Entrepreneurs Team Up To Teach, Implement Web Strategies
When friends Geoff King and Zach Raineri began talking with business owners about their websites, one common theme kept emerging. The owners had websites, but the sites weren’t really working to help grow their businesses.
“We started thinking differently about web development,” King says. “When you have a website, that’s just the start. A business needs to invest in its website and a marketing strategy for that site so it can turn it into one of the biggest assets the company owns.”
King and Raineri decided to help solve this problem. The two formed ZioSolutions, a website design and inbound marketing company. The owners didn’t want to create just a web design firm, they wanted to create a company that not only built sites but helped clients gain results from the sites.
“In our opinion, a website should absolutely be a No. 1 marketing asset and a No. 1 salesperson because the site is working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” says King.
King, a former sales manager, and Raineri, a former developer in the telecommunications industry, teamed up to create the company and focus on educating customers on digital marketing. “There are so many reports and so much data,” King says. “We wanted to make sure our clients were doing something with this information. Once the sites are up and running, we want to grow those sites and make sure people were coming to the sites. Once they start coming, we want to convert them into leads and then sales.”
The two entrepreneurs help clients set up, understand and track digital marketing tactics such as keyword search and SEO, content marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, conversion rate optimization, calls to action, forms and more.
Typically, the pair puts new clients through ZioSolution’s Zio60 program, a 60-day program that includes a new website, or website re-design, and such things as competitor analysis, keyword research, landing pages, SEO titles and more.
“This program allows them to start out with everything they need to be successful online,” Raineri says. “They have research data they need and they have a fully optimized website to help them along the path. This gets clients started, and they should start generating leads and business from that.”
According to King, “This (Zio60) is really our platform for success. This is where we build you a strong and stable foundation. During this process, we’re able to learn a lot about our clients. This helps us fine-tune our program just for their needs.
“We don’t have a cookie-cutter approach to helping companies. Sometimes we’ve found they might have a website up and running but no way to capture leads, for example. If you can’t capture leads, how can you use that website to help improve your business and your sales teams. Zio60 is how we get to know you and your business and build the website that works best for you. Once we are able to build their goals and needs into a solution that is tailored just for them, we’ve seen a major difference in the results.”
Raineri believes ZioSolution’s main strength is its ability to handle a client’s inbound marketing and sales challenges. “Even in our development, we are always thinking about conversion paths, how visitors will view the site, work flows, search engine optimization, and other key factors outside of strictly development,” he says.
King agrees, adding that websites aren’t one-size-fits-all anymore. “They have to be personal and they have to be tailored to the needs of the business,” he says.
Both King and Raineri spend a lot of their time speaking and presenting to other business owners throughout the region on websites, inbound marketing and digital marketing. In fact, King has been a featured SCORE speaker, sharing his knowledge with other business owners. SCORE is a non-profit, volunteer organization, whose mission is to promote the success of small business in the St. Louis area. The organization holds seminars throughout the year on a variety of business topics.
“This (speaking to business owners) has allowed us to teach people more about website design and development but also more about inbound marketing and sales on the web. We aligned perfectly with the SCORE mentality of how do we help people grow their businesses, “ says Raineri.
“We love being able to get out and teach. It is about telling people about the options. We’re more of a trusted advisor, “ King says.
Top 5 Website Mistakes
Geoff King and Zach Raineri, owners of ZioSolutions, discuss the top five website mistakes:
1. Not being mobile optimized. “Mobile browsing makes up the majority of internet browsing now and not being mobile optimized means greatly reduced conversion rates and less traffic from search engines,” Raineri says.
2. Not optimizing sites for search engines. “You are missing out on a massive audience,” Raineri says. “A recent study showed 93% of web visits began with a search engine. In terms of generating business, your site has to be optimized.”
3. Not publishing new content. “New content will help improve your online search rankings,” Raineri says. “If you are posting regular content, it helps your rankings massively as well as positions you as an authority in your industry.”
4. Not thinking about the buyer. Says Raineri: “A lot of companies don’t think about the buyer’s journey and they just go with what they like or how they think the site should look. It is important to also help your customers filter through the site and make it easy to interact and connect with you.”
5. Looking at your website as an expense instead of asset. “Your website should be your No. 1 digital asset,” King says.
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