Digital Products: Here's How You Can Use WordPress To Your Advantage

With the rise of tablet and smartphone usage, digital downloads are becoming more and more popular. From ebooks to software, digital downloads are perfect for business owners who don't want the hassle of shipping physical products.

There are many methods of selling digital downloads using WordPress, which may accomplish without writing a line of code.

Here are five ways to sell digital products with WordPress:

  • Add a Digital Download Option To Your Shopping Cart Plugin

If you currently use a shopping cart plugin on your website, you can enable digital downloads through the plugin. The Digital Downloads Plugin allows users to purchase any number of files attached to their posts or pages. You can decide whether or not you want customers to be able to download their files again after purchase, and you're provided with statistics regarding your sales.

  • Sell Individual Digital Downloads Using the Product Add-On Feature

The Product Add-ons plugin allows you to create products that can be purchased as add-ons with other items on your website. For example, if someone is buying an eBook that costs $10, they may wish to buy a worksheet that goes along with the eBook for an additional $5. With this plugin, digital products can be made available as add-ons to physical goods. This is also a great way of selling bonus content that isn't part of your main product offerings, such as tutorials and blog posts.

  • Sell Digital Downloads Using PayPal

Selling your digital downloads through PayPal is another convenient way of making it easy for customers to purchase them. All you have to do is direct users to an order form on your website with all the necessary payment information, and they can buy their product right there without leaving your site.

  • Sell Digital Downloads Using Checkout Services

Another method is to use checkout services. They allow you to add a product onto the service with just a few bits of information about each product that you choose to sell. Then, you can direct your customers to a particular order form on the checkout service website, and they'll be able to purchase digital products without ever leaving your site. You will receive statistics about sales made through this method as well, which is a bonus.

  • Offer Digital-only Membership Levels

If you have a membership WordPress website, consider offering a digital-only level. The price of this membership level could be slightly lower than your other paid membership levels, and it would be similar to a “lite” version of your physical products. By offering users the opportunity to pay less for just the digital content, you may find that they're more willing to become members of your website.

Final Thoughts

The competition in the digital market is high, and consumers are always looking for the best deals. Selling digital goods with WordPress is a great way to meet your customers' needs and stay ahead of your competition. Not only should you add an option to purchase digital downloads on your website, but you may also want to consider selling add-ons for physical products or creating membership levels that include only digital content. If you need help setting up any of these options, seek help from experts on WordPress website development.

Ecommerce Conversion Guide

Conversion is the ultimate goal of every eCommerce business. Website traffic is useless without conversions. However, many companies do not know what they should be doing to improve their conversion rates. If this is you, here are a few simple yet powerful tips you can use to improve your eCommerce conversion rate:

1. Start A Blog for Your Online Store

Having a blog that discusses topics related to your industry is a great way to build trust with your website visitors. Having an educational blog tells people you know what you're talking about builds credibility, so they are more likely to purchase from you rather than from your competitors. And since you're using your blog to build credibility and authority, you're able to post links back to your eCommerce store in the articles.

2. Optimize Your Website For Mobile Devices

The most recent studies suggest that the majority of people now surf the web with their smartphones. The truth is, they aren't going to be happy if they have to pinch and scroll just to read an article. Optimizing your website for mobile devices means a better user experience, so it's a great idea to get on board with the growing trend.

3. Improve Your Web Design

When we say web design, it means everything from how you layout your home page to every last detail of every page on your website. When visitors come to your site, they can immediately tell if you're a professional company or some amateur operation. Professional-looking web design tells them that you're a big-league player and you're here to stay, so it's in their best interest to do business with you.

4. Use AIDA For Better Copywriting

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. AIDA is a copywriting formula that has been around for many years. It's used to write all types of marketing material. Still, it's beneficial for eCommerce websites because it gives you a step-by-step guide on engaging your visitors and giving them a reason to keep reading. Once they're done with the article, this means that you've successfully persuaded them into converting into paying customers.

5. Use Trust Badges

Trust badges are a great way to increase the credibility of your website and boost your conversion rate. In short, they're small images or icons that communicate certain aspects of your website to prospective customers. For example, you could have a trust badge from McAfee next to your checkout cart because you use their secure server for processing orders. This tells your customers that their information will be safe when they submit it for checkout, so they're more likely to place an order.

6. Offer A Clear Return Policy

If you have clear and understandable return policies on your website, you can expect to see a higher conversion rate. Why? Because if a customer is confused about the return policy, it's going to be a big turnoff for them, and they're likely to abandon their shopping cart. So clearly explain what your policies are with bullet points, bold font, and headings. Making your return policy easy to find will tell people that you care about their shopping experience.

Conclusion

These are just a few simple tips you can use to increase your eCommerce conversion rate. You can also use these strategies to improve any other type of web conversion you may be struggling with, so it's worth taking the time to try them out on your website. Following this guide will help you increase visitors that are more willing to purchase, which will increase your sales!

Connecting Businesses To The World

There are many benefits of doing business on a global scale; companies can broaden their market, increase sales, offer different products to new customers and eliminate the competition. However, this increased scope also presents challenges that must be overcome for businesses to have an effective global reach. This article will provide insight into how businesses can more effectively reach global customers.

Understanding The Global Market

The first step is to understand the global market and how it works, where your company fits in, and what sets you apart from other businesses operating in the same industry. Businesses must also determine their goals for entering a new market. Do they have specific customers in mind? Do they plan to bring their products or services to an entirely new set of customers? Are they looking to increase market share or company revenue? Once these questions are answered, it is possible to move forward with a plan.

An In-Depth Analysis

The next step is research, an in-depth analysis of the current global business environment, including its laws, requirements, policies, and trends. Businesses need to understand the differences between markets, countries, and regions. For example, it is essential to know what time zones customers in a specific area are currently using and which countries use the same time zone. In addition, businesses need to make sure they can meet legal requirements for entering a market, such as filing trademarks or government registrations.

Culture, Language And Demographics

To reach global audiences effectively, business owners must also understand how different cultures think, their language of communication, their values, and how their demographics affect spending habits. For example, culture has a vital role in determining customer preferences for products and services. Understanding cultural differences can help companies effectively plan marketing campaigns to target specific groups of customers more efficiently.

Digitalizing Global Reach

The final step is to apply digitalization. The internet has created a global marketplace where businesses can extend their reach and access customers from across the globe. This means that businesses must also adopt new technology and build an online presence to reach global audiences. Digitalization is also crucial for businesses because it allows them to track their progress and receive data on consumers' online behaviors.

Having a business website will help businesses extend their reach because today, many people access the internet through smartphones and tablets. Businesses can communicate directly to customers via social media platforms, emails, and business websites by building an online presence. This digitalization makes it possible for companies to track what consumers look at online and how they spend their time on the web.

This information is essential for businesses because it can reveal customer buying patterns and preferences. This data can be used to better target customers, promote products and services, and drive more revenue. In addition, digitalization also makes it possible for businesses to track whether their marketing campaigns are successful or if they need to make adjustments to reach a global audience.

Final Thoughts

For companies, in this day and age, to compete in a global market, they have to go digital. Being online is a great start, but businesses must also monitor what people do on the web. This data reveals the customers' preferences and buying patterns, which can better target customers, promote products and services, increase company revenue, etc. Gaining insights into customers' online behavior also helps companies change their marketing campaigns to drive more revenue.

Having a business website, being online, and tracking their progress makes it possible to reach global audiences more efficiently.

Internationalization Plugins: The Best Way to Reach Global Customers

Having an online presence means that you should handle different countries, languages, and cultures.

Many people are not aware of the importance of ensuring that everyone can understand their website, regardless of where they come from or what language they speak. Luckily for us, internationalization plugins exist! These plugins help us ensure that our websites are accessible to everyone, regardless of their preferred language or culture.

What Are Internationalization Plugins?

Internationalization plugins are a collection of software that will expand your website's capabilities, allowing you to support different languages and locations. These plugins are great because they can help you add in multiple languages without manually adding in every translation.

Why Should You Use Them?

The first thing that an internationalization plugin can do for your website allows you to translate everything. Specific plugins will even allow the end-user the ability to change languages on their own.  

Many of us know that there are certain countries out there that speak specific languages, like Spanish or German. Well, these internationalization plugins often help by adding in-country localization. It means that you can have a Spanish version of your website right next to the English one.

There are many internationalization plugins out there, which can help various businesses succeed all over the world. Not only do they expand a company's reach, but these plugins also allow them to capture more customers and better engage with their audience. The more people can understand your brand and company, the better, which means that everyone should use tools like these.

How Do Internationalization Plugins Work?

All internationalization plugins work differently. Most of them will either use JavaScript or PHP to get the job done. In some cases, you may need to add a line of HTML code to your site.

For these internationalization plugins to do their job, all they require from you is that you add your desired languages to their system. Many different plugins allow you to do this.

What Are Some of the Most Popular Internationalization Plugins?

There are many internationalization plugins out there – but some of them are more popular than others. Some of the most popular include Google Translate, qTranslate-X, Aiy Language, Layers on Translate, and WPML.

Where Can I Find Internationalization Plugins?

You may find most internationalization plugins in the WordPress plugin repository. They are free to download and easy to install.

Reasons Why WordPress Is The Best Platform For Internationalizing Your Website

WordPress is one of the best platforms to use when it comes to internationalizing your website. Here's why:

  1. It's free and open-source
  2. It has a massive community of developers and tinkerers that constantly update the software and help expand its capabilities.
  3. The WordPress plugin repository allows you to find specific plugins quickly.
  4. You can customize every aspect of the platform if you want to – which means that your website will always be unique.
  5. When you're done, you can show it off to the world!

Final Thoughts

Internationalization plugins allow you to translate your website into multiple languages easily. They expand the capabilities of WordPress and help create a better experience for everyone who visits your site.

Now is the best time to internationalize your site. These plugins are free, easy to install, and they will save you lots of time in the future!

Essential WordPress Plugins For Businesses

WordPress is a popular platform for building websites. The best WordPress plugins can help you promote your business, automate valuable tasks, and improve the security of your site.

This article will look at the essential WordPress plugins for businesses: how they work and when you should use them.

Ready to get started? Let's dive in!

What Is WordPress?

WordPress is an open-source blogging platform that has evolved into a powerful content management system (CMS). You can use the platform to create your website or build and run it on your server.

There are two main versions of the platform: WordPress.com and Self-Hosted WordPress (or WP). The free version hosted by WordPress.com is limited in terms of business uses, but for many small businesses, it's more than enough to get started. You'll also find hundreds of thousands of websites using the platform.

WordPress makes it easy to add new functionality with plugins. While there are thousands of available plugins, we're going to focus on those that will help you take your business online.

Best WordPress Plugins For Businesses

There are hundreds of WordPress plugins available for use, but not all meet our needs as businesses.

Free Plugin Options

The following plugin is either free or has a free version available:

  • Business Catalyst

The Business Catalyst plugin adds eCommerce features such as online payment tools, shipping, and inventory tracking. It also works well for marketing your business through email messages and social media.

  • Google XML Sitemaps

This plugin helps search engines find your website. It automatically creates a map of pages and posts on your site and generates the HTML code you need to add to your site's home page. You can customize this map by adding or removing specific items or use an advanced mode to control how often it updates.

  • WP Super Cache

This plugin boosts page load speed by caching (or storing) your site pages and posts temporarily. It can be tweaked for performance, and you'll find it works well with other plugins. WP Super Cache has detailed documentation to help get things working again if you run into any issues.

  • Social Warfare

This is a powerful plugin for sharing content on social networks. It adds advanced features such as the ability to manage multiple accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest or track your social engagement with custom charts and reports.

Premium Plugin Options

For those who prefer to keep their website self-hosted (using WP), there are a few premium options worth considering:

  • UpDraft Plus

This plugin backs up your website in case something goes wrong. You can manage remote backups at UpDraftCentral, and restore your site with one click if needed.

  • Easy Digital Downloads

This plugin adds one-click digital downloads to your website, including both free and paid options. You can set custom prices that include tax and shipping costs or use a “pay what you want” pricing scheme to incentivize visitors to pay more. You'll also find additional features like coupons, product variations, and custom product pages.

  • Owl

This is an excellent plugin for analytics. It helps you track visitors, conversions, page visits, where they came from, and how long they stayed on your site. You can set up custom reports to see what's working best for you and use this data to fine-tune your website as needed.

Final Words

As you can see, there are plenty of WordPress plugins available for business use. This will vary depending on your needs and the type of website that you're looking to create. These plugins provide a great way to get started with online marketing or update an existing site from eCommerce to analytics.

The Ultimate Guide To Choosing A Web Host For Your Business

Web hosting is a method of housing files used on the internet, which allows you to place your website online. One of the most important aspects of running a business is getting it up and running onto the web. Your website must have as much accessibility as possible to reach customers worldwide and generate new business. To get the most out of your site, you'll need to choose a web hosting provider.

To get started, you should first read reviews of different providers to help you decide which is best for your business. You will also want to consider service, speed, and features so that your website runs smoothly for all customers.

The Benefits Of Choosing A Reputable Web Hosting Company

There are many benefits to choosing a reputable web hosting company to store your website on their servers. Here are just a few:

  • A web host is responsible for keeping your data safe and secure on their servers. Along with daily backups, they will ensure that all files remain safe during any power outages or other problems within the server infrastructure.
  • Web hosts can also hire an IT team to monitor the servers and ensure they are performing up to industry standards. This ensures your website is operational at all times.
  • Many web hosts offer additional services such as domain name registration, email accounts, and even shopping cart integration to help your business grow.

Your Guide To Find A Good Web Hosting Provider

To find a good web hosting company for your website, you'll need to do some research within the industry first to avoid wasting your time or money on the wrong providers. By asking these questions, you will be able to find the best web hosting company for your business:

What Is Included Within The Website Hosting Plan?

There are three main options for website hosting plans, and each one has its advantages and disadvantages depending on what you need from your web hosting provider. Here are the three web hosting plans to choose from.

  • Free Website Hosting 
  • Shared Website Hosting 
  • Virtual Private Server 

What Are The Website Uptime Guarantees?

A reputable web hosting company will guarantee a certain percentage of uptime for your website. This means that they promise that the servers will be available to access at least 99% of the time within a given month. Uptime is essential as customers can become frustrated if they experience problems with your site and you don't have any way to fix it right away.

What Types Of Technical Support Do They Offer?

There are many perks to choosing a web hosting company that offers 24/7 technical support, as this can come in handy anytime there is an issue with your website. Depending on the type of web hosting plan you choose, this could include anything from help with transferring domains or email account set-ups and more.

What Are The Upgrade Options?

If you want your site to grow with you and your business, then choose a web hosting company that allows other packages and upgrades. This ensures that any expansions or changes you need for your site can be taken care of so you don't run into any problems further down the road.

What Types Of Security Features Do They Offer?

In today's world, hacking is more common than ever before, so it's essential to choose a web host that provides the highest level of security for your website. It is also good to find out if you can add any security protection yourself or any other options available for this.

What Types Of Control Panels Do They Offer?

There are many control panel systems within the web hosting industry, but some are easier to use than others. When searching for good website hosting companies, make sure that you ask about the type of control panel system they have available for their customers and what perks come with it.

What Types Of Support Do They Offer?

The best web hosting companies will have a variety of different customer service options available for their clients. Some may choose phone and email, while others select self-help options such as FAQs or chat rooms where customers can get answers about the services directly from the provider. This can help ease the process of choosing a web host and determining which one is right for you.

What Are The Terms Of Use?

