Topic: Web Design

Insiteful Solutions – Here to Help During this Difficult Time

Posted on October 30, 2020 by - Web Design

Insiteful Solutions COVID-19

At Insiteful Solutions, we remember what it was like when we first started nearly 20 years ago. With a limited budget and operating out of our house, like so many other start-ups, we worked with what we had to build our business. Like all businesses, we have had our highs and lows and we consider ourselves fortunate to have become one of the leaders in online marketing in Canada. At the onset of COVID-19, we immediately mobilized to help our clients in any way we could. As many of our staff were already working offsite we had the ability to reach out quickly to make sure our client’s websites, digital marketing platforms, social media accounts and e-commerce sites were all working seamlessly.

As COVID-19 drags on we are acutely aware of the challenge businesses face. With an unknown end date of the pandemic, they are having to stay nimble and adjust their working models in all attempts to keep things afloat.

At Insiteful Solutions, we want to help.

If you are a business struggling right now we are offering very reasonable terms to help out small to medium-sized businesses. Internet marketing is one of the most affordable and best ROI. If COVID-19 is affecting your bottom line we highly recommend you contact us to discuss ways in which we can help you adjust to the new normal we are all experiencing.

There are numerous benefits to working with Insiteful Solutions to create or develop a comprehensive online marketing plan for your company. Here are some ideas of how we can get started:

Around the Clock Marketing

Online marketing campaigns function 24/7. No matter what country you are working in, your website, especially if you have an ecommerce component, can work at any time and in any time zone. So while you concentrate on other matters (or try to catch some sleep!) your website can be working hard to advance your business.

Blogging is King

Blogging has been around since the late 1990’s and Insiteful Solutions was one of the first companies in Canada to harness the power of blogging for our clients. While over 20 years old blogging is still the backbone of content marketing and you need a compelling blog to be successful. At Insiteful Solutions, we work with content creators to write and post relevant, consistent content. Many companies don’t realize that churning out 300-500 words once every other month is doing virtually nothing to help drive traffic to your site. Done properly, this inbound marketing strategy can bring in 12% more leads than companies that do not.

Blogging is tied directly with algorithms that build up your search engine ranking

which in turn assist people to find your company through a simple internet search. At Insiteful Solutions, we invest the time to write 1,000 – 2,000-word blogs on a monthly basis that include your keywords and interesting topics that bring focus to your business and the product or service you offer.

Insiteful Solutions Targeted Internet Results

Knowing who your customers and potential customers are is very useful when you want to communicate with them personally. At the onset of COVID-19, several of our clients wanted to send direct emails to their customers and clients. This personal outreach in invaluable. Insiteful Solutions can help you create systems to make sure you regularly capture customer information. While it might seem dated, sending personal emails or other communication to customers can strengthen your brand. The other important part of proper data collection is that you can tailor your outreach based on your customer’s demographic. The more you know about your customer the more you can anticipate their needs and sell to them. As of July 2020, it was estimated that 4.75 billion people used the internet – that’s 59% of the world’s population. Insiteful Solutions can help you reach your audience.

Global Reach

Whether you are a small, medium or large business a well-designed, up-to-date website allows your company to have an expansive reach all over the world. The pool of customers you can reach is limitless – by concentrating on creating a comprehensive online marketing campaign you can consistently work toward expanding your audience and with that garner new customers and clients.

Cost-Effective

In challenging times it might be an instinct to distribute resources to marketing and advertising. Traditional marketing vehicles of print, radio or tv can be incredibly expensive. Online marketing is far and above the move cost-effective way to reach potential customers. Insiteful Solutions has a team of designers, coders, social media experts and content creators that will design and execute an online marketing plan taking into consideration your business goals. Online marketing has a higher ROI than any other traditional marketing method. Your dollars will go farther with an online campaign.

Insiteful Solutions Can Help You

If you are struggling during these uncertain economic times you are not alone. With bankruptcies mounting and businesses closing Insiteful Solutions is dedicated to helping wherever we can. We are offering reduced rates and favourable financing options to help your business succeed. Located in Markham, Ontario we work with clients across Canada and around the globe. From small brick and mortar stores that want an online presence to companies on the Forbes 500, Insiteful Solutions can work with you to tailor a campaign to drive people to your site.

Please give us a call today so we can help your business design a targeted online marketing campaign that will help your company thrive and succeed.

Website Design Toronto

Online Scheduling Insiteful Solutions

Posted on June 14, 2020 by - Online / Content Marketing, Web Design

Scheduling

Let Insiteful Solutions Help you Get Your Business Back to Work with our Online Scheduling System

Getting Ready for the Future Post COVID-19

As the cloud of COVID-19 lifts and the various provinces start phased opening for places other than essential services, Insiteful Solutions has been hard at work helping our clients get ready to re-open and re-start operations. The past few weeks have been heartrending and complex. As we grapple with the ‘new normal’ that faces us Insiteful Solutions is here to help people get their businesses back up and running, safely and responsibly.

