Amanda

Employees are one of a businesses greatest assets, so it makes sense to do all we can to retain them. As far as employee retention

Retaining employees is key for small businesses

strategies are concerned most commentators agree that remuneration alone is not the sole motivator of keeping employees, there are also the non monetary aspects such as the culture of the business and showing appreciation for a job well done. Now benefits such as work perks or incentives such as casual Fridays, bring a pet to work days, movie tickets, more flexible hours are on the increase.

Fox Business discusses some ideas & the reasons behind the increase of perks as a way to retain employees. It also considers how once in place, the reduction of a perk would not have the same effect as a reduction in salary in tougher times. Click here to read the full article

Employee Retention Strategies in Small Business

Women24.com has a good article on retaining employees, consider this:

In addition to the quality of management, other factors that cause staff turnover include salaries, working conditions, opportunities for promotion and peer group relations. Individual factors like age, educational qualifications, family responsibility and personality also play a crucial role in the way employees view the attractiveness of current and alternative job opportunities. [Read more…]

I’ve come across a great article on tips for good small business web design. Written by Craig Reardon from Smart Company there 6 are factors to consider when developing, or having someone develop for you, your small business website. And why are these tips for good small business web design important? Here’s Craig’s view:

It’s a well-known fact that smaller businesses are far more susceptible to costs arising from poor web design than their

Tips for good small business web design

deeper-pocketed competitors.

Because if an issue does arise with their website, unlike larger business, they are less likely to have either the financial power to overcome the issue or the time taken to properly research and manage a solution to it.

As a result, many smaller business operators “put up” with a dated or ineffective website simply because they can’t afford the time or money to rectify it. You only need to conduct a search of a smaller business category to witness the number of sites that fit this description.

Tips for good small business web design

Basically the 6 factors ( in summary ) are:

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- Presentation, yes how a website looks is important to get readers engaged, but……
- Communication. Its the content , which keep users on the site
- Techinal features. How easy is it to move around the site.
- Usability, both for customers and website administrators
- Maintainability. Is the website administrator able to make changes quickly and easily to keep the site looking up to date
- Scalability. Growth is an important aspect of most small businesses, and websites need to be able to grow with the business. This could be the addition of new features etc.
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I think one factor overlooked by many small business owners is scalability. Craig puts it well here:

A scalable (or extensible) website platform will save you a very considerable sum on the technology features you will require as your requirements and visitor demands grow.

A good web professional will build or provide your website in a way to be able to add new features very affordably as you need them. But others might conveniently neglect this capability and charge what can be large amounts to add them “after the fact”.

Of the six website attributes, this is the one that will keep your website affordable as your needs grow and avoid the issues raised above.

So when you are looking to hire a web professional, make sure you check their track record with all of these six attributes and not just the one that can make your website look good. To view the full post click here

Have you previously considered the factors outlined in our tips for good small business web design? Or have you had any issues with websites that have not lived up to your expectations or any more to add we would love to here your stories.