When you choose to use a shared website hosting plan, be sure to ask about the terms of service before signing up. This ensures that you won't have any problems when transferring your domain name or any other legal issues that could arise.

What Are The Payment Terms?

Finally, make sure to find out what types of payment options are available for you and how they will be billed. Some web hosting companies charge upfront, while others may bill monthly or quarterly, which can affect the amount of money you end up spending.

Final Words

These are just a few of the most important questions to ask when searching for a new web hosting company. With all of the options available on today's market, it is also a good idea to look at reviews and find out which companies have the best track record with their customers. If all of these seem like too much for you to handle, you may always hire a digital marketing agency to help with the process.

A Guide To Finding The Best Performing Content On Your Website

The most viewed page is a page of your website that gets the most traffic or hits. Website designers and owners can use this data to identify which content is doing well and what kind of visitors they attract. By looking at these statistics, it becomes possible for them to target specific interests, maximize their site's usefulness, and retain valuable content if they plan for a web redesign.

In this article, you will learn how to find your most viewed content on a website and how to use this information for your business or personal growth.

1. Navigate To Google Analytics

First, you'll need access to Google Analytics which is free to use, but you have an option to upgrade into a paid account if you want the most of it. This service provides many useful tools for website owners and can track traffic on any website or blog. You need a Google account, and you're ready to get started.

2. Create Your Profile

After logging in, you'll see the dashboard page, which has some helpful analytics built right into it. However, it's best to start a new profile. You may do this by clicking on the big red button in the top right corner, which says, “New Profile.”

3. Name Your Profile

Give your new profile a name and include keywords that you think potential visitors might search for before beginning to monitor traffic. For example, if you own a cupcake website, you might name the profile “Cupcake Recipes Website.”

4. Confirm Your Information

After you've named your profile, you'll have to confirm it. Use the email address you included in creating your Google account.

5. Select The Website Or Blog You Want To Monitor

Select the website or blog you want to monitor by clicking the checkbox next to “My Website.” If this is your first profile on Google Analytics, only your main page will have a green marker beside it. Click on the marker for any additional pages you wish to monitor.

6. Find Your Most Viewed Content

After you set up your profile, go back to the dashboard page, and you'll be able to view the real-time analytics for each of your tracked websites.

7. Select The Content You Want To Monitor

Click on the “Behavior” tab and select “Site Content” from the dropdown menu that appears next to it. Now you'll be able to see the list of pages on your website in order of most traffic. Click the arrows next to each page to expand it and quickly find out which content is getting the most views so you can decide which content to spend more time on.

8. View Traffic Statistics

At the top of the page, you can see how often this web content has been viewed over 30 days. The arrow below this number allows you to view traffic statistics for other periods. For example, you might want to compare two weeks' worth of data or dig even more profound.

9. Find The Link For Your Most Viewed Content

Once you've found your most viewed content, go back to the top of the page where it shows stats for all time and click on the link under “Sessions” to find the URL. This link will take you to the exact web content that your visitors have viewed the most.

10. Analyze What Kind Of Visitors Your Content Attracts

Your content might attract a wide variety of different visitors if you don't want it to. But, if you're trying to target specific interests, you might want to consider this information when improving your content.

11. Use This Information To Improve Your Content

For example, if you've noticed that people who visit cooking p are also searching for “cupcake recipes,” consider adding a cupcake recipe page to the website and pointing it out in the navigation. This will help your visitors find what they are looking for faster.

Bottomline

Google Analytics is a great tool that businesses can use on any website to gain helpful information about the content that brings in the most views. With this knowledge, you'll know what kind of content people want to see and how to improve it accordingly. It's an essential part of online marketing and should not be overlooked.

If you follow these steps, you will have successfully implemented Google Analytics on your website to find your most viewed content.

The Benefits of Using An Online CMS For Your Business 

A CMS (Content Management System) is software used to manage your website content and allows you to quickly make changes, add pages, and publish without relying on a developer or designer.  A CMS also enables you to control how and what information appears on your site, empowering you to reach a wider audience with the right content. As e-commerce continues its rapid growth, businesses are increasingly turning to a CMS for help with their online presence.

Why Are Most Websites Using A Content Management System?

A CMS (Content Management System) can help business owners with their online presence. There are many benefits to using a CMS system, some  of which include the following:

  • Content Management Systems Have Been Developed For Ease Of Use!

CMS software has been developed to make it easy to use to edit and manage their content. This is why you will often find they have features such as drag and drop editing and even simple templates that you can use to make your content look great without any complicated backend knowledge.

  • Using A CMS Can Help You Save On Costs

When you use a CMS, you are using an off-the-shelf system that has been designed with ease of use as a priority. The upshot is that it doesn't require expensive developers to implement or training and education on using it. This means you save money by not having to hire expensive developers.

  • Flexibility Is The Name Of The Game With A CMS System

CMS systems are changing the face of web design across the whole spectrum. Using a CMS system, you can change your website with minimal effort, making it easier to stay on top of your online presence and keep it fresh and current. You should regularly review what's important for your business and what your website should be communicating in particular.

  • Decreased Labor Costs

The time it takes to make changes to a website often costs more or just as much as your site's actual design and creation. A CMS allows you to save money because it is less labor-intensive than traditional site management. Using a CMS means there is no need for a separate team dedicated to website updates and maintenance, either in-house or external.

You can spend more time working on what matters – your business!

  • Increasing Your Search Engine Rankings

Search engines use your website's unique content to find and rank sites in search results. A CMS makes a dynamic platform that enables you to add or change information quickly without any coding. This means search engines will continually crawl your site, which can help boost rankings over time.

Final Words

The above lists show how beneficial it can be to invest in an online CMS for your business. They make managing content easy, give you more time to focus on what matters most in your company instead of wasting precious hours updating old websites manually and increasing SEO ranking quickly. If these benefits sound attractive, but this seems too complicated or expensive for you may always seek help from agencies that specialize in this field to help you out.

Online Marketing vs. Offline Marketing: Which is Better?

Marketing has been a crucial element in business growth for years, and more recently, it has become an integral part of the bigger picture in the age of technology. As advancements are made, new marketing approaches emerge, and offline and online methods prove their effectiveness. However, there is often debate about which type of marketing is better than another because they are pretty different in how they are conducted. In terms of a company's marketing strategy, it is important to consider online and offline practices and decide which one may be better for business depending on the type of industry advertised.

To begin with, let's start with comparing what exactly constitutes online vs. offline marketing:

What Are Online And Offline Marketing?

Online marketing refers to promotional strategies that use online techniques. This can include email and social media campaigns, blogging, referrals, banner advertising, paid search engine promotions (PPC), display advertising, e-commerce links on other websites, and more. Offline marketing consists of traditional forms such as print advertisements and television commercials.

Both types of marketing have their pros and cons.

The Pros And Cons Of Online Marketing

Cons

  • One of the downsides to online marketing is that it can be challenging to measure its success, and many people are skeptical about whether or not it works effectively. Many businesses opt for paid advertising campaigns to make them more effective. Still, even though this helps some companies gain traction, others cannot afford to pay for advertising and rely instead on free methods, which have their limitations.
  • Business owners have to work harder to convince people that they should purchase online since they don't have the opportunity to see the products in person before deciding. This can be difficult because some people may not feel like they have enough information to trust a brand, while others will only purchase products they think they can try out first.
  • Marketers must also take the time to find out where their target audience is spending time online and make sure that their website is optimized for these channels, so it is easier for people to find the information that they need. This can also benefit some cases because it allows companies to track metrics and know where their traffic is coming from, but there are also potential issues with this type of marketing.

Pros

  • One of these advantages is that it allows a business to keep track of its audience and, in some cases, even target specific audiences based on their age, gender, location, and interest. This also allows companies to track where people are coming from – how they found the business website – which can help track ROI (Return On Investment).
  • Other benefits to online marketing include increased exposure, better search engine rankings since the business can be found easily on search engines like Google, and tracking metrics and customer behavior.

Online marketing has made it easier for businesses to expand their brand since it offers a way to connect with a large audience at any time.

The Pros And Cons Of Offline Marketing

Cons

  • One of the most significant drawbacks of offline marketing is that it isn't as easy to track ROI, and business goals may not always be met.
  • To reach a wide range of people, marketers have to spend a lot of money on television ads or print media, which can be very expensive and ineffective for some companies.
  • Offline marketing may not work as well for highly competitive markets, so businesses in this position will either need to decrease their budget or look into other alternatives.

Pros

  • One of the main benefits of this type of marketing is that it allows people to see the product in person. However, while some people feel that this helps them make a much better purchasing decision, others argue that seeing something online is sometimes more helpful than seeing it in person. Because they can check products themselves and look at different angles or features without physically ask someone for assistance.

Bottomline

Offline marketing still has the power to draw in a sizable audience despite its limitations. On the other hand, online marketing has more potential for success because it is easy to track whether or not the campaign has reached the desired audience and how much of an impact it made.

Both promotion methods have pros and cons, and marketers will need to figure out which approach is most advantageous based on their needs.

Are You Still Using Traditional Marketing Materials?

Often time, businesses will spend tons of money to get people to recognize their names. The company invests in numerous billboards, commercials, newspaper ads, and even television ads. These traditional marketing materials are helpful. However, companies must realize that they're no longer as efficient as they once were and are no longer the only option.

The Marketing Landscape Has Changed Drastically In The Last Few Years

Over the last few years, the marketing landscape has changed drastically. The internet has quickly become a significant part of people's lives, and it is improbable to see this change anytime soon. Technology has made energy more accessible than ever before by allowing individuals to do their shopping in new ways, such as online. Online shopping will enable customers to go on the web and purchase whatever they need without going out of the house. This means fewer people go to stores, leading to a decline in traditional marketing materials such as billboards and television ads.

Marketing Trends Are Shifting Toward More Interactive And Personal Content

In addition to the new way of shopping, marketing trends are shifting toward more interactive and personal content. Customers want to be heard, and they want their opinions to matter. Businesses need to realize that traditional marketing materials such as newspaper ads will not cut it anymore. Instead, companies should invest in social media campaigns because customers can engage with a brand. Successful companies tend to maintain Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and other forms of social media because they can provide valuable information to customers.

The Majority Of Today's Consumers Prefer To Be Contacted Digitally

Even those companies that still use the phone to conduct business must realize that most of today's consumers prefer to be contacted digitally. Customers like receiving texts and e-mails because it allows them to stay in touch with a company without going through many different channels. A company can get customers' attention by sending an e-mail or text to discuss deals and promotions. Thus this is where traditional marketing materials are failing. The key to success lies in the ability of companies to promote themselves through different means such as social media, sending texts and e-mails, etc.

Marketing Is Evolving, So your Business Should Adapt

Marketing is evolving, so your business should adopt. Most customers prefer to be contacted digitally because they can get involved without leaving the house. Customers want to be heard and given a chance to provide their input, which means traditional marketing materials are no longer as efficient as they once were. Successful companies adapt to these new norms by using advertisements such as Facebook, Twitter, and texts/emails to reach out to their customers. Thus, the key is to adapt to modern marketing methods and abandon traditional ones because this is what your customers want.

Use Modern Marketing Techniques To Take Your Company To The Next Level!

Traditional marketing materials are no longer as efficient in today's world, and most customers prefer to be contacted digitally. A company can get a customer's attention by sending an email or text to discuss deals and promotions rather than through traditional means such as billboards or television ads. Social media campaigns have also become more popular over time, with successful companies tending to maintain Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etcetera for this purpose. If you're looking for ways to engage your audience while attracting new prospects, consider implementing these digital strategies into your business plan!

Website Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing Materials

The business industry is a competitive world. To make yourself visible to your target market, you've got to have a quality website that showcases your products and services in the best way possible. While the print design may allow you to get attention with flyers or brochures, it's hard to compete with websites created by web design professionals who have high-level programming skills and access to high-quality content.

Here's why you should choose to build a website for your business over other marketing materials:

  • People Spend Most Of Their Time On The Internet

Website visitors typically spend more time reading your site than any other marketing material, so make the most of it. Content is king when it comes to showcasing your products and services in a way that entices buyers. The better the content, the more readers it will attract. Web design professionals understand how to write web copy that pulls in visitors who stay on your site longer, increasing the chances of conversion.

  • Print Materials Are Disposable

Most print materials can only be used once and end up in the garbage. Not only is this bad for the environment, but it also means that you need to change and reprint marketing materials every time you need to reach a new audience. On the other hand, websites are designed for long-term use, with landing pages that can be continuously tweaked and updated, so you always have fresh content.

Spend money on print materials once, and they'll sit in a warehouse until you finally give them away to charity; your website is an investment that continues paying dividends after that initial outlay. A website is an asset that doesn't wear out and can be improved upon to attract more traffic.

  • People Prefer To Search On The Internet

More people search for businesses on the internet than ever before, so it would make sense that you'd want your business to have a presence online. Web design professionals know how to add high-quality content to a website that search engines will pick up, increasing the chances of your website appearing on first page listings.

  • Reach International Customers

If you're a local business, it's essential to have a website that speaks to your customers and allows them to find all the information they need before ever setting foot in your shop. However, if you're also looking for international customers — or only want people in other locations to be able to access your products/services — then having an online presence is the only way to ensure that you've found.

  • You Can Respond Immediately To Feedback

One of the best things about having a website is that it allows you to immediately respond to customer feedback and reviews, whether they have reached out to you via your contact form or social media. Suppose a customer has had a bad experience with something or is unhappy with your products/services. In that case, it's much easier for you to resolve the problem when you can communicate directly with them online, rather than having to wait until they call on the phone.

Printed marketing materials are excellent, but web design is on-trend, and it's the most effective way to showcase your business to local and international customers.

Conclusion

So, instead of spending money on print marketing materials with a short lifespan, opt for web design that can be continually updated and tweaked until you've found a good balance. Web design professionals who create well-optimized websites with quality content will help your business reach the number one spot above your competitors online.

The Ultimate Guide To Influencer Marketing Strategy

Building an online presence isn't only about having an excellent website design or an impressive social media following. For different brands that require a targeted outreach, influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to gain traffic and sales from online audiences.

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on creating, planning, and executing campaigns with influential people to promote products or brands. Below, we have compiled a complete guide on how to create an influencer marketing strategy.

1. Define Goals And Objectives

The first thing you should do when starting an influencer campaign is to define your goals and objectives. Your goal might be increasing brand awareness among the target audience, increasing sales, or something else. Whatever your goal is, make it measurable and track what you're doing to get there.

2. Define Target Audience

Once you know what your goals are, you need to define your target audience. How will they interact with the influencer? What do they like and dislike? Where can we find them? Who are they? Answer these questions to come up with your target audience.

3. Do Your Homework

Most people skip this step when they're in a hurry or don't know what to do, but doing the proper research is crucial for creating an informed influencer marketing strategy. This means searching through blogs and forums where there are discussions related to your product or brand. You should also search for your competitors and see what they're doing in influencer marketing.

4. Pick Out Influencers

Many web tools help you find the right influencers that fit into your campaign, but you can also do it manually if you want. Make a list of at least ten influencers, and after you narrow down your list to 5 or so, start looking for their contact details.

5. Build An Influencer Profile

When choosing an influencer, they must align with your brand and what you're trying to achieve in this campaign. They need to be a good match from a demographic perspective, but you also need to see how they interact with their audience. Do they regularly engage with their followers? Are they active on social media? These are things you should look out for.

6. Pitch Them And Follow Up

Once you choose your influencers, it's time to send them a personalized message or email about why you'd like them to participate in your campaign. Follow up with them until you get a response, and be polite!