Doing Business in the age of Social Distancing

With the advent of COVID-19 in early March of this year the world took a sudden and dramatic shift. By mid-March many provinces had closed all but essential services and worldwide people were advised to stay home and isolate to protect themselves and the most vulnerable among us from the virus. These swift actions left many businesses scrambling not just to close businesses but how to transfer their operations to e-commerce in all attempts to keep their businesses running. At Insiteful Solutions we immediately swung into high-gear and set up e-commerce capabilities for several of our clients and made sure that their websites were mobile friendly. We also advised all of our clients to reach out via their social media channels to make sure that their customers were aware of their new operation schedule and how they could still provide service to them.

Provincial Recommendations

The province of Ontario has developed a framework to guide its re-opening plans. It is a three- step approach which will slowly see businesses, services and public spaces open. On the website www.ontario.ca the province outlines the steps to make sure things open with public health and safety at the forefront of everything. One of the main components which businesses all over the world, including Canada, will have to grapple with is how to maintain social distancing when the doors of businesses open. It is recommended that people stay 2 meters apart under all circumstances.

The New Solution – Online Scheduling

In the weeks and months to come it is clear that businesses are going to have to operate differently. Whereas before businesses were able to open their doors and allow anyone to visit within their operating hours, social distancing will cause these ‘regular’ operations to change.

One of the ways the business world is responding to planning in a post-COVID19 world is to organize online scheduling for business. If you run a retail store for example your previous operations most likely saw people come and go as they wish – going forward for the foreseeable future retail stores will need to monitor the number of people in their stores at any given time and do their best to encourage social distancing within their retail space. While many stores that were able to remain open at the beginning of COVID-19 started instituting line-ups outside their store, line ups might not be the best way forward. That’s why at Insiteful Solutions we are helping clients set up an online scheduling system so your customers can reserve a time to visit your store to go shopping.

Avoid the Stress of Scheduling

There are numerous benefits for your business to scheduling customers to visit your store or business. The system Insiteful Solutions is using takes all the hassle and stress out of organizing times for your customers to visit you. Clients can self-schedule the times they wish to visit you based on the information and parameters you provide; this allows you to anticipate the number of people that will be in your store at any given time thus allowing you to schedule the appropriate amount of staff at the right times. If you are a business that offers a certain service, again clients can self-schedule and provide the exact details of the service they wish to receive. The online system doesn’t just take care of scheduling – it covers off an incredible array of back of house work which will allow you to focus on other things. The online scheduling system can be embedded into your website for easy access and sync with Outlook.com, iCloud, Google Calendar, Exchange and Office 365. If your offering is solely an online venture then this system can sync with GoToMeeting, Join.me and Zoom so that when the appointment time comes customers are automatically linked to the online meeting forum.

As Canadian businesses quickly restructure their operations to cope with the complexity of COVID19, businesses are having to operate with leaner staffing and overall be more flexible. The online scheduling system doesn’t just help you book customers to visit your store – it can also by synced to whatever accounting system you use: QuickBooks, Freshbooks and Xero integrations are all possible. This syncing of systems frees up time from the nitty gritty of invoicing so you can focus on other things. Clients can also pay for the service they receive through PayPal, Square or Stripe. Credit card information is also securely kept for one time or future payments. Clients can also tip for the service they receive and use vouchers or coupons they have been given. The Insiteful Solution online scheduling system is so much more than just telling people when they can visit your store or business – you can be rest assured that the detail work around visits will be taken care of so you can focus on your interface with your customer and supporting your business.

Keeping Your Brand Strong

And you don’t need to worry about an online scheduling system diluting your brand. Insiteful Solutions will embed the online scheduling system into your existing website – your clients won’t have to deal with a clunky transfer between sites or any confusion that may cause. Everything about the online scheduling system will be branded as if your company created it. We can design the online scheduling system to display your logo and customize it with your company colours, the online app can be edited so that the text reflects the tone and culture of your business.

All the Convenience, None of the Hassle

One of the best things about the online scheduling system is the convenience for both you and your customer. Once a customer books an appointment they will automatically receive reminder emails or text messages so they don’t forget the appointment. The system is set up to take into consideration multiple time zones should you be located in more than one city and will automatically do the time zone conversion for customers.

Insiteful Solutions has been working with clients in Markham, Toronto and all over the GTA for nearly 20 years to address all of their digital marketing needs. With the onset of COVID-19 we were able to quickly help existing and new clients pivot their business to function online. As we face the future with our clients we are more focused than ever to help them develop new operating systems so their business can continue to function and thrive. Contact us today so we can help you set up an online scheduling system for your business and help grow your business!

How to Focus Your Website and Social Media Channels During COVID-19

Posted on April 30, 2020 by - Web Design

Website Design Toronto - Insiteful Solutions

Website Design

At Insiteful Solutions, based in Markham, Ontario, we know it is nearly impossible to comprehend the changes we have all had to endure since the onset of COVID-19. What started as perhaps a more severe form of the flu quickly changed to something none of us had anticipated. With this profound public health crisis we are also faced with a great shift in the economy. Businesses all over the world were compelled to suddenly close to encourage social distancing.  Many businesses were able to shift some or all of their operations on-line and adapt to this new normal. No matter how your business has adjusted to COVID-19 Insiteful Solutions is here to work with you to make sure your business is prepared as possible for the future.

