marketing and design

Ironpaper takes a holistic approach to online internet business strategy, web development and web design. We discover niches within industries, as well as apply universal methods to help businesses grow. Our design aesthetic is adaptive and content focused. Our approach changes with each project and is based on the needs, desires, and requirements of the individual project and its goals. Due to our broad client base, Ironpaper has the ability to approach each new project with both experience and innovation.

Performance Driven Solutions:
How to drive traffic to your business and create winning engagements
Strategy is the glue that binds our solutions. Whether it be design, development, marketing, search engine optimization or business development, we believe any one solution should integrate and enhance the whole of your business campaign as well as feed results to your targeted goals. We work with our clients in a dedicated manner to build a performance focused, cohesive "whole".

Website performance analysis
Decisions about direction to market, network, and advertising online can be tricky to make without guidance or adequate information. We seek to close the information gap for businesses trying to gain better results on the web. New business owners and veteran web managers both can use consultation and an improved informational base. We track online performance, provide feedback and develop strategy for a cross pollinated approach to marketing and business development.

Top down, left, right strategy consulting
Sometimes organizations have internal challenges for listening to and gaining insight from frontline employees. We help integrate top-down strategy with frontline wisdom and experience. Our approach involves auditing employees work-products, walking through their tasks and processes and finding improvements that can better inform company strategy and business processes, as well as identify performance shortfalls.

Start-up Guidance
With start-up and small businesses, there are often a lot of questions about the many nuances of planning for success. Domain name (URL) planning and acquisition, brand name development, target market discovery, online marketing approach, business process strategy and tools and competitive analysis are just some of the ways that we help our clients develop and sharpen their business strategy.

Due Diligence
We can help with investigative tasks and temporary due diligence tasks for campaigns and website management teams. Such tasks can help with the transition of employees out of a department and the oversight of files, access, requirements and operational needs. Due diligence can also be useful for helping merge non-web departments with web focused departments--the analysis of capabilities, methods, and requirements for such departments or personnel.

Service-Level Agreements and Management Relationships
Building tools and providing strategy for online campaigns is at the core of what we do. However we can also create longer term relationships for the management of various day to day operations. A service-level agreement ( SLA ) can aid clients with the operation of various aspects of their online campaign. Examples of tasks that could be included in an SLA are: Updating or production of content (for various industries), ongoing testing and quality assurance, statistical performance monitoring and reporting, marketing and marketing support functions, ongoing documentation, training and employee skill development, security analysis and testing, and efficiency evaluations.

Effectiveness Coaching
Ironpaper will coach you or your team on tactical approaches to your business. The subjects for coaching may be campaign effectiveness, web marketing for target audiences, cost-cutting marketing/advertising approaches, branding and brand development strategies, or visual presentation. Learn more: Business and approval processes for web

Data, Traffic, Keyword and Positioning Analysis
An essential part of online marketing and SEO is understanding the competitive environment in which the site or business will compete. We will solicite and gather data on the client site and develop a functional understanding of competing sites and their advertising / networking methods. From this data we will initiate our strategic planning.

Search Engine Optimization and Marketing Training
We work we many individuals and teams to teach principals and concepts of search engine optimization. Our mission will be to enable your team to conduct a more successful marketing approach based on the core assests of your business. We can walk less experience users through the basics of networking, content analysis, site analysis, and practical approaches to online marketing and pagerank growth. More experience users may study approaches that deal directly with the success of specific markets and new, innovative approaches to network development and marketing. Learn more: SEO case studies and View generalized statistics on common search trends: 2004 - 2008

Branding and Narrative Creation
Branding is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company. The act of branding can be the art of communicating an identity and aura about an organization or product, guiding and controlling the accumulation of user experiences regarding your company, guiding public perception, and information that displays, presents, or reveals the identity of your organization. Brand development is vital to the success of your business, and in each activity that you perform to enhance your business, branding needs to be a vital concern.

Information Architecture - IA
Information Architecture is essential for the development of large scale web projects. System mapping, planning and re-design will allow current web networks to perform better. Information Architecture allows for clear and systematized communication with dev. teams and business rules. Screen design can be preceeded by a logical analysis of layout, function, usability, and process flows. Many existing websites that have grown organically may suffer problems of usability. Such problems can hurt user response and thus the bottom line. An example scenario could be that the existing website may have broken links, pages that are crammed with outdated or misplaced information or a site that is not organized to meet user expectations. By re-designing the information architecture of your network or website, business goals can be realized, products can emphasized, traffic can be more clearly guided towards the right transactions. This is the process of building efficient systems that map to your business needs and customer desires.

Content Development
Ironpaper will develop content for your business campaign. Captivate your users and build search engine ranking while positioning your brand with content developed for that purpose. Content development can take diverse forms, such as traditional copy writing or new media formats such as photo slide shows, web video, or podcasting with audio. Content development is an essential practice for businesses wishes to improve their online user retention, drive and increase sales, set SEO based marketing goals or clarify your brand's message.

Social Networking Strategy
For content publishers and SEO professionals, the social networking world is an important cornerstone for visibility online. Social networking is not just for teenagers. Professionals in business can use social networking to meet players in their industry, have open dialogue, demonstrate authority within a choosen field or put to market ideas and content. The core concept behind social networking is sharing...sharing ideas, information or building new connections within the world. The marketing side of social networking is very real and powerful. We build solutions for both the distribution of content within social networks, the active marketing of content and pages, content development to expand performance within social networks and traffic analysis and growth to critical pages. To engage in social networking for the purpose of marketing your organization is an excercise in the refinement of the way you engage your audience....it can give you a more direct connection to your audience as a measure of effectiveness.

Design Audit and Rapid Re-design Strategy
Design is a vehicle for communication and loyalty building. Ironpaper can audit your current design and strip away the ineffective design elements. Ironpaper will make each design element purposeful and cohesive, resulting in a presentation composite that provides a solid brand experience. A website audit can comprise a strategic analysis of current tools, functionality, and business approach(es) online. Fulfillment can be in the form of paper reports, sit-down consulting, presentations and proposals, or system development.

Online Marketing
Ironpaper has helped numerous organizations achieve profound results with scoring high on search engines such as Google. Many of our clients have become number one in very elite search rankings directly because of our actions and strategies. We use tried and true approaches to build long-term results. Our strategy and actions adapt to each of the new Google updates. We provide media buying services for online marketing such as paid placement advertising and incoming link placement. For larger run ad campaigns we will provide market data, reports, environment and venue studies as well as creation of the media or ads to be placed. Technology advancement can be key to a successful marketing program. We build technological solutions or integrate third party solutions for optimal performance. A few examples of basic or common marketing tools are: newsletter templates and newsletter mailing system with data reporting, optimization of mission critical areas of a site and calls to action, donation or support modules, campaign or message testing devices to measure the effects of campaigns within your active user group. Additionally, we provide SEO coaching and workshops for further assistance with long-term growth.