7. Execute Your Campaign

When the influencers agree to participate, it's time to launch your campaign. You can run different campaigns, like giveaways or contests where they promote your brand (make sure there are no costs involved for them). You can also have them promote your product or brand by doing a shoutout on their social media channels.

8. Measure And Analyze Your Campaign's Success

Once the campaign is over, it's time to see what worked and what didn't. Measuring your results will help you look for areas of improvement if something didn't go as planned. If it went well, then you should start looking into creating a similar campaign in the future.

Bottomline

Creating an influencer marketing strategy is no easy task. But if you put some time and effort into your campaign, the results will speak for themselves. Make sure you follow these steps so you can get a good ROI from your influencer marketing efforts.

How to use WordPress for Ecommerce

If you are looking to take your business online, WordPress is one of the most popular ways to get there. It has a wide range of features that make it an excellent option for blogging and e-commerce website building. Here are some great uses of WordPress for e-commerce:

  • Build A Blog For Your Store

If you already have a brick-and-mortar store, you may want to use WordPress to create a blog for your company. This is great because it allows you to build brand awareness. Customers can get in touch with you online by sharing their opinions via the blogging platform built into WordPress.

  • Launch A Small Business Website

If your business is starting, you may want to consider using WordPress as your e-commerce solution. With the ability to create a blog, you can quickly build brand awareness without investing a ton of money into website design and development.

  • Offer A Subscription Service

If you are looking for new ways to generate revenue online, offering subscriptions is a great way to do it. Because WordPress is easily customizable, you can create a unique subscription service.

  • Keep Your Customers Updated Via Blog Posts

With the option to add blog posts on your WordPress e-commerce site, you can keep customers updated about new products and sales. This gives them a reason to come back to your website again and again.

  • Integrate Social Media Into Your Site

With the option to integrate social media sharing buttons onto your site, you can make it easy for customers to share your blog posts. This is a great way to generate traffic by plugging into other networks like Facebook and Twitter.

  • Optimize Your Site For Search Engines

A great way to drive more traffic to your website is by optimizing it for search engines. With WordPress, you can install plugins that help with this. Keyword research tools and link building are just two ways to get the ball rolling when developing a solid SEO strategy.

  • Incorporate Other Services

If you provide a service that customers have to pay for, you may consider incorporating it into your WordPress platform. This is a great way to keep customers updated on what's going on with their purchases and manage customer support requests all in one place.

  • Create A Landing Page For New Content

If you're looking to drive traffic to a specific page on your website or want a place to link new content, a landing page is a perfect solution. A WordPress site is easily customizable so that you can create a high-converting landing page in no time.

  • Sell Digital Downloads

Another way to use WordPress for e-commerce is by selling digital downloads. With the ability to add payment buttons and shopping carts, you can set up an intuitive system for purchasing files from your online store.

  • Sell Physical Products

Not only can WordPress be used to sell digital goods, but it can also be used as a powerful e-commerce solution for physical products. You can sell in just a few minutes and customize your e-commerce platform to match the look and feel of your website.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many different ways to use WordPress as an e-commerce solution. With such a wide range of features and plugins available for customization, you're bound to find one that is ideal for your needs. If you already have a store or site and aren't sure if this platform has what it takes, give it a try for free with a WordPress web hosting plan.

What Is The Best Plugin For WordPress Website Localization?

WordPress is the best CMS for building websites, but it has one major drawback: It's not internationalized. That means that out-of-the-box WordPress will only speak English and other languages need to be added manually.

This article will show you how to choose the correct localization plugin for your web design to work with any language.

Localization Plugins For WordPress Website

Not all localization plugins can be used on all websites. Some of them are paid, some have limitations, and others are too complicated to use. This tutorial will introduce you to a set of localization plugins and show you what they are capable of so that you can choose the one that fits your needs perfectly.

Language Management Systems (LMS)

Language Management Systems (LMS) are plugins that allow you to create and maintain multiple languages for your website. They have a language editor in which you can add new translations of pages, menus, etc., for as many languages as you want.

These localization plugins are ideal if you need to translate your entire website's content from English into different languages. If you want to offer your website in multiple languages and don't have time, these plugins will help you save a lot of time. Some of them allow you to change the language as part of the URL, which means that when users visit example.com/en, they will see all content in English, and when they visit example.com/fr, they will see all content in French.

If you want to use this type of localization, ensure that your hosting provider allows changing pages and directories per language (if you're using WordPress on a shared host). You can also check if the plugin supports changing URLs after the site migration.

Language Editor In The Back-End

The first set of localization plugins have a language editor that will allow you to maintain translated content. The language editor is usually located somewhere in the backend of WordPress so that you can access it as soon as you log into your admin area.

These localization plugins are ideal if you need to translate a few pages and posts into different languages, e.g., a website part of an international association or business with branches in multiple countries.

They have pre-defined fields for the most common translations: page titles, URLs, blog posts and their content (usually you can also translate comments), categories, etc. Some allow you to add custom fields for translated content, which is ideal for more flexibility.

Language Editor In The Front-End

The second set of localization plugins has a language editor that will maintain translated content and posts. The language editor is usually located somewhere in the front-end of WordPress so that your users can access it.

These localization plugins are ideal if you need to translate a few pages into different languages, e.g., a hotel website with information about its rooms and services or an international association's website where each country has its page.

They have pre-defined fields for the most common translations: page titles, URLs, blog post titles and their content, comments, etc. Some allow you to add custom fields for translated content, which is ideal for more flexibility.

Widget Only

The third set of localization plugins has a widget that automatically detects the current page's language and shows your site in that language. The widget is usually located near WordPress' default widgets and will be available in every part of your website that is widget-editable.

These localization plugins are ideal if you don't need to translate any content and only want to offer your site multiple languages. Some enterprise users have different login pages for each LMS to choose the language during log-in.

Widget Only With Language Editor

The fourth set of localization plugins has a widget that automatically detects the current page's language and shows your site in that language. They also have a language editor in which you can manage all translations for as many languages as you want. These localization plugins are ideal if you don't need to translate any content, but you can offer your site in multiple languages.

These plugins have an interface that will allow you to translate page titles and URLs by selecting a language from the drop-down list for every content element. These localization plugins are ideal for adding more than one translation for each section, e.g., a hotel website with information about its rooms and services.

Language Editor In The Back-End And Front-End

The fifth set of localization plugins can be used both in the backend and front-end of WordPress so that you can manage content from two different places. They have an interface to maintain translations in the back-end and a language editor widget on the front-end. These types of localization plugins are ideal if you need to translate a lot of content and maintain translations from two different places.

They have an interface for translators in the back-end of WordPress, which will allow them to maintain translations and edit all content elements and their translations. These localization plugins are ideal if you need to translate a lot of content and build a multilingual site, e.g., an international association's website where each country has its page or a hotel website with information about its rooms and services.

Bottomline

As you can see, the localization plugins that we reviewed have a lot in common. They all allow you to translate content and posts into different languages, and they all offer an interface for translators in the back-end of WordPress.

If your translation needs are limited to a few pages or posts, widgets are probably enough. If you need more flexibility or more translatable content, widgets with a language editor will work. If you need to maintain your translations from two different places, backend, and front-end, choose a localization plugin with an interface for translators in the back-end of WordPress.

And always remember that translation is not just about translating words; it's about cultural adaptation!

Tips To Help You Get The Most From Your Website Redesign

A website redesign can be an exciting project for both the development team and customers. However, a Sacramento website design or redesign can also be a daunting and costly experience if you and the agency don't plan it out carefully.

With that in mind, here are 7 things you need when starting a website redesign:

1. A Clear Objective

Having a clear idea about what you want your site to achieve is the most important thing to consider. Get together with your team to determine what improvements are needed and if a redesign will drive traffic or sales. Don't waste time creating mockups when you can do something more productive, like marketing or improving products/services.

2. The Right Design Team

You need a solid team to help you through the redesign – but hiring an in-house team is not always the best idea. Consider switching to hiring a digital agency instead. Hiring an agency gives you quick access to a team of experts who have the experience building websites that bring in revenue. Plus, they can start working on the website redesign as soon as possible.

3. A Change Of Mindset

When you're ready to get started, make sure everyone on board is prepared for the change. The new website design will be different from what they're used to – so you don't want anyone making it difficult for your team to fight against the changes. Always keep communication open and listen to customer feedback.

4. A Good CMS

Changing your website's content management system (CMS) is a big deal – and you don't want to do it at the last minute. Make sure you've considered all of the details before making this kind of switch – including how it will affect SEO, clients, and product sales funnel. If possible, try finding a CMS that's easy to learn and use.

5. Useful Analytics

Once you have your site up and running, make sure to dig into the analytics. You need to understand where customers are clicking on your website – what angles they use to scroll down, which images attract more attention, and so forth. Even if you're not a tech-savvy person, use Google Analytics features to find out more about your website's visitors.

6. A Good Hosting Provider

A new hosting provider can be a pain to find, but it's worth the time and effort. Make sure you're working with a well-known company with positive customer reviews – including performance and security ratings. Your site will likely have slow load times or be down more than once, so your hosting provider should be able to handle these issues.

7. Social Media Integration

To make the most of social media, you'll need to integrate it into your website's design. This way, you can create links that direct users to their preferred social network (and increase traffic and sales). Instead of trying to learn complex features, find an easy-to-use solution like AddThis. This way, you'll have a professional social media tool that will help your website look great – even on mobile devices.

As you can see, starting a new website design project is not easy, and many moving parts need to come together. With the right team, planning ahead of time, and using a powerful CMS – you can start your website redesign on the right foot.

Develop A Website Or Carry Printed Brochures?

Printed brochures are still extremely popular, and their uses extend beyond essential marketing. But in today's digital age, many think that it may be time to consider whether or not building a Sacramento web design is a better option.

This article will take an in-depth look at both options, helping you to determine which medium is a better choice for your advertising campaign.

Why Develop A Website?

A website may be a better choice for several reasons, which includes;

  • A website is a great way to introduce your company and give potential customers more information than you can fit on a brochure. There is no chance that you will run out of space with an online presence. With web design, you can create a complicated, interactive layout that can hold images, videos, and much more.
  • Additionally, people tend to trust businesses that have websites because they are seen as modern companies. Also, having your website allows you to control the image that you put forward to consumers. You can set up a ‘blog' or write articles and publish them immediately for your visitors.
  • Finally, having a website will become more important than carrying a stack of brochures with you because businesses are increasingly moving online, and customers are becoming digital consumers. Since people's buying habits are changing, your business should adapt to those changes, or else it will be left behind.

Why Carry Printed Brochures?

Despite the negatives, there are several reasons why carrying a stack of printed brochures could be more advantageous than going online.

  • A print advertisement is often cheaper than an internet presence.
  • Some people will not want to spend time surfing the web because they do not have access to it, especially those in rural areas, or do not want to. Also, many people are intimidated by computers and may feel more comfortable giving you their information on paper.
  • Finally, a website does not leave an impression on people the same way that a print advertisement can, so it is essential to design your business cards and brochures. A well-designed print advertisement will signal to customers that you have invested in your appearance and are a professional company.

Of course, most business owners will want to put time into both a website and traditional print advertisements to reap the benefits of both. A limited online presence may be the best choice for certain businesses, while others might benefit from choosing printed brochures over an internet site.                                  

Conclusion

In the end, you will need to choose what is best for your business. Think carefully about who your audience is and what type of message you would like to give them. If cost is essential, a traditional brochure may be right for you. If the future holds more potential for your company, you might consider a website.

In either case, be sure to invest time in creating an excellent impression of your business with both print advertisements and internet presence. Nothing is also limiting you from creating both a website and traditional print advertisements, giving you valuable insight into what works best for your company.

The Factors That Affect Website Costs

Building a website can be an expensive and time-consuming task. However, it does not have to be as the cost of building a website can be affected by many different factors. Before starting on such a project, it is essential to consider these factors as they may affect your website costs.

Here's a list of some of the main factors that may affect website costs:

1. The Amount Of Content On The Website

The more content you require on your website, the more work it will take to build. More content requires more images, files, and pages that add up in cost-per-page for your website build.

2. The Number Of Pages And Templates

Building a website using more templates and pages will increase the actual cost of building your site and extend the amount of time required to make it.

3. How Many Images Are Included On The Site

A more detailed website will require more images. This, in turn, makes the build more expensive and time-consuming to complete.

4. The Quality And Quantity Of Graphics On The Website

If you plan on using more pictures and illustrations than usual, it will take longer to design and build. It may increase the overall cost of the project. However, some people consider this a worthwhile investment as it makes their site more engaging.

5. The Complexity Of The Website's Design, Including Its Interactivity Features

A more complex website that uses advanced features, such as API access, multimedia integration, etc., will require more time for its design and build. This cost-per-hour may increase the overall project price.

6. The Platform(s) You Would Like Your Site To Be Hosted On

Every hosting company has its unique platforms (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!), and choosing one may incur a fee or an obligation to use that company's services for a certain length of time.

7. The Programming Languages You Require

More complex sites often require more than one language (e.g., PHP and MySQL), which will increase the project's overall cost.

8. The Number Of Edits Required After Site Launch

It is essential to consider any changes you will need to make after the website has been completed. These edits may require more time and money, with a cost per hour frequently incurred as a result.

9. Any Additional Features That Might Be Necessary

If your business requires a unique feature not offered standard, it may require a more extensive build and lead to an increase in costs.

10. How Quickly Do You Need Your Website Built

Some websites can be made rapidly with minimal fuss, but others require more time and effort to build. This will affect the cost-per-hour of the project.

11. How Frequently You Will Need To Update Your Site

If you have more content than usual that requires updating, it can be time-consuming and costly (cost-per-hour). Therefore, it is advisable to keep the website's content as simple as possible to avoid long updates after launch.

12. How Many Revisions Are Included In The Price

It is crucial to have a clear idea of how many modifications you would like after completing your website. If they are unlimited, this will increase the overall cost-per-hour of the project.

Final Words

Though it is impossible to give an exact website build cost without knowing the specifics of your project, understanding how many factors can affect the price will allow you to create a better idea of how much building your site might cost. Consequently, this knowledge may help you save more money on your website by making smart decisions during its design and development process.

Content Audit: Keep Your Contents Useful To Your Audience

Contents are one of the essential parts of a website. They help search engines understand what your business is all about, and they help convince people who land on your pages that your website is worth their time. That's why creating low-quality content is a mistake that you should avoid.

So, how do you know if your content is effectively communicating its purpose?

Content Audit

Most of us have heard the term, but what does it mean, and why do it? You probably know that auditors look over sites to make sure they are following all the guidelines for search engine optimization. Well, a content audit is like an SEO auditor for your site. It makes sure that you have the right content to meet the proper needs of your site visitors. You can also audit pay-per-click ads and other types of marketing campaigns to ensure you get what is expected from them.

Content Analysis Platform Tools

There are a few platforms that can help you analyze your content.

  • Google Analytics 

Data on how your site is used, including some insight into what content people are viewing. Here you can see which pages get the most visits and where people “bounce” away after viewing only a single page.

  • Google Keyword Planner

This will give you insight into how people search for content related to your business and website. You can use this information to improve your internal linking structure so that search engines can more easily “connect the dots” when it comes time to deliver your site content in response to searches.

  • Google Trends

This will give you insight into which content people are looking for and how your site is performing against competitors.

  • Survey Tools

You can use a survey tool to help you determine what kinds of information people are looking for and how interested they would be in seeing different types of content on your site.

Keyword Rank Tracker – This will show you which keywords are currently bringing visitors to specific pages on your site, including the number of visitors and the page where they first entered your site.

How To Do A Content Audit?

An audit starts with figuring out what your current situation is, looking at everything about your website content, and determine its current state. This includes:

  • What type of content do you have in each section
  • The quality of the content
  • What pages need more attention, such as whether they are thin or weak
  • How good your internal linking structure is

To figure all this out and a lot more information, run an audit of all your current web pages.

After running the audit, you will have a good idea of what your site looks like now, and you'll know where to focus your attention in updating content. You can then update weak or thin pages with better information and use tags to help search engines find your pages.

You may re-evaluate your internal linking structure to ensure that it is like a spider web – thick and strong everywhere. The process of auditing will give you the insight you need to make any changes necessary for success.

Website Design Time: Find Out Now!

How long does it take to design a website? This is a common question that most businesses asked every day as they are looking to add or update their online presence. The answer depends on the budget, the level of involvement, the time required for each task, and more. With these things in mind, let us analyze the factors that will affect how long it takes to build a successful web design.

Factors That Affects Web Development Time

Below are some of the essential factors that will affect how long it will take to design a website, and these include:

How Much Time Is Required For Each Task?

Each task, from start to finish, can take varying amounts of time depending on the task complexity and the level of involvement from the business. This is because many factors should be considered, such as whether the website will be responsive or not, the necessary interactivity level on the site, and what information needs to be included. This also all depends on how much time you will be able to commit yourself to each task.

How Much Is Your Budget?

Your allotted budget will determine how many people are involved in the process, affecting how long it takes to design a website. It will also affect the number of hours devoted to each task and the software or tools that will be used. If you have a low budget, then your site may take longer to design and develop.

How Long Will It Take For You To Provide The Content For Your Site?

Content is an important element of a website. You will need to determine how much time is required for you or your writers to develop the content for your site. This includes the site's text content, images, videos, and other types of media. You can always outsource this task to a writer or agency, but include this time in your calculations.

What Is Your Design Strategy?

Before you begin any website design project, you will need to know what your goals are for the site and how users will interact with it. With this in mind, knowing what your design strategy is beforehand can help speed up the process once you start. If you already have a style guide, you can quickly understand what needs to be included on the site, where it should be placed, and how it should look. Having a style guide also makes things easier for your web designer to know what to do.

Conclusion

How long does it take to design a website? This varies from one business to another depending on their budget, expertise, and overall level of commitment. However, there are some things that you can do beforehand to help make the process go more smoothly. These include knowing your goals and having a solid design strategy, and understanding the tasks and milestones involved in the project. With this information, you will have a better idea of how long it will take to design a website and plan accordingly.

Web Design: Should You Use A Free Template?

Building your business's online presence can be a daunting task, especially if you are unfamiliar with web design. There's hosting, responsive design, SEO, and the list go on and on. The good news is that web templates can make it all significantly easier to pick up for beginners.

However, many people think of this choice as an automatic “no brainer,” but is it? Sometimes the well-chosen template can save you a lot of time and money, but other times it might backfire badly. In this article, we will discuss both sides of this dilemma and try to find an answer!

The Pros Of Using Web Templates

Nowadays, there are a lot of websites offering free web templates for download. The variety and quality vary significantly, but it's good enough to build a decent website on average.

  • It's Free

Whether you are skilled in designing or not, the templates are free for everyone to use. So, if your primary concern is your budget in building a website, free web templates can save you time and money.

  • You Don't Need Coding Knowledge To Use It

Templates often come as an already coded and ready-to-use solution that is quick and easy to set up. All you need to do is enter your content and customize the design, colors, fonts, etc.

  • It's a Quick Way To Get Your Site Online

It saves you a lot of time because it takes less effort than creating a design from scratch, which requires hours of research, brainstorming, and execution.

The Cons Of Using Web Templates

Since you get it  “for free,” there are some  limitations that you should be aware of:

  • The Quality

Because you'll be able to use these templates for free, expect that most of them have low quality. So your business may get a cheap and tacky image instead of an appealing one which might be necessary for sales.

  • It's Not Customizable Enough

Some free templates come with limited styling options, while others are flexible enough to let you mold the website in your style. But, sometimes, even if it is possible to customize the template still there is a particular design that can be far from what you want and need. So, it is always a good idea to try the template before you download it.

  • Most Are Not Mobile Friendly

They are often not very mobile-friendly so that they won't be as successful with SEO, and your audience might have a hard time navigating through mobile devices.

Final Verdict

In conclusion, it is up to you to decide whether these benefits outweigh the cons. If you're a beginner or on a tight budget, there's no reason not to try using web templates, as it can save you time and effort. However, keep in mind that they are often of low quality, so depending on your clientele, they might not be the best option for your business. Building your website from scratch might be preferable.

Boost Your Business With Customer Engagement

Customers are the backbone of every business. Without them, there is no business. So, aside from creating a compelling website design that will help bring customers to your website, you must have a plan on how to keep them coming back for more. Here are 6 ways to increase customer engagement.

6 Tips To Boost Your Customer Engagement

So how do you keep your customers coming back time after time? Here’s how:

1. Create a Social Media Policy

This is the first step in ensuring that you take advantage of all available resources to increase customer engagement. You'll need to define specific rules about how your employees should interact with customers online.  Point out what is acceptable and what isn't in terms of social media.

2. Encourage Customers To Post Reviews On Your Company Profile Page

Create an incentive for customers to post reviews on your company profile page. Offer discounts or reward them in some way to encourage participation. Incentivising customers to become brand advocates will not only build your reputation as a business, but it'll also increase customer engagement.

3. Create A Review Request Form

Creating a review request form for your customer is a great way to build trust. It will make them feel that you value their feedback, and they will be more likely to share their thoughts about their experience with your company if they know it is appreciated.

4. Post Your Reviews On Facebook, Twitter & Yelp

Post your reviews on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp. Most people already spend a lot of time using these platforms, so they will be more likely to read your reviews on these platforms. Use keywords when posting on social media to ensure that people searching for information about you or your product can find them easily.

5. Don't Just Respond To Positive Reviews; Address Negative Ones Too!

This is one that all companies need to make sure their employees remember. When someone has posted a negative review, you need to make sure someone responds. Educate employees to be careful not to argue with customers or otherwise disrespect their opinions but address their raised problems. As unpleasant as it might be, businesses should also thank people who have posted negative reviews as they are also helping you make your product or service better.

6.  Listen To What They Have To Say

Sometimes, all your customer engagement efforts are for nothing if you don't listen to what customers have to say. Work hard to encourage them to tell you how they feel about your products and services. Truly listen and take action when appropriate. Then, continue to ask for feedback every time they will purchase or use your service.

Bottomline

Customer engagement is, indeed, an essential part of every business. With the right strategy and effort, you will get people talking about you, which could lead to more sales. With just a little work and effort, you will see your customer engagement rates soar!

Mistakes Digital Agencies Make

Designing a website seems easy for many because of the available free and paid plan website builder in the market. Furthermore, business owners can hire a web design agency or web designer to create one for them. However, though website design creators may have great ideas in mind, most still fail to deliver a successful web design because they lack many essential elements in developing website design.

Where Are They Failing?

Most digital agencies are commissioned by one of two types of clients. The first group loves to have an active involvement in all aspects of their online marketing and will often take on as many responsibilities as they can. The second group hires an agency to do all the hard work, leaving them free to run their business while the professionals look after their online presence.

This article will focus on the mistakes made by digital agencies when designing websites for clients that fall into the second category.

1.  Not Taking Time To Plan

Agencies who have been in the business for years think that planning is no longer needed as they've worked with many clients already. They will throw together some ideas based on what the client wants and send them off to be implemented by their web development team. These agencies don't realize that planning can only save you time in the long run and provide you with a complete idea of how the client's site will look from beginning to end.

2. Working From A Template

Another common mistake digital agencies make when designing websites is to start with a pre-designed template rather than having a design created from scratch. Templates often work very well, but they can also look as if the site has been created by a machine rather than a person.

3. Failing To Create A Website That Delivers Sales

An essential part of any business website is its ability to generate sales leads or sales itself. Sadly many digital agencies fail to create websites that are capable of carrying out this function. The problem often lies in the lack of a proper plan or jumping into the design process without thinking of how it can be linked to sales. The solution to this is simple. Every agency should think about the sales potential when designing the site and link it into every aspect of its functionality.

4. Failing To Create A Site That Will Attract Visitors

It is an unfortunate fact that many websites are neglected after they have been created and launched. A website serves no purpose if nobody ever visits it. While it is essential to have a website that attracts visitors, it is equally important to give them something interesting to see and keep them coming back for more.

5. Creating A Website That Takes Too Long To Load

The importance of the usability and accessibility of a website is sometimes overlooked by digital agencies when creating a site. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to create a website that takes an age to load or one which isn't usable on smartphones and tablets. Usability and accessibility must be at the heart of your site creation process if you want to deliver its potential for sales.

6. Not Creating A Compelling Logo

The logo is one of the most important aspects of a website and is often designed by an agency before any other work. However, the number of logos that fail to carry out their job correctly never ceases to amaze. A strong brand identity should be instantly recognizable from both within and outside your industry. It should speak volumes about you without the need for additional wording or imagery.

Conclusion

Your business's online presence can make or break your business, and choosing the right agency to help you can be difficult. Unfortunately, mistakes are common. If you want your project to succeed, you should ensure that the agency responsible for it has the experience, skills, and knowledge to do so. Make sure they have done similar projects before. This will make certain that they know what questions to ask of you beforehand.

Mistakes To Avoid So You Don't Ruin Your Business Logo

Logo designing is complex and one of the essential steps in branding. If you design logos for a living, it means that you have to make sure every logo you design is unique and stands out in the crowd. To get things right, here are some simple mistakes to avoid while creating logos.

While there are many ways of creating a logo, here are some things that you should avoid.

Don't Design With The Name Already Part Of It.

Your name is your biggest contribution to a brand, and it should have nothing to do with the logo design itself. It might be tempting to go ahead and create something similar, but it may lead to trouble later during trademarking.

Don't Use Trendy Fonts

While it may seem like a good idea to use the most trendy fonts on your logo, it's wise to avoid them. After a few years, you have to make sure that your logo works in any media and doesn't lose its charm. It is better to go for classic fonts that are easy to read.

Don't Make It Too Complex

Simplicity is the key when it comes to logos. They are not meant to impress, but they're supposed to create an impact on their own. Embedding too many symbols and elements in a logo design can confuse customers about your brand as well. It's better to keep things simple and elegant.

Don't Doubt Typography

While typography may seem like a simple thing to use in logos, it is also one of the most important aspects of logo design. It's just not about being able to differentiate between serif and sans-serif typefaces, but you should know which best represents your brand.

Don't Use Too Many Fonts at Once

This is a common mistake people often make. While there are occasions when using two fonts looks good, avoid the temptation to use too many fonts in your logo. It may look like you're trying to do too much with it, and you might end up confusing customers instead of attracting them.

Don't Include Something Just Because It's Popular

We live in a generation where people follow anything just because everyone else is doing it. While things work, you should never go with popular trends to get business. It may only make your logo look dated and out of place.

Don't Use Bad Imagery

Imagery plays an essential role in logos, and you should be careful while choosing what to represent your brand. It has to have some symbolism attached, and also, it shouldn't go against any laws or moral principles. If you are insecure about doing this, look at many existing logos out there that offer good examples.

Don't Use Clip-Art

Because of the availability and is easy to use, people often go for clip arts when designing logos. They're not wrong per se, but they can make your brand look cheap and unprofessional if you don't choose the right ones. It's better to design everything from scratch instead of relying too much on pre-designed elements.

Don't Go Overboard With The 3D Effect

You might be tempted to use many 3D effects in your logo, but it is better to avoid them because they make your brand look dated and cheap. If you feel like using those effects, make sure to keep them subtle. While there are many other common mistakes that people make, make sure to avoid them before you begin creating your logo design.

Logo design is not all about just creating something unique. But it would be best if you also were careful with every decision you make. While these mistakes might seem small, they could have a significant impact on your brand image.

The Power Of Font Psychology

Fonts have a significant role in the success of any business. The right font can make people think more positively about your brand not only on your business logo but also in your marketing materials as well. However, choosing an attractive one is sometimes easier said than done. After all, many fonts are functional and aesthetically pleasing and will help you market your company effectively.

So how do you choose? An excellent way to start is by considering the fonts that influence buying decisions.

7 Logo Fonts Which May Influence Buying Decisions

To help you with your selection, here are seven of the most attractive fonts for business use:

1. Helvetica

This is one of the most popular fonts and can be found everywhere, as it's known for its functional style, which is ideal for small amounts of copy on a page. It is very versatile and has an appeal that makes your brand trustworthy. The font works well to generate trust in potential customers because this font type is clear and easy to read.

Using this font for your business will help you attract potential customers. And, if you are looking for something that is both distinctive and aesthetically pleasing, then this typeface could be just what you need. You can use it in large or small amounts of text without losing the design's appeal. It also works well for both web and print media.

2. Lucida Sans

This very simple font has an interesting design and will help you quickly convey your message to customers. It is also known for its clarity, making it ideal if you want people to pay attention to content without distractions of the design. The font can be used in both web and print media and small or large amounts of copy.

This font is best used with content that you would like customers to read carefully. You can use it to help improve the clarity of your message and even create a specific tone for different parts of your website or printed material.

3. Helvetica Neue

Similar to Helvetica, this font has a very clean look. It is also easy to read and has an exclusive appeal that makes customers feel like a well-known company is addressing them. Best of all, it works for almost any purpose or content type.

This font positively supports your brand's image. As a result, customers will be able to see the value of your product without looking at any other information.

4. Baskerville

This classic font has an old-style appeal and often appears written with ink on a page (textures are produced using pen strokes). This attribute offers you an opportunity to create a historical look for your website or material. One of the biggest advantages is that this font is very versatile, making it a good choice for your new business.

This font has a classic structure, so if you are trying to achieve a high-quality image, this could be the ideal option since it's simple and sophisticated in appearance. This makes customers feel like they are getting a quality product or service.

5. Cooper Black

This is an easy-to-read font that has been in use for centuries. That's why it feels familiar to many customers. A neat thing about this typeface is that it stands out on white background because of its black color. This makes it a good choice if your business is more focused on print media.

The font is unique because of its thick strokes that create an exciting contrast. So, if you are looking to design a unique and attractive website or printed material, then this could be just what you need. It can also stand out in search results since not many other websites or printed material use this font.

6. Helvetica Neue Condensed

If you want to add some elegance and class to your business, then try Helvetica Neue Condensed. It has many of the same features as its full version, but it is condensed for convenience's sake (it can save space and help you design a neat layout).

This is an ideal typeface for presenting content to your customers. As a result, it will work well in any medium, whether you want to use it on your website or in printed material (it has been used worldwide and continues to be popular).

7. Didot

This is a very classic and unique font that can add a formal tone to your business. It has the same kind of old-style appeal as Baskerville, which means it provides you with an opportunity to create historical or traditional designs for your site or material. This typeface is also known for its simplicity, making it ideal for conveying a specific tone to your customers. So it could be a great choice if you want to create high-quality designs without worrying about the design getting in the way of the message you are trying to deliver.

Bottomline

Choosing the right font is an integral part of creating a quality website or printed material. While there are many different options, this list will help you narrow your choices and find something that is both appealing and practical.

Defining Your Design Objective

The objective of a logo is to be simple, unique, memorable, and versatile. When designing your logo, the essential factor to consider is knowing how you want people to perceive your company or product's image. Do you want to attract new customers? Do you want people to remember your brand? Or maybe you're just trying to keep the competition out?