As a business owner, it was next to impossible to have been fully prepared for COVID-19, even governments and the healthcare industry has been caught off guard. While we are still early in the pandemic at Insiteful Solutions we have already noticed that people are changing how they are using the internet and how they are searching for things on Google. No matter what industry you are in, now is an incredibly important time to focus your energies on how you can make your business as resilient as possible to face the ups and downs of COVID-19.

At Insiteful Solutions, we have been diving deep into new trends to help our clients all over Toronto and The GTA to adjust to our new reality. As always, we want to pass what we’ve learned onto not only our own clients but any business owner who may be struggling. At Insiteful Solutions, we are always available to answer any questions you may have.

Clearly the most significant negative trend from COVID-19 has been the shuttering of physical business locations. To adhere to social distancing guidelines set out by municipal, provincial and federal governments tens of thousands of Canadian businesses have closed their doors unsure of when they would re-open. The lack of foot traffic has devastated bottom lines and brought a sudden halt to many brands. Even businesses that had a strong online presence have been affected by this massive shake-up.

It can be difficult to know how to respond to times like these. But at Insiteful Solutions we can help: we have been advising old and new clients since the onset of COVID-19 that the most important and cost-effective thing they can do is build their online capacity. Whether you already have an e-commerce website or not NOW is the time to create one or improve the one you have. With people staying home most likely on and off for the next few weeks, having the ability to sell your products or services online has never been more important. Insiteful Solutions can help you create or improve your online web presence quickly so that you can face the coming weeks with confidence.

Here are our top tips to keep your customers engaged during COVID-19:

Google My Business

More than ever consumers are searching for answers about how they source everything from necessities like groceries to non-essential items like flowers for their garden. With the regulations around COVID-19 changing almost daily, it is important that you communicate with potential customers the most basic details of your business. Simple information like your operating hours (if you are able to open), if people are allowed in your store or if you are facilitating curb-side pick-up if you take online orders and are able to deliver.  All of this can be accomplished very easily if you sign up for Google My Business. This allows people doing Google searches to quickly find out information about your business before even going to your website. This also allows your business to be linked with Google searches and Google maps.

Website Design

Over recent weeks we have heard from several clients that they wish to take this unexpected downtime to re-design or spruce up their website. Now is a perfect time to either create a new website or re-visit some design elements of your current site. Prior to COVID-19, there were already some design trends for 2020 that were being reflected in website design. Here are some trends that we have been implementing at Insiteful Solutions:

  • Simplified Design
    People have lots to choose from and are spending even more time on the internet during this pandemic. Creating a site that is simple, sleek and focused on your product is highly advisable. Text is important, but we want your customer to learn quickly about your product or service, so we are designing sites that are efficient with text.
  • Mixing Photography with Graphics
    Photography is largely dominant in designing websites; at Insiteful Solutions, we like to make sure we have the best photography that represents your business and we mix in graphics to best communicate your vision.
  • Dark Mode
    You most likely have seen dark mode as an option on your smartphone. Now the dark mode trend has shifted into website design. Websites designed with dark mode not only look very modern but are also easier on human eyes and can make certain design elements stand out.
  • Minimal Navigation
    When a potential customer reaches your site you want them to get the information they need as quickly as possible. As website design evolves we have seen a tremendous simplification of site navigation. At Insiteful Solutions, we make sure that all of your information is shared in a clean, sleek design.

Social Media

Everyone understands that business models are changing quickly. Social media is the best way to communicate any changes to your business during this time. You can keep engaged and communicate frequently across all social media channels. It’s important to stay engaged on social media; if clients turn to your Facebook or Twitter account and it’s not up to date they may assume (incorrectly) that your business is closed. We are encouraging our clients to dive deep into their social media channels and engage with their customers.

Reach Out to Clients

Business owners across Canada have experienced the tremendous stress of having to recalibrate their businesses almost overnight. Your customers are most likely feeling the stress of COVID-19 effects as well. Now is a great time to write a personal message via email to your clients to check-in. These messages don’t have to ‘sell’ anything or push a specific product or service; in fact, it would probably be best to divest yourself of any business message and just check in on your customers on a person-to-person level.

Since the onset of COVID-19 Insiteful Solutions has been quick to work with our clients to make sure they are doing everything they can to keep their businesses operating. More than ever your company website and social media channels are crucial to your success. Give us a call or pop us an email or visit our contact page, to find out how we can help you and your business weather this storm and succeed.

We are able to offer services worldwide.  Many of our clients are in the Greater Toronto Area Toronto metropolitan area, along with 25 surrounding suburbs and exurbs, distributed among four regional municipalities: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York Region, Ontario.