Category Archives: KO News

News about KO Websites, new products, people and other tidbits.

Online Shopping Explodes with Mobile E-Commerce Websites

E-Commerce Websites and In-Store Shopping Transforms Buying Experience Together

The Holidays are upon us and that means holiday shopping is underway. With Black Friday doorbuster deals, consumers are looking for the best possible prices on hot-ticket items for the whole family. This year, more consumers are using their mobile devices to help find and purchase those items, without even stepping foot in the physical store. Continue reading

How Much is Too Much for a Website?

How much should a good website design cost?

Don’t ask the US Government!

What should you expect to pay for web design and development?

How much is too much to pay for a website? Does paying a lot for a website guarantee quality work? According to the results of HealthCare.gov, no is clearly the answer.

healthcare-gov-websiteHigh prices usually indicate that you can expect a high quality product. But everyone is buzzing about the skyrocketing costs of the new Healthcare.gov website. Estimates of the cost of the new healthcare website range from $200 million to well over $500 million. Granted, the website technological infrastructure, interfaces and exchanges are complicated by having to connect to other older .Gov websites. This requirement was probably (we suspect) the ball and chain that’s stifling this project. While there is some disagreement on the final bill, it is clear that costs have soared over the initial $93.7 million cap. So the US Government just paid millions for HeathCare.gov – and it doesn’t work. How much should your company pay for a website and how do you avoid cost overruns like this? Continue reading

Content Marketing: Attract and Retain

Content Marketing: Attract and Retain Customers Through Education

Consumers are tuning out traditional forms of marketing. Think about how many people you know (maybe yourself included) who have DVR programming just to ignore the advertising on television. When playing “free” games on a smartphone, you’re accustomed to look for that tiny white ‘x’ as soon as the ad pops up. Some of us even buy the full version of the same application, just to avoid the advertising distractions.

It’s a whole different ballgame when you’re surfing the web and see “Tips and tricks for cleaning hardwood floors” or “10 ways to add value to your home;” articles that actually educate the reader, rather than trying to sell them something.

Welcome to the world of content marketing. Continue reading

How Many Website Launches in 48 Hrs?

Quick Web Design?

KO Websites broke a company records this month. First they launched 5 websites in 48 hours and 2 more in the next 48 hours, for a total of 7 websites in less than a week!

Quick website design? Outsourcing? No, more of a log jam! Some times new clients will get so excited about the look of their new website, they insist on developing new content, taking new photography and things of this nature that were not originally in the development plan. This happened several times in the last few months and some projects were put on hold (by the client) just prior to launch, so other non-delayed projects caught up in the assembly line, and before we knew it, we had a log jam of about 8 websites that were ready (in our eyes) to launch. This week, several of these projects came to an end and were all launched.

bay-area-web-design-7 bay-area-web-design-1 bay-area-web-design-2

bay-area-web-design-3 bay-area-web-design-4 bay-area-web-design-5

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Stay tuned, we have another 13 new websites on deck. Yes, we’re having a great time over here at KO Websites. Oh ya, almost forgot…check out our new SEO website at SEOPRO.pro too!

San Francisco Web Design Companies

Why Choose a Local San Francisco, Bay Area Web Design & Marketing Company?

Here are 10 reasons why you should only pick a LOCAL Bay Area web design company:

  1. Local knowledge of your playing field is super valuable. Just ask the San Francisco Giants or Oakland A’s, and they’ll tell you knowing the idiosyncrasies of their home ballparks is a huge advantage. The inside-the-park home run at AT&T Park last week was proof of that. When it’s time to select a web designer and internet marketing specialist, you need someone who understands the Bay Area culture and who is geographically familiar with the area.
  2. Exceptional Service is a lot more likely when a designer knows that you can show up at any moment for a face to face meeting. I can’t tell you how happy our clients are when they call and we pick up, and when we meet with them at the last minute for a meeting. They always show appreciation that they can talk directly to the graphic designer, the web developer, the SEO and social media marketing specialist and the owner.
  3. Quality of work. The San Francisco Bay Area is packed with tech heads and fine young (and old) artist. In fact, some of the best in the world are here.
  4. Access to help. Web designers and online marketeers have tons of resources at their fingertips here in the Bay Area. If they get in over their head, they probably know someone who can help. If you have special needs for your project, a local team can be partnered up quickly.
  5. Time zones. There are good web designers all over the world, but dealing with time zone issues is a hassle. Even working with East coast web designers and SEO Pro’s is cumbersome.
  6. Shop local and support your neighbors. It amazes me how many companies shop overseas and out of state to save a couple of bucks, but yet where the US flag all over their branding and cry about the 3rd world companies stealing their business. We’ve got to stick together here in the Bay Area. KO gives back to the Bay Area community too.
  7. Keep the crazies off your streets! We employ 8 local people and 3 local contractors. And we fill an otherwise vacant office space in the San Francisco, East Bay. KO Websites is the American machine at work. Help keep it chugging along by shopping local.
  8. Reputation Management. It’s a lot more risky to provide poor service to someone local, than far away. Despite the popularity of social media and online rating websites, the old fashion word-of-mouth is still the most powerful rating tool. The closer to home, the more powerful it is.
  9. Training. You can get hands on training on how to use your new content management systems (CMS) if you need it. Maybe you need training and support on how to use your new shopping cart. A local Bay Area web design firm can provide this for you.
  10. Local referrals you can trust. We mentioned the importance of word-of-mouth, but what if you don’t know anyone who has worked with a web design company lately? A local web design company like KO can give you a list of local names and numbers for you to call and see what the relationship was like (or is still like).

3056 Castro Valley Boulevard #53
Castro Valley, CA 94546
(510) 276-9902

Local San Francisco Bay Area Map

Award Winning LinkedIn Marketing

Inbound Marketing Service
for your Bay Area Company

 

KO Websites was able to get four of their clients in the top 10% and 2 in the top 5% at LinkedIn. This means that these accounts had some of the highest traffic to their LinkedIn accounts. Here’s how it was done.

Every smart San Francisco, Bay Area company and firm knows the importance of organic search engine marketing (SEM), also referred to SEO. Most companies are finding out the importance in participating in social media marketing as well. Social media can enhance and support their SEO efforts and also offers other verticals in which to enhance their inbound marketing reach. Continue reading

KO launches 3 new WordPress website

3 new great websites by a San Francisco Bay Area leader in WordPress web design

KO Websites, a San Francisco Bay Area web design company announce the launch of 3 new WordPress websites. Two of the new websites are Responsive web designs and one a non-responsive web design. All three use the WordPress CMS. All three sites are very smart phone friendly, particularly the two responsive web designs that look great on any mobile device, including Ipads and any other tablet. Continue reading

HTML5 Website for Bay Area K-12 School

HTML5 web design

Redwood Christian Schools (RCS) hired local website design and marketing firm, KO Websites, to build a new and improved website that will allow the school to better connect with students, parents, staff, and alumni. The new site can be found at www.RCS.edu. The website is built on a WordPress platform that offers a more user-friendly interface. The website serves several RCS schools and organizations operated by Redwood Christian Schools.

“Basically, we broke the website and content up into three sections,” says Ken O’Donnell, owner of KO Websites. Continue reading

A New Type of Marketing Agency is Here – Part II

This is part II of a blog about what new marketing agencies look like and why it’s smart to use them.

What does a new age marketing agency look like?

The new type of marketing agency still provides consulting, advice and helps identify potential markets. They also offer opportunities to co-op advertising opportunities, leveraging their client base to 3rd. party advertising channels. Additionally, they refine your brand and company message helping you to stand apart from your competition. Continue reading

A New Type of Marketing Agency – Part I

What does a San Francisco Marketing Agency look like today?

Marketing Agency San FranciscoBackground: Watch out what you blog about. Someone might actually read it!

I just got off the phone with someone who found us via our SEO website, www.seopro.PRO. She was a marketing coordinator for a upscale vocational school in San Francisco. I could tell she had spoken with several SEM (search engine marketing) agencies and heard and read just enough to start feeling like she understood the concepts and terms used in the Internet marketing industry. Aka Inbound marketing. Continue reading