All of these are great reasons to have a logo designed. But think about what design elements you want to use to reach your goals. Here are a few tips:

1. Simplicity Is Key!

When designing something that represents yourself or your company, it's not necessary to make everything excessive. Remember that the goal of your logo is to be unique, memorable, and versatile. This means you wouldn't want to have a logo with 15 different colors or designs; remember, you may need this logo for many different media types such as web, print, t-shirts, hats, etc., and having too many design elements may not be the best way to go.

2. Know What Font Works Best For Your Logo

It's unnecessary to have every font on your computer in your logo, but it is prudent to know what fonts work well together and which ones you want to avoid. For example, a great combo would be using the font “Helvetica” for the letters and an elegant font such as “Quicksand” or “Arial Rounded” for the text underneath.

You'll have to decide which fonts work for your brand.

3. Use Only One Font

This rule is debatable, but most logo designers agree using more than one font will make your logo look bad. Unless you're an expert in typography, it's advised that you stick with this simple rule of thumb if you want a good logo.

4. Use As Few Colors As You Can

If we could use only black and white for the rest of our lives, we would probably be happy. However, since that's impossible, try to create a logo with as few colors as possible. This will help your logo stand out from others by making it unique and memorable. If you want to use more than two colors, try to find a balance by using one primary color for your logo and adding as many secondary colors as needed. A good example would be the Coca-Cola logo (red and white) or Adidas (black and yellow).

5. Be Influenced By Other Logos, But Don't Copy Them

There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from other logos. It's a designer's job to look for aesthetic qualities and make decisions based on those impressions. Be sure to learn from the works of others, but at the same time be unique. Don't make your logo so overly complicated that it loses its meaning or becomes too difficult to use.

6. Make Sure Your Logo Is Versatile

You'll get the most use out of a logo you can have on many different types of media. A great example would be the FedEx logo that clearly shows how effective simplicity and versatility can be together in one design.

Give all these tips some thought as you begin designing your next business's logo. Remember to be simple, unique, memorable, and versatile for your logo's message to get through.

Google Ranking Drop? Here's What You Need To Do

Losing Google Rankings is something that should be avoided whether you're moving your website to another hosting provider or you just launched a new website. The thing with SEO and some SEO companies, though, is that they will often give you guarantees, but there's nothing in place to hold them accountable for it. You can imagine how upsetting this can be when your website has lost its rankings (or hasn't improved) after paying an SEO company lots of money.

So in this article, we'll share some tips with you that may help prevent it from happening to your site or, if you lose rankings, tell you precisely what to do about it. This way, you can have a clearer idea of what steps to take and what issues you might be facing.

Why Did My Website Lose Google Rankings?

Before we look at how to rectify it, let's first understand why your website might have lost rank. There could be several reasons which include:

  • You're In A Keyword ‘Penalty Box'

If you've been doing some things with your site that aren't helping your site's overall theme, such as keyword stuffing or using poor copywriting, then you might be excluded from Google for a while. The reason being that they want to remove spam and low-quality sites which are hurting the overall ranking of all pages in their index.

  • Your Content Is Bad

This is an area where SEO companies often get it wrong. They will often focus on keywords and not the value of the content. If you're using SEO companies to create content for your site, you should always ask for a sample of their work before hiring them. You can see how well it's written and check whether it follows a logical flow or not.

  • The SEO Company Is Doing Something Wrong

Some SEO companies are not as honest as we'd like them to be. They will often promise you the world and deliver nothing. If they do give you results, it's because they've been manipulating Google in some way with keyword stuffing or black hat techniques. This can sometimes lead to a penalty box situation for your website.

  • Your Website Has Been Penalised

This is often something that comes about from using poor-quality SEO companies. You've paid them money, and they've given you no results, then it will be easy for Google to penalize your website because of this due to “unnatural links.”

  • Google Cares Less About Your Website

This is a tough one to swallow. It's true, though, because Google updates its algorithms constantly to give users the best results possible, and sometimes this will be at your expense. If you've been around for a while, though, then it shouldn't affect you that much. It'll just mean that those who have built up trust with Google will be the ones who rank better than you.

How To Know If Your Website Has Lost Rankings?

If your website has dropped in rankings, it's quite likely that you'll notice very quickly. The thing is, though, some SEO companies are doing things behind the scenes that you won't realize and which Google will pick up on, resulting in your website dropping down the rankings.

So how can you tell if this is happening? This is what's known as a “black hat technique” or “SEO spamming.” It means that they're updating your content rather than letting it sit for a while so that it's natural. This is mainly a problem with some SEO companies because they will only do this to your home page and the mega menu on your website, leaving all the other parts untouched for weeks or months at a time.

This makes Google suspicious of you and ends up resulting in penalties which can send your website down several levels.  That's why some people see a drop in rankings and then wonder what happened. If your website wasn't actively marketed via PPC or social media, for example, with fresh content being added all the time, then you may have been penalized by Google for doing something black hat.

How To Recover From Losing Search Engine Rankings?

Well, there are five things you can do.

  • Forget About The Rankings

With so many website owners using SEO services these days, if your rankings drop for some reason, then it's not the end of the world. That might be hard to swallow if you're running a business online, but at the end of the day, as long as you're getting a good amount of traffic and sales are going well, there's no reason to worry about your rankings. You should do what makes sense for your business, though, and don't focus on just one element without ensuring that all other elements perform correctly.

  • Take Action Right Away

If you notice that your website has dropped in rankings, don't wait around for a few weeks to see what happens because anything could happen. There is no damage done if you get it sorted out immediately. Contact the SEO company right away and find out why this has happened.  

  • Check For Google Penalties

If you contact an SEO company and tell them that your website has dropped in rankings, the first thing they'll ask is if there's a Google penalty present. This will happen automatically because it always does. There is a problem if their SEO company ever tells you that there are no penalties when working on your website.  

  • Audit Your Backlink Profile  

If you've lost rankings because of something that an SEO company did, then it's likely that you're going to have backlinks from all over the place and not just from one or two sources. Find out what happened with your links and get rid of spammy or low-quality links as soon as possible.

  • Perform A Detailed Analysis

Analyzing your website is important if you want to find out what has gone wrong and what you can do to fix it in the future. The easiest way to do this is by using a tool like Mozbar, Ahrefs, or Majestic SEO to find out which pages are dropping in rankings and what backlinks have gone away.

Understand, Take Action And  Get Your Site Back on Google

You may know that your website has lost Google rankings, or you might not, but it's always a good idea to understand the things that could affect them because you can't do anything when something is affecting your website if you don't know what it is. Losing ranks doesn't mean that you should ignore what's going on with your website, but it does mean that you have to take action quickly if there's something wrong.

Don't Make These Mistakes When Doing Your Website Migration

Website migration is not an easy task. It is very complex and requires a professional approach. So, if you are planning to develop your own or hire a team for the migration of your existing website, there are certain common mistakes that you must avoid at all costs. These mistakes might cost you time and money that could have been used in other productive ways.

Here are eleven common mistakes that you should avoid while doing website migration.

  • Not Taking Note Of SEO Optimization

If your old website's traffic is coming from organic search, you must update your new website with relevant keywords and anchor text to preserve this traffic channel. Otherwise, Google may think that you are not the website owner, and your traffic from search engines may reduce substantially.

  • Not Moving All Your Content

If you have a lot of content on your old site, before migrating to a new one, make sure you move all the data to a place where it can be easily accessed later on. The new site may not support all of the formatting methods used by your old one. The same goes for images, videos, and other media files. Make sure you copy them to a separate location before migration.

  • Using Automated Software For Migration

If you are planning to automate the website migration process, then there is a high chance that all your data will be deleted permanently. An automated migration tool can delete all of your important information without even alerting you.  Before migrating, always review the data and ensure that no sensitive data is lost in the process.

  • Not Installing Plugins And Themes

Ensure that you install any required plugin and theme on your new website once it is fully functional. This will make it easier for you to access and update your site.

  • Not Creating The Structure Of The Database

It would be best if you kept note of the hierarchy of your database so that you can quickly recover it in case of a problem. If you do not have such a structure, then it will be difficult for you later on.

  • Not Keeping Backups

There are chances that your website may get damaged during the migration phase, and restoration from backup will help you to save time and effort.

  • Not Testing Content On The New Platform

Before launching the website, make sure you have thoroughly checked all the contents to avoid future issues.

  • Not Optimizing The Site's Performance

Your new website must be at par with your old one in terms of speed and loading time. If it is not performing well, then you may lose a lot of traffic and business prospects.

  • Choosing The Wrong CMS For Migration

Before deciding on which CMS to use for migration, make sure that it perfectly fits your requirements. Using a new CMS for migrating your content may cause you to lose a lot of information, so you need to ensure that you select the right one.

  • Picking An Outdated Version Of CMS

If you are migrating to a new CMS, then make sure that you choose the most up-to-date one as your old system may not be compatible with the updated one. The issues related to incompatibility might harm your business and traffic numbers.

  • Not Checking The Search Engine Visibility

After migrating, if you find that your website no longer ranks well in Google, it is likely due to a glitch. You must know how to fix it as soon as possible.

Avoid These Mistakes And Prevent Damage To Your Website

This list of mistakes would help you save time and effort while doing a website migration. Do not let the errors creep in, or else they might cause a lot of damage to your business.

How To Migrate Your WordPress Site

Website migration is the process of moving an existing website from one hosting provider to another. It is essential that during this process, you need not disrupt your business and ensure that there are no errors or any downtime on your current site.

The steps below will help you with the migration process:

1. Install WordPress on New Hosting

Once you have decided to migrate your website, you must install WordPress on new hosting. Installing WordPress on new hosting will allow for a seamless transition and ensure no errors or downtime during this process.

2. Create A Copy Of Your Old Website

Once WordPress is installed on your new hosting provider, the next step would be to create a copy of your existing website on your local computer. You can use any good content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Joomla to make a copy of your current site easily. Once you have created an exact copy of your website, you must upload the copy to your new site.

3. Migrate To New WordPress Site

Once you have created a copy of your website, the next process would be to upload the site to your new hosting provider. This can be done by just uploading the file via File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Once this is complete, you will need to run a WordPress update to ensure that the new codebase syncs with your local instance.

4. Check DNS Settings

Once WordPress is updated, you must make sure to check your domain's DNS settings. Usually, this requires the user to change CNAME and A records for their domain.

5. Force Save Old Pages For Search Engines

Once you have updated your DNS settings, you must save the old pages to ensure that search engines know that these pages are still available on your previous site. You can do this by just forcing a page save in WordPress and 301 redirecting the page.

6. Consider Using Redirection Plugin Or 301 Redirects

You mustn't delete the old pages as they will be useful if there are any issues with your new site. This can be done by using a plugin or custom coding the 301 redirects to ensure that the old pages are redirected to your new site.

7. Try The New Site Out & Make Sure It's Working Properly

Once you have made sure that your old website is appropriately redirected, it is essential to try the new site out. If there are any issues with the domain or hosting provider, you can always switch back to your old website.

9. Make Sure To Update Contact Info

At this stage, you will need to make sure that your contact details are up-to-date on the new website. This is an essential aspect as it ensures that users get in touch with you easily and quickly.

11. Delete The Old Site When You Are Positive It Works Properly

Once you are sure that your new site is working properly, it is important to check with the hosting providers and make sure your old website has been completely removed.

12. Do A Post On Your Blog To Inform Readers Of The Change 

It is also essential to do a blog post informing your readers of the change in domain or ownership. You must keep them up-to-date with other changes on your website and make sure they find it easy to reach out to you for any issues related to browsing and accessing your content.

Migrate Your WordPress Website Easily

Migrating your website from one place to another is not a complicated process. However, it is important that you do it properly and don't let any errors or downtime affect your business in the long run. The steps above will ensure that you are well prepared for this task and ensure no issues with your new site once you have migrated to a new domain and hosting provider.

Get Traffic And Conversions Using Social Media

Conversion or traffic, which one do you prefer? If you're in the business of selling products online, you're probably more interested in the sales. But if you have a blog, you may get more value out of traffic than conversions. Both are important to your business, so how do you handle both?

This is when social media platforms come into play. They provide an effective way of increasing traffic and driving conversion simultaneously, where both complement each other. So how do you get both? Let's find out!

The Power Of Paid Ads

One sure way to get traffic and conversions that involve social media is through using Facebook ads. Although this isn't the cheapest way, it does prove to be very effective depending on your niche or industry.

Facebook ads allow you to target a specific audience based on demographics (age, gender, interest), location, and even some behavioral patterns. You can create a particular ad to target your ideal customer without being charged for clicks. This is done by using the “pay per impressions” option. Pay per impression or PPC is where you're only charged based on the number of people who have seen your advert regardless of whether they clicked or not. The good thing about this platform is that you can quickly test different ad versions to see which one gets the maximum response.

On top of pay per impressions, you can also use the “pay per click” option, a more straightforward way of paying based on clicks, but it doesn't allow for as much control when targeting audiences. So if you're looking to make significant sales and possibly rapid growth, Facebook ads are an ideal platform for you. That said, there's always another platform out there that may be a better fit for you.

Tying It All Together

So how do you tie both conversion and traffic together? That's where social media platforms come into play. Nowadays, businesses are shifting their focus towards creating content to build communities around their products and services. This is the real value of social media as you're providing real value to your audience. This is what will make them pay attention and want to learn more.  

Many believe that people are 3x more likely to buy a product online after reading positive reviews on social media. This suggests that content marketing does work in converting a prospect into a buyer. Having traffic and conversion is possible through social media as you build your online presence, build trust with your audience and create content to educate them on what they need.

Bottomline

You can see the potential of having both traffic and conversions simultaneously using social media because they complement each other well. The most important thing is to provide real value while you get people's attention and drive traffic. You can use different content, social media marketing, SEO optimization, and lead nurturing to get this done effectively.  

Social media platforms are a great way of building relationships with your audience by providing them with useful content that will make them understand and appreciate your product or service better. That way, you'll be able to achieve a higher conversion rate in the long run.  So don't wait any longer – start increasing traffic and conversions today by using social media platforms to get both!

Social Media Campaign Made Easy

Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are excellent places to promote your business or brand. You can manage your social media accounts from one central location and can schedule messages to go out at certain times of the day. Social Media Campaigns are a great way to get people excited about interacting with you on social media, but they take some time to do correctly.

Your Guide On Starting A Social Media Campaign

There are a few main steps to follow when setting up any social media campaign. Here is what you need to do:

1. Decide If You Need To Start A Campaign

Before starting a social media campaign, you should ask yourself a few questions:

– Do I have the resources to create content for this campaign?

– What is my end game?

– Do I have a plan for the campaign, or will this be done on the fly?

It would be best if you thought about these things before you start. If your resources are limited or you do not know your end goal, developing a solid social media campaign won't be easy.

2. Define Your Goals & Objectives and Create A Strategy 

Most campaigns need to be planned out in advance. Your goal may be to get more followers, maximize engagement, or increase traffic. Whatever your goals are, you should include them in your strategy document. Considerations for obtaining those goals and objectives may consist of the length of time you want the campaign to run for, any promotions related to the campaign, etc.

3. Create A Content Calendar 

A well-thought-out strategy relies heavily on a calendar. You want to post consistently and have the highest probability for success, so defining how you will do this upfront is critical. It would be best to determine a schedule for posting to each platform and then write down the content you will create for that date. It is essential to have a good mix of copy (text), images, and video when creating your social media campaign.  – What common questions will be addressed in the content?

4. Post Your Content

Once you have created all of your content, it's time to post! Depending on the platform you are posting from, there will be different options for scheduling your posts. Some platforms allow a more detailed schedule that will enable you to choose individual days and times. Others may only offer general timing options such as “noon” or “afternoon.” It would be best if you still tried to post in the same time slot every day so that people get used to checking your page during those hours.

5. Monitor, Measure, and Repeat

There are many ways to track your social media campaign's success. It would be best to have a few goals laid out in advance for this step, like the number of new followers, likes, shares, etc. You should also monitor your existing social media engagement to see a sudden increase after posting the campaign. This could be an indicator that you need to do more promotions to get your message out.

Bottomline

A social media campaign is a great way to improve your online presence and get people talking about you! If done correctly, a social media campaign can provide real value to your business or brand.  It is important to have clear goals in mind before starting the campaign.

Why You Should Get On Facebook Now!

Facebook has become one of the top places for people to go on the Internet. Considering Facebook's massive user base, it is clear that it has established itself as a staple among social media platforms and is here to stay. With this in mind, it is important to understand that if you own a business and your business is not on Facebook; you are missing out on countless potential customers.

Why Does Your Business Need To Be On Facebook?

There are many reasons. We'll explore several of them below:

1. Connect With Your Customers

Facebook allows you to connect with customers utilizing a platform where they already spend much of their time. While it's true that your website is the place where you should be hosting your content, Facebook can serve as a great platform to post updates and links to your website and to connect with customers.

2. Create A Community

You can create a community around your brand, which results in stronger loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing opportunities.  People like to interact with others who have the same interests, and Facebook allows for this opportunity.  If you are a part of your community's activities on Facebook, they will be more involved in your brand and will see you as more authentic.

3. It Allows You To Post Relevant Content And Timely Information

Your business can show people that it cares about its customers by posting relevant and timely information. When you post relevant content, it increases the likelihood of people engaging with your business's page.

4. Promote Your Business At An Affordable Rate

You can promote your business on Facebook at a cost-effective rate.  Aside from Facebook ads that you can use to target specific demographics, organic methods don't require any cost. This enables businesses with smaller budgets to reach their target audiences without breaking the bank.  

5. It Allows Instantaneous Engagement

Facebook allows for instantaneous engagement with your target audience.  Once you post something on your business's wall, it is seen by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, within minutes. You can instantly connect with customers and feel what they like or dislike about your business before making any adjustments.    

6. Learn More About Your Target Audience

You can utilize the “Like” button on your business's Facebook page to learn more about your target audience.   The more you know about your target customers, the better it is for your future marketing efforts.    

7. Increase Your Website Traffic

You can increase traffic to your website by posting links on Facebook and incorporating Facebook into your marketing strategy.  People who engage with your business's page can be directed to your website when you post links.  

Bottomline

As a business owner, you should promote your business via Facebook and engage with other businesses and brands on the website. However, to get people to notice your brand's page and interact with it, you want to make sure that you create a Facebook page that stands out.  When you create a well-designed Facebook page, it will increase your chances of success on the website.  

If you need help creating an outstanding Facebook page for your business, consider hiring professionals who specialize in digital marketing campaigns to help you attract more customers and improve your business's online image.

Design A Logo That Will Make Your Business Stand Out

Designing a business logo can be a challenging task. Thus, finding the right Seattle web design agency is crucial in designing a logo that your business deserves. Having a good business logo design will help you to add value to your product and services. Also, the whole graphic identity of your company is represented by this visual element.

Using several steps of the design process, you can create logos with different types of images. It may be an abstract symbol or a realistic image of something from your business.

Here is how to design a logo:

1. Brainstorming – The Creative Stage

At this stage, you should come up with ideas for your logo. Drawing sketches on paper will help you make any corrections before moving forward to the next step of the design process. Also, you may consider the artworks of your competitors for inspiration. You need to find a unique image that will make it recognizable.

2. Sketching A Draft Logo Design

After brainstorming, the next step is sketching an appropriate graphic illustration of your business logo and improving it until you are satisfied with its appearance. The proportion and type size of the font are the two most important design elements in logo creation.

3. Try Out Different Color Combinations

The next step is designing a few versions of your logo with different colors and choosing the one that looks best on your business cards, website, or marketing materials, for example. You can also create several logos with different images to see which one looks better.

4. Crop Your Business Logo Design

In this last step, you need to crop your logo image, removing any unnecessary parts of the image. You can also add borders or background and make some adjustments with a color tone if necessary. Also, don't forget to check whether your final design meets corporate identity standards from your industry. Finally, you are ready to use your new business logo!

Things To Keep In Mind When Designing A Business Logo

The main idea of your logo is to represent the nature and mission of your business, so you should choose its visual elements carefully. Here are some tips that may help you create a memorable logo:

  • The colors can be related to your brand name.
  • Make sure that you design a logo that will look good if it is printed in black and white or is colored, so consider using vector graphics, for example.
  • Avoid geometric shapes as they don't go well with curves and make the image more realistic instead of abstract.
  • Do not include only a text in your logo, as it should be more than just a title.
  • Try to use humor or catchphrase, for example, but make sure that you don't overdo it and the logo will still look serious and professional.
  • Avoid special characters and accents.
  • Make sure that your logo meets corporate identity standards from your industry.
  • Do not use an image of another company's trademarked product or possess any other elements protected by trademark law.

Bottomline

The process of designing a logo for your business is not as simple as it may seem. There are many factors to consider, and if you want to create an effective one that will stand out from the competition, you should consider these tips.

A professional logo design company can help you through the process of creating a new visual identity for your company. Putting all the details together to create an effective logo, they will come up with something that will make your business stand out from the rest of the competitors!

Thinking Of Migrating Your Website? Read This First!

If you're thinking about migrating your Seattle website design from one hosting provider to another, it's not something that should be done lightly. Website migration can be a time-consuming and complex process when you don't have enough preparation as there are many things to consider. If you don't want to spend your time on this in vain, you should at least consider the following questions.

3 Questions You Should Ask Before Migrating Your Website

The following are three critical questions to consider when planning on moving your website to a new web hosting service provider.

1. If I'm Changing Hosts, Do I Have A New Website Domain Name?

Are you going to change your current website address, or are you planning on keeping it intact? If you decide to change your website's domain name, will the new hosting provider help you accomplish that goal? Or will they make the process difficult for you and delay what should be a relatively simple thing to complete.

If you choose to move your current website over, does the new host also provide domain name registration? If not, are they willing to help you find a provider who does?

Are you planning on keeping the same domain name or registering a new one?

2. Do They Have The Bandwidth Available To Handle My Site Traffic?

Even if you're keeping your current website domain name, there is no guarantee that the traffic will follow. There are many reasons why a person would choose to go from one host to another, but none involve their site receiving more traffic.

If you have changed hosting providers and plan on migrating over with your existing site traffic, ask about how your site will be hosted and what kind of bandwidth is provided. Your host should be able to explain this to you quickly.

3. Will I Be Able To Keep My cPanel And Control Panel Access?

How much time have you invested in learning how the cPanel and control panel work for your website? If you feel comfortable using them, you're not going to want to start all over again with a different host. So make sure that your new host is compatible with what you already have set up on your current server.

If they are compatible, what kind of support will they provide you if you encounter an issue? Will your current cPanel work with them, or do you need to download a different one from their website? Many questions must be answered before completing the move.

Bottomline

Not all hosting providers are created equal, and each has its own set of pros and cons. It's up to you to research hosts and decide which option best fits your needs. If all your questions have been answered, there should be no reason why you can't move over from one server to another with little or no downtime. Just remember that if something goes wrong along the way, it's better to stay put than risk losing everything on your site.

Put Yourself At The Center Of It All. It's Time To Take Control Of Your Brand!

Having an online presence is a necessity for all businesses today. People turn to the internet whether they are shopping for products or services, browsing the latest news, or looking for information on a particular topic. The days of traditional marketing campaigns have long been replaced with a single focus only: getting as many people as possible to click and visit your website and having a social media set-up is one of the best ways to accomplish this. If you’re looking for Seattle web design services that include social media setup, Sharptackmedia has what you need.

Boost Your Online Presence Through Social Media

Social media plays a pivotal role in this online strategy. People interact and make decisions via social media websites daily, whether it's about the latest political headlines or the best pizza place to order from.

  • Overcoming the Fear

Social media platforms can be intimidating. If you are not tech-savvy or you're unsure how your voice will resonate online, the fear of using social media may override any potential benefits. To overcome these fears, start small and take them one step at a time. Identify what type of information and content should represent your business and how to share it properly. Pick a few social media tools to start with and then move forward from there.

  • A Commitment To Sharing

Social media represents an opportunity to promote your business in many ways. Whether you use it for customer service, promotions, or simply making announcements about exclusive deals, the best results will come if you communicate regularly. Social media is all about sharing content with a network of friends and potential customers, so if you post something once, it may get lost in the shuffle. Regular posting content will help you identify which posts resonate with people (and why) and keep your followers informed about any events or changes to business hours.

  • One Platform To Rule Them All

For many businesses, a multi-platform approach is the best way to leverage social media. If you need more than just Twitter and Facebook for your online presence, the question becomes whether using multiple tools is better. It is worth trying out various platforms in most cases as you will quickly find which ones work best. Create a list of the social media tools that might be useful in representing your business and test them out one at a time or choose specific ones to focus on for now.

  • A Clear Purpose

Before you decide which tools are right for you, it is crucial to figure out what they can do for your business. After identifying the type of content that you want your business to represent online, put together a plan of how you will share this content. Every platform is different and may require changes in the type of messages you are sharing.

  • Social Media For Monitoring

A careful monitoring strategy can help ensure that your social media presence works for your business as much or more than your competitors. While you may be posting great content, what is the overall effect on your business? Tools such as Google Analytics can give you valuable information that will help you track how much revenue (if any) is being generated through social media posts and how people are interacting with specific posts. Seeing this kind of data will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses in the social media realm.

  • A New Kind Of Customer Service

While using social media can be intimidating for some businesses, it is important to realize that it is also a fantastic opportunity to regularly interact with customers and potential customers. With questions answered immediately or requests fulfilled within minutes, your followers will love how quickly you respond to them. They will be more likely to recommend your services when they see how eager you are to help them and how responsive you can be.

Conclusion

Social media is growing rapidly, with millions of people now spending hours every day sharing information online. While it may sound daunting, the benefits offered by social media tools can far outweigh any concerns about getting started. Start small and build from there to get past any fears of using social media to promote your business. After developing a solid foundation to grow, your business will reap the benefits available through this new medium.

Learn How To Build Your First WordPress Website

WordPress is a great Content Management System because it is easy to learn, use and maintain. It is so easy to use that millions of people are hosting their blogs and websites using it. But, like anything else that is easy to use, the step action plan of creating a WordPress website can be challenging to figure out.

If you are looking for a great step-by-step guide on creating a WordPress website, then this is for you.

How To Create Your First WordPress Website

Here are the five essential steps to creating your first WordPress website.

Choose a Domain Name

The first thing that you will need is the domain name of your website.  This is just like having an address on your house.  It's what people use so they can find you. But one problem about domains is that you can't just choose anything.  You have to make sure it is available first before you use it.  To check if your domain name is available, you will need to use a Domain Name checker or the old-fashioned way of going over to Network Solutions and finding out for yourself if the domain name is taken already.

Choose a Web Hosting Plan

It would be best if you also chose a web hosting plan.  A web host will hold your website to create the domain name and make all your changes to it online. The good thing about web hosting plans is that many web hosts are out there for you to choose from.  There are many different prices, and they may offer different services as well.  So when choosing a web hosting plan, you should check the price, service, and whatever else that will be important for your website so that you won't make any regrets in the end on what you pick.  When choosing a web hosting plan, you have to make sure that they are compatible with the Content Management System of WordPress.

Choose a WordPress Theme

Now that you have the domain name and the web hosting plan, it's time to choose a WordPress theme.  When selecting your first WordPress theme, make sure that it is simply because this will be your website where you will introduce yourself as an author or business.  So if you want to use a theme that is already designed, cheap, and easy to use, you can find it at free WordPress themes. And if you are looking for a premium theme, you can always download the paid version from their website or search it on wordpress.org.

Install WordPress

Now that you have the domain name, web hosting plan, and WordPress theme, it's time to install your WordPress website. Once you are on your web hosting account, simply download the latest version of WordPress.  Just make sure that you choose the right version as there are many versions out there already.  If you don't know how to install it, you can always pay a web host to do it for you.  

Create Content

After installing your WordPress website, now it's time to create content.  This is an important step because most people get stuck when they don't know how to create content.  You can hire a writer or an editor to write articles for your website.  Or you can create it yourself.  The choice is yours.  

If these are too much for you to handle, you can always get an expert to help you. We at Sharptackmedia can help you set up your WordPress website. Contact us for more information regarding how we can help create the perfect WordPress website for you.

Why Should You Use Google Analytics for Your Website?

After building a small business website, whether a design company designs it or built it your own using a drag-and-drop website builder, you need to find out how it performs.

Google Analytics is a great way to find out exactly what users are doing on your website, which pages they visit, and where they go next after leaving your site, allowing you to improve the website's design to increase conversions.

The most important reason that any small business needs Google Analytics is to improve their website's performance. Find out what users are interested in and how they're using the site, then make changes accordingly – whether it's adding more content, reorganizing navigation, or even changing the design and layout completely.

What Google Analytics Is and What It Isn't?

Before we get started, it's important to understand exactly what Google Analytics is. First off, it's free; you don't have to pay any money for google analytics because they want to ensure that everyone has access to this kind of information about their website. Secondly, Google Analytics is a tool used to track user information by capturing data and then analyzing it to discover how users use your website.

Discover Your Most Visited Pages

Google Analytics will show you top content and referral URLs alongside many other statistics to find out the most popular pages on your website. For example, I have my YouTube channel and my blog listed as referral URLs, which means that people come to my website from those places.

If you know what your users want and how they're using the site, you'll be able to make changes accordingly. Google Analytics will show you statistics about every page on your website, including the number of visitors it receives per day and month, how much time they spend on the page, and even how much traffic came from social media.

For example, if you notice that many visitors are clicking on one particular link, but they're not completing their action – meaning that they're not buying your product/signing up for your service/etc. – then, either improve the copy or remove the link. If you notice that people aren't spending enough time on a particular page, then there's not enough information on it, or maybe the design is too dull; if so, you can fix those things and improve the user experience.

Find Out Where Your Visitors Go

To find out where visitors go after they visit your website, Google Analytics will show you referral URLs, including your website's name, the domain, and the path they took to get there.

If you see that people are leaving your site and going somewhere else right away, it's possible that the navigation is too complicated or it's too difficult to find the information they want.

You may put links to popular posts on your website's homepage and in the sidebar so that users can easily find the content they're interested in. Still, if you're not seeing many visitors clicking on those pages, then perhaps there's an issue with your navigation.

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a great way to get information about how users use your website and where they go when they leave. Find out more about the most popular pages, top referral URLs, and what pages users visit after visiting your site; then use this information to improve future designs or influence changes to increase conversions.

The Secret To Getting More Website Traffic

A well-designed website built by a professional web designer or a DIY website built with web design tools like WordPress is useless if nobody visits it.

Website traffic is the lifeblood of any business, and it is an ongoing struggle to maintain a steady flow of visitors to your website. Boosting traffic to your website is similar to building a house – the first stage in the process is to find suitable land on which you will develop your marketing presence.

Trying too many things all at once with little or no strategy can slow your progress.

Increase Your Website Traffic The Right Way

Here are some tips for getting more website traffic to your site :

  • Focus On One Keyword

When you plan your search engine optimization (SEO) program, you must identify one keyword or phrase with which you want your web pages to be associated in the minds of potential visitors who search for a product or service like yours.

If you have multiple products and services, develop a list of keywords that describe your goods and services. Using the words relevant to your business in your pages, titles, headers, and image alt tags will make it easier for search engines to find your website.

Provide an “SEO summary” on every page of your website with a list of several keywords for people who visit your site. The information in this summary should be placed above the fold and in order of importance, starting with the most important keyword.

  • Create Landing Pages

A landing page is a web page that takes visitors directly to the content they are looking for instead of displaying a website homepage. A landing page for your bakery business might focus on the services you offer or what sets your bakery apart from its competitors.

  • Build Backlinks

When someone links to your website, it's called a backlink. Getting people to link to your site can be challenging, especially if you are starting and working on establishing your presence online.

  • Be Active In Social Media

If you're not using social media, you're missing out on an excellent opportunity to increase traffic for your website and business.

Think of social media as a way to start up conversations with potential customers or clients, rather than just another channel where you can push out your message to a faceless audience. An excellent place to start is with Facebook and Twitter, then branch out into other social media platforms.

You can also be active in social media by posting information about your business on sites related to your industry or niche. Provide valuable content for people who visit these forums or websites (e.g., a video tutorial or an article that will answer one of their questions). Most people will respond positively and share your content with others on social media.

  • Write Guest Posts

If you're not ready to start adding backlinks right away, you can build up traffic to your website by contributing content about your area of expertise in guest blog posts for other websites. Guest blog posts are generally more popular on smaller sites with less traffic than on sites that serve a large audience, so get your target keywords into every guest post you write and make sure that it's posted in the correct category of directory or forum.

  • Pay For Traffic

You can pay for targeted traffic to your website by using a service like Google Adwords. This method is popular with many small business owners, who use it as an efficient way to get more traffic and sales leads.

Conclusion

The internet is the new frontier for marketing, and if you want to be successful in this space, your strategy must include a variety of ways to get more website traffic.  Your focus should be on understanding how people think as they move through different stages of the buying process and then figuring out what messages will resonate with them at these points in time.

You can also increase web traffic by focusing on building backlinks, creating landing pages, being active on social media sites related to your business niche, contributing content about topics aligned with keywords relevant to your industry/niche in guest posts online forums or directories; paying for targeted traffic from sources like Google Adwords … The list goes on!

Should You Hire A Professional Web Designer?

It’s a really exciting time to be alive with all the technology available today. Every business that has its website can now reach millions of people from various parts of the world in no time and at a low cost. Given how vital the internet is for your business, it’s very likely that your first step would be to invest in a professional website design to start making sales online. 

However, when this thought crosses the minds of many entrepreneurs who are just beginning or those who want to upgrade their current website, they start to have second thoughts. The reason is that some of them think it’s unnecessary to spend on a professional website design since they can do the job themselves. This article will address this common misconception and help you understand why hiring a professional website designer is essential in website building.

Reasons Why You Should Hire A Professional Website Design Team

Hiring a professional website design service is the best solution for you and your business. Considering that finding one who will meet all your requirements regarding creativity, functionality, user-friendliness, and technical excellence can help your small business too. The following are some very valid reasons why you need one.

  • A Professional Website Design Makes Your Site Stand Out Of The Crowd!

Indeed, you can create a website on your own using the help of free tools and tutorials online. But, when you use these tools, the sites usually look generic and a lot like other sites using the same software.

For instance, if your website is built using WordPress, then there’s a high likelihood that hundreds of others sites are already using the same layout under different skins.

Hiring a professional web design team, on the other hand, is your opportunity to get a website that has a unique look and one that will immediately stand out in the crowd of different websites. A good designer knows how to create a site that reflects your company’s personality, allowing potential customers to feel more connected with you and your brand.

  • A Professional Website Design Team Makes Sure That Your Site Works

Since many people have already built their websites on the same platforms, what sets yours apart is that it should run perfectly and without issues. The last thing you want is for your site to be slow or not mobile-friendly. A responsive web design is necessary to make your site as user-friendly as possible and for both desktop and mobile devices which free tools, tutorials, and online help won’t give you.

  • A Professional Website Design Team Will Keep Your Site Safe And Secure

Another advantage of hiring a professional website design team is that they will keep an eye on all the latest trends in malware and any other threats you need to worry about. This is especially important if you sell products and services online. Keeping your site free from viruses, spyware, and hacker attacks isn't a simple task. And you can ask any website owner who has had their site hacked to know the actual cost of doing it yourself.

  • You Get The Best From Search Engines

If you're building a website on your own, but have no idea how to optimize it for search engines, then you should expect a low rank. A good professional website design team will help your business get on the first page of search engine results by building an efficient SEO strategy.

  • You Get High-Quality Work In-Time And On-Budget

One of the main reasons some people think they can do it themselves is that making a website seems easy and cheap. But when you make this decision, what you’re failing to consider are the costs involved in maintaining your site on an ongoing basis.

A professional web design team will consistently deliver high-quality work that meets your needs within your budget and within the timeframe needed.

Bottomline

Building your online presence is something worthwhile to invest in. If you think that a free website service will save you money, then think again. You may pay more for things in the long run when you go this route.

What To Look Out For

Developing a website isn't simple. It takes an investment of time, money, and energy on your part. Before launching a small business website, there are certain things you need to look out for. Your website should be clean and simple to navigate. If a customer has any difficulty finding the information they want on your website, it can be easy for them to get frustrated and give up looking altogether! It's advisable to have a professional designer create your site, but if you're not sure how to proceed, there are several questions you should ask yourself beforehand.

Tips For Launching A Small Business Website

The first thing you'll need to decide is what your website needs to achieve for your business. Do you want it purely to be a vehicle for sales, or do you also plan to use it as an additional marketing tool to build up brand loyalty? Will you let visitors leave feedback and reviews about your products, or will you keep them solely on the sales path? Once you've decided what your website should achieve for you, it's time to start thinking about how to make this happen. Setting up a simple site with a shopping cart system is relatively easy, but creating an online destination that will give you more than just sales is a little trickier.

  • Scope Out Your Competition

If you're planning on building the perfect bespoke site for your business, make sure that it's designed to meet your unique needs. Figure out if any other businesses in your industry already have a website with the features that you'd like – the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of money on a website that looks great but doesn't have the functionality or features to match! To get started, you should pick out a few competitors and check their websites thoroughly.

Look through your competitor's home pages and evaluate how much space they devote to brand awareness rather than product sales. Look at how they present their prices, and see if there are any additional features or offers provided on their site. If you're going to launch a bespoke website, you must know how your site should be different from your competitors' – otherwise, you could end up making expensive mistakes!

  • Decide On Your Brand's Image

Getting a professional designer to design your website is the ideal scenario, but if you need to do it yourself, make sure that you know what kind of image you want to portray. What colors are you using? Is there anything on the site that might reflect poorly on your company? Keeping an eye out for these details can help you save time and money in the long run, so it's crucial to think about them before you start building.

  • How Do I Make My Website Stand Out?

Once your website is up and running, it will be hard for customers to find you if they're looking specifically for your brand. You'll want to make sure that your website is listed on as many search engines as possible. Creating a business page on Facebook or developing a blog can help to improve the odds of new customers finding you when they're looking for reviews, information about your products, and more. If you want to ensure that potential customers will find what they're looking for when they visit your site, you should look into ways your company can be integrated with popular social media sites. The more places online where people are talking about your business, the better!

  • What Kind Of Customer Support System Do I Need?

Depending on what kind of products or services you're selling and what level of interaction you want to have with your customers will determine how you should go about setting up a customer support system. If your website is likely to become extremely busy during the holiday season, for instance, it would be wise to include an online order tracking system so that customers can check on their orders. An email address or phone number in the footer of your site will help people get in touch with you when they have a question about your products, and if you're looking for more ways to gain new customers, it might be time to think about starting a blog.

Bottomline

When it's time to launch your website finally, you'll want to note the features that are likely to attract new customers. Is there a way for people who never heard about your company before to find you online? Do you have an easy way for people to contact you if they have questions or need assistance with their orders?

If you're thinking of launching a new website, make sure that it has plenty of space for your brand and isn't too crowded with features or distractions – otherwise, it could be more challenging to promote.

Get More Leads, Sales, And Customers

Digital strategy is a game plan involving various techniques and tactics to help your website attract new customers. It covers everything from web design and development to social media management, blogging, and more. Since the term “digital” is broad, a digital strategy can involve just about anything…but a comprehensive set of criteria should apply to any digital strategy for small businesses. Read more to learn how to maximize your strategy.

No matter what your business does or how it does it, you're going to need customers. To get customers, you will most likely have to pay for advertising in one way or another, but advertising is not the only thing you can do to attract new leads, sales, or customers. That's where a digital strategy comes in; it helps businesses generate leads they wouldn't have otherwise attracted through conventional marketing and promotion techniques, and that means more sales for your business.

What Strategy Should You Use For Your Small Business?

Many areas of online marketing should be included in your digital strategy to gain new leads, sales, and customers; let's look at some of the more effective ones here.

  • Social Media Management

Most businesses have heard about social media by now, but how many know how to use it properly? With social media, you have the opportunity to reach new prospects and customers with minimal effort or expense. You can use social media management not only for promotion; it's also a great way to learn what your target audience wants from your business and how to create effective campaigns that meet their needs.

Your social media management person will be responsible for creating accounts on several different platforms and monitoring them daily to keep your presence current with new information, events, and promotions. They will interact with people interested in your business or industry and answer questions that they post about your company or products.

Social media management effectively involves responding to customer feedback and questions and creating or updating content to keep people interested.

  • Content Creation And Community Support

Content creation is a great way to get more people to your website and encourage loyalty among existing customers. Whether you're creating videos, writing blog posts, or doing something else entirely, content creation influences people's perceptions of your business.

Creating good content is hard work. If you're going to do it yourself, you should never forget to keep your voice and tone consistent. If you can find someone on staff who enjoys writing or doing video work, you should promote that person as the “voice” of your company. It will be much more memorable for visitors to your website if they hear the same voice in all of your marketing material.

  • Your Digital Strategy Should Include Both Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy, and it's something that you have to manage daily to achieve the best results. On SEO, you should strive for 30% of your time as a small business owner-and always have at least one person on staff who can perform SEO duties effectively.

If you're not familiar with SEO, the basic idea is to get your website ranked higher than your competitors in search engine results. Every time a person searches for a relevant keyword, they find a list of websites that match-and yours needs to be on top when it comes to the quality and relevance of page content and the relevancy of internal links to other web pages.

  • A Mix Of Old And New Is Always Best

Although some social media platforms are “newer” by traditional standards than others, none of them can be considered universally new; you're not using a digital marketing strategy if you're not promoting on social media platforms.

The most prominent social media stories of 2014 were born in the early days of Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.-and that hasn't changed even though more content is being generated on those sites every year. Social media users are increasingly mobile-first or mobile-only, which means that you have to be active on social media if you want your business to grow.

You can't just use social media for promotion; it's also a good idea to establish yourself as an expert in your industry and talk about other topics that people might find interesting. It's a tricky balance, but the more you engage with others online, the more engaged they will be with you in return.

  • Don't Forget The Power Of Email Marketing

Email marketing is a useful way to market your products and services for digital promotion, but you'll need to treat email as a separate platform. It would be best to always include something relevant in your email newsletters; linking to a blog post on the same topic or offering some other deal are both excellent ideas.

If you're thinking of using a digital strategy to promote your business, the list above is still the best place to start. Make sure that you engage with your customers and create useful content for them regularly, and you will notice that your business grows. If you are looking to excel at digital marketing, consider hiring an expert to help you.

Online Tools To Make Your Site Stand Out

Online tools can help you create and maintain your website. But with so many platforms to choose from, how do you decide which is best to start building your small business web design? For more information be sure to check our informative guides.

Learn more by checking out these popular choices:

  • WordPress – Great For Blogs!

The most preferred platform used by webmasters today is WordPress. This blog-friendly software has a free and premium option that comes with its website design. Aside from blog websites, WordPress is also an excellent tool for portfolios and personal websites.

This platform is easy to use even if you do not have any technical skills. Just about anyone can create an account at WordPress.com or a self-hosted site through WordPress.org.

What's more, is that WordPress can update itself with the latest plug-ins and themes automatically. The significant benefit of opting for a self-hosted site is installing any theme or plug-in without worrying about compatibility issues. In addition to the free themes and plug-ins, you can even download premium versions of WordPress themes.

  • Squarespace

Squarespace is another excellent user-friendly tool that allows you to set up a professional website without knowing any code or design skills. Once you sign up for an account, it will walk you through the design and development phase, step by step.

The benefit of using Squarespace is that it allows you to choose from various templates for different purposes such as business, portfolio, blogs, or music websites. It also comes with 24/7 support, so you can find help right away if you need anything.

  • Weebly

Weebly also has its free plan, which allows you to create a professional website in minutes without any design or coding skills needed. They also have a premium version for those who want more flexibility in design and layout options.

With the business plan, you can choose from hundreds of their pre-existing designs or start from scratch to create your unique look for your website. It also allows you to make more changes and adjustments to meet your specific needs in terms of layout and design.

  • Wix

Wix is another excellent user-friendly tool to help you create your professional website without any design or coding skills needed. It offers a 14-day free trial premium plan, so you can try out the features before deciding if it's what you want for your business website.

Once you have premium access, you can start creating your website with different already available templates. In addition to customizing your site, it also comes equipped with tools for easy maintenance, such as SEO and analytics.

Which One Should You Choose?

If you want to start a blog, then WordPress might be the best option. However, if you wish to own a website that looks like an online magazine or portfolio, Weebly can be the best choice. Remember that each platform has its pros and cons.

It is best to choose the one that will offer you the most flexibility in layout, design, and features. Once you have decided which platform to use, the next step is to create an attractive design for your website. You can hire a designer to do the task to focus on other essential aspects of your business.

Your Guide To Creating An SEO Friendly Landing Page

A search engine optimized landing page is essential for any Internet marketing strategy, including pay-per-click (PPC), search engine optimization, email marketing, and social media. A search engine-optimized landing page can increase your conversion rate, so not creating one is one of the huge SEO mistakes that business owners and Internet marketers make.

In addition, if the keywords in the title & meta description are relevant to a landing page. Organic search visitors are more likely to click on the result link than paid searches. So how do you create an SEO-friendly landing page?

Tips To Create A Search Engine-Optimized Landing Page

To help you build a search-engine-optimized landing page, we've come up with this list of tips that will help you rank higher in search engines for your product or services.

  • Have An Attractive, Non-Intrusive Design

The first step in creating an SEO-optimized landing page is to create a unique design relevant to your chosen market. The design of the site should be professional and eye-catching to catch the attention of your targeted visitors. The design elements should not be overly complex or cluttered, and it should be easy to scan for information. Having an eye-catching design is especially important when marketing online because you want people to at least click on your site rather than ignoring it completely.

  • A/B Test And Learn From Your Mistakes

There are many ways to perform A/B testing, but the easiest way is using Google Analytics. It provides a simple way to track statistics about different page configurations and how they affect conversion rates. Testing is the only proper way to find out what works and what doesn't work for your website visitors.

For example, if you test a title that says “Hiking in New York” and a variation that reads “View pictures of Hiking in New York,” you will learn which variant is more likely to make people click on it. Then, if the “View pictures” variant received 3000 clicks and the other only received 2000, it would be safe to say that it is more likely to get a click from people.

  • Write Compelling Titles & Meta Descriptions

Search engines rank web pages higher if these two things are optimized. Include keywords and phrases that reflect the exact search phrase in the target market's query into your landing page's title and meta description. This will increase the likelihood of someone clicking on your site.

  • Add Relevant Images And Videos

Try to include relevant images and videos with an attractive caption that describes the content of the image or video well. The content of a page is more likely to be read if it contains an image or video because these elements are more engaging than plain text. In addition, search engines can index and categorize YouTube videos, so including them is an easy way to increase the amount of information that a search engine knows about your site.

  • Use A Call To Action

Visible calls to action (CTA) are one of the best ways to encourage people to stay on your page. Using “download this guide” or “call now for a quote” as the CTA will keep people on your page and encourage them to convert.

  • Know Your Audience And Ask For Their Contact Information

Knowing your customers, where they are located, and how best to reach them helps you create an effective landing page. Break down demographics by age range, occupation, gender, and location. The more information you have about these groups of people, the better your chances for success become.

An easy way to start creating landing pages and knowing your audience is by using Google Analytics. It provides detailed demographic information on who visits sites like yours and what they look at. You can then use that information to create specific landing pages that are more likely to get a click.

SEO-optimized landing pages are an easy way to get more customers. Following the tips listed above will help you create a page optimized for search engines and more likely to get a click from your target audience.

Words That Help Increase Traffic, Sales, And Conversion Rates 

Using the right words can take your blog posts from just another good post to a phenomenal post that people want to share with their friends. The following is a list of some of the most popular and useful business blogging words you should be using in your post to avoid the mistake of creating low-quality content.

The Best Words For Writing A Successful Blog Post

Below is a list of words that will help you to write better, more successful blog posts. Using these powerful words in your posts can regularly help you to generate more traffic and sales.

  • Benefits

What benefits will your audience gain from reading this particular blog post? It doesn't have to include any technical information unless you specifically target an industry that requires such information. Again, it would be best if you were writing for people, not search engines. If you give your audience a reason to read your blog post, they will find the time to do so, and if it benefits them and their lives, they are less likely to be distracted by outside factors such as emails, text messages, etc.

  • How-To

This is one of those words that can range from being a noun to a verb. For example, in your blog post, you could say: How-to Change Your Business Logo or How to Find New Customers for Your Small Business.

  • Tips

A tip is different than a how-to because it is usually just a way of doing something that you can easily explain in only one sentence. This word is very popular with bloggers, and one of the reasons it works so well is because people are always looking for new tips to make their lives easier.

  • Case Study

This will almost always catch a reader's attention more than just your average blog post, especially if you have an interesting client story or case study to share with your readers.

  • Testimonials

When you have an expert in your field willing to provide a testimonial for your business, you should include it in your blog post. Including it in your blog post will help legitimize the value of what you are offering and give potential customers more confidence about their purchase decision.

  • List Posts

There is nothing wrong with a little bit of competitiveness, especially if you encourage your business to regularly publish more and more blog posts. List posts are viral amongst most bloggers because it allows them to provide their readers with information that they can take action on and enable the blogger to show off how many different things they have learned in their chosen field.

  • Expert

If you include the word expert in a post title, search engines will most likely feature it on their first page of results for that particular keyword. Being on the search engine's first page results means more traffic to your website, which usually translates into more customers and sales for your business.

  • Free

Many people are wary about giving their credit card information to anyone, including businesses charging them for services. This is why the word free works so well for most online businesses; because it reassures the potential customers that they are doing nothing more than reading and learning about a product or service before deciding if it is something that may help them with their lives.

  • News

If you have a newsworthy story related to a current event or something directly connected with your business. Then it should almost always become the title of your blog post. You may not think it as important as what's happening in Syria. Still, if your readers are interested in what's going on in Syria, they will quickly discover a story about your business.

Conclusion

Using the correct words for your blog post titles is vital to draw people in and cause them to read your content. Remember that you are writing for humans, not search engines, so before you complete a single blog post, ensure that it includes all of the elements necessary to get it listed on any search engine's first page of results.

Don't Commit Any Of These Mistakes For Your Online Startup

Starting an online business seems easy for many people. However, it's not. A lot of things are needed to succeed in the online marketplace. Building an online business doesn't end in just creating a website or starting an online business. A website without traffic won't sell anything. And, a website that's not optimized for search engines will hardly get traffic. Thus, SEO strategy and avoiding SEO mistakes must be taken into account when building a website.

However, SEO alone isn't a guarantee of a successful online business. If you want to stand out from other online businesses in any field, then there are several things you should NOT do when building an online startup:

1. Don't Make Fake Claims About The Quality Of Products Or Services

If you're planning to sell your product or service, then come up with a list of features and benefits that will help you sell it. Don't make fake claims about products or services. If you don't know the product or service very well, find out everything about it before making any claims.  Don't try to make unrealistic promises just for the sake of advertising your business. If you're not confident in what you're selling, your potential clients will notice that, and your business turns them off.

2. Don't Copy Content From Other Sites

SEO is all about having unique content and can be easily indexed by search engines. There are a lot of ways to make your site more attractive to search engines. However, creating your original content is one way that should be taken into account. If you copy the content of other sites, then you'll not only lose potential visitors to your site but also be penalized by search engines.

3. Don't Use The Wrong Domain Name

If you want to rank on search engines, then you must use a keyword-rich domain name. It will help your website rank higher in the search engine results and make people more likely to visit your web pages instead of going to your competitors' websites first.

4. Don't Make Your Site Difficult To Navigate

Your site's navigation must be organized, simple, and intuitive. Whenever visitors come to your site, they should know how to navigate it to find what they're looking for. If you present too many links on your homepage that clutter the screen, users will get confused.

5. Don't Have An Irrelevant Homepage

The homepage of a website is one of the main reasons that drive users to visit it. Thus, your homepage should be relevant to your overall site and must address the needs and interests of your target audience for them to feel compelled to navigate through other pages on your website.

6. Don't Spam

When you create online ads, make sure your site is safe where users are not annoyed by irrelevant pop-ups and spam links. If people think that they can be scammed or infected with the virus when browsing your site, many of them will leave it immediately. Banning spammers is one way to prevent your site from being negatively affected by them.

Conclusion

To be successful in the online marketplace, you need a website that is easy for people to navigate, doesn't contain spam links and makes fake claims. If you follow these six tips, then starting an online business would be easier for you.

Get It Done Right The First Time, On Budget, With No Headaches

Creating a website is simple. There are many web builders out there that can help you create a website for free with ease. But if your goal is to make money online, then building a website on your own might not be the best choice because there are many things involved in making a profitable website – like keyword research, designing, coding, and marketing. That's why hiring a web design company is the smartest thing you can do if you want to save money and get a profitable website up and running.

Why Hiring A Web Design Company Can Save You Money

When you hire a web design company, you let the experts handle everything for you.

Developing a website is much more complicated than it seems. That's why hiring a web design company can save you money in the long run.

1. Time Savings

Time is money. The more time it takes to build your website, the more money you are wasting. You would need many months to build a website on your own. Hiring a web design company lets you focus on what matters most, and that's marketing your business.  A web design company not only develops your website but also gets it up and running. This lets you focus on creating a profitable website that will be known to the world.

2. Save Money From Technology And Training Your Team

It's a fact that hiring an in-house designer and training them costs more than hiring a web design company.  This is because you would have to pay for their hourly rate and then spend months training them, thus wasting your time. Working with a web design company can give you the expertise you need without breaking your bank. They're responsible for training their staff to work with the website, so you don't need to waste time and money hiring your own.

Furthermore, you'll also save money from buying your design and coding software. Even if you learn how to make websites, the software still requires upgrades and demands training to use it. When hiring a web design company, they have the latest technology that will give you great results for your website and save you time and money.

3. Save Money On Expensive Designers

There are many freelance web designers out there who can design a website for you. They will let you use their services at a reasonable price. But building a good website is no easy task, and even the most talented designers have limitations that they cannot overcome on their own. Additionally, you wouldn't know if the freelance designer is a newbie or has a solid background in the field.

A small business web design company is a solid choice because there's an assurance that they have been working in the business for years. They know what works and what doesn't. Their portfolio would show you their work, which will give you an idea of how good they are.

Conclusion

Building a business website can be expensive, especially if you do it all by yourself. If you're planning to build one on your own, you'll need to spend lots of time and money to get it done. On the other hand, with a web design company, everything is already set up for you, and all that you need to do is focus on how your business will benefit from the website they provide.

Save Time – Make Money – Build Your Brand!

Business websites are one of the most critical tools to let your customers know about your business, products, and services. By making sure that your website is as engaging as possible, it can act as an online storefront, lead generation tool, and brand ambassador for your company. But how can you make sure that your business website is engaging enough to keep people coming back if you don't have expertise in web design? Well, here are a few tips that will help you.

3 Things You Need To Make An Engaging Website For Your Small Business

Having your first web page isn't easy! However, there are some web design secrets to creating an engaging website for your small business that are simple and can be implemented with little effort.

Let's start with…

1. Create A Catchy Domain Name

Having a website that has a name that is relevant to your business or product is essential. It's less time-consuming for you, and it's easy to remember for your customers. Avoid using long names that are difficult to spell or remember because it will be difficult for your customers to find you online if you do.

2. Design an Engaging Website Homepage

The first thing that people see when they visit your website is the home page. Your homepage should look not only appealing but also very intuitive so that visitors can easily navigate around the website to explore your product, service, and business offerings. It's always a good idea to keep your home page simple by using clean lines, images, headlines, and body text accessible to the eyes.

3. Make Use of Quality Graphics

Graphics can make or break a website with their visual appeal. Using graphics is an important design element when it comes to catching the attention of your customers. Having high-resolution images on your website is an essential key to keeping visitors interested in what you have to offer and bring a professional look that will help build customer trust.

In addition, make sure only to use graphics that are relevant to your business. This includes not using stock photos unless they are branded with your logo or slogan.

Creating an engaging website for your small business isn't rocket science – it just requires a little time, effort, research, and coordination. Don't be afraid to branch out by adding new features or pages to keep things fresh and exciting for your customers; you'll find that your efforts will pay off. 

Hire An Expert

If all of these tips have you feeling overwhelmed and anxious to get your business website up and running, then it might be a great idea to hire an expert web design company. Designing an engaging website for your small business can be easy and simple, but if you are short on time or funds, it may be a good idea to hire an expert web design company for help. 

If you decide to work with a designer, make sure that they stick by their deadlines and implement everything discussed or agreed upon during the project planning phase. A good web design company will help you create an engaging website for your small business that is a seamless extension of who you are, what you do, and why your customers should buy from you.

Increase Organic Traffic from Search Engines

Organic traffic from search engines like Google can be an excellent advantage for any small business because it’s free and highly targeted. It is also very possible to increase your organic traffic from search results, as long as you are willing to invest time in creating quality content that will rise to the top of the search engine’s rankings. To do this, you must have enough knowledge and SEO expertise.

How to get started with SEO for your business

First of all, before you try to improve your organic traffic from search engines, you should understand how search engine optimization works. This will help you to create an effective SEO strategy and choose the right keywords for your content.

Be sure to follow these steps as you improve your site’s search engine ranking.

  • Assemble a keyword list. If you are not an SEO expert, get advice from someone or use online tools to discover which keywords are the most popular for your business niche.
  • Select the most relevant keywords. Ensure that the keywords you choose for your business are not overly broad, as these can hurt your search engine ranking.
  • Make an SEO action plan. Decide which of your content and site resources require optimization and prioritize them according to their importance to your business and traffic level (the number of visitors to your site). Pay particular attention to content that is currently attracting most of your website traffic.
  • Make a list of online resources and tools for SEO. Use this handy set of resources to keep track of which pages you have optimized, when you last checked their rankings in the search engines, any changes on your site, etc. It will also come in handy when you are ready to start a new SEO project on your site.
  • Tweak your content. Add and modify keywords and keyword phrases in the text of your web pages, as well as their URL structure, title tags, image alt tags, and descriptions.

Ways To Monitor The Success Of Your SEO Efforts

To monitor the success of your SEO efforts, you should measure the number of visitors coming to your site from search engines and how much these visitors spend on average. To do this, place a tracking code on each page of your website and check its effectiveness with Google Analytics software or other comparable tools.

Why You Should Outsource Your SEO

If you plan to pursue a successful SEO campaign for your small business, it would be best to hire expert professionals who will take care of all the hard work required for effective SEO.

Technically speaking, it is not that difficult to follow the steps in this article and do your SEO. The problem is that most small businesses don’t have the time or resources to make SEO their top priority. Instead, they would rather concentrate on increasing their sales and bringing in new customers through other channels.

To rank higher in search engines like Google for your target keywords, you need to create content different from what your competitors are doing, providing more value than theirs. This is easier said than done, especially if you don’t have much experience in creating content.

If you are willing to invest time and energy in your SEO but don’t know exactly where to start and how to proceed, it would be a good idea to outsource the process altogether.

Is Your Site Responsive?

A good website is a vital part of any business. A great-looking website will do wonders for your business. If you are not on the internet, you might as well not be in business. Today, just about anyone can get their website up on the internet. However, not just anyone can create a good-looking and responsive website.

Features Of A Responsive Website

When you have a website, you must get as many people to visit your site as possible. But, if you want people to come back and buy more products from your page or even return for repeat visits, what better way to do this than by making their experience fantastic when they are on the website. For customers to have a tremendous experience, you will need to have a responsive website for several things.

  • A Responsive Website Is Viewable On Any Device

The first thing you will need is a website that your customers can view no matter what they are doing. If you have customers browsing from their handheld device, you want to direct them to something that they can still see and access in the same way that you would if they were viewing it on their home computer. The last thing you will want is for your customers not to see what you are selling because they are using a device you did not consider.

  • It Adjusts To Fit The Screen Size Of Whatever Device

A responsive website will adjust to whatever device your customer is using. They should not have problems with the text or images being too large for them to see, and they will be able to click on what they want without any issues. If they are suffering these things, it means that your website has not been tailored or made for a responsive design and could ruin your customer experience.

  • A Responsive Website Will Load Quickly On Any Device

When you have a responsive website, you will find that it loads quickly. No matter what device your customers are using, you can be sure that the site they are visiting is one that they will find very easy to use, and they will not have to worry about waiting for the page to load. This is especially important if they are on a mobile phone or any other sort of handheld device, you want your customers to have a great experience, and you can make that happen by ensuring that your website loads fast.

Conclusion

Since the competition is so high, you will need to ensure you have the best website you can. A responsive website is a great option, and you can be sure that your customers will love it. You do not want to lose any potential sales because you did not build an easy website to navigate or see on their device. Remember that it will only take a few seconds for customers to leave your website if it makes them wait to see what you have to offer.

The Secret Of Identifying Your Website Audience

Ever experience creating a beautiful website but end up with very few leads? And if there is, you can't convert anything at all. What do you think went wrong? So basically, you might not be targeting the right audience. And this is a huge mistake if you want to have a good number of visitors and even sales for your e-products or services.

Factors To Consider To identify Your Website Audience

In this article, there are six significant factors you should consider in identifying your website audience. Let's get started!

  • Problem You Are Solving

Knowing the problem, you are solving is one of the basic or the most “common sense” factors to consider when targeting your website audience. Your product can either be a physical product or just information you want to share about something you know of.

It doesn't matter which type you run. You should find out the problems you are helping your customers and how you can solve that. Make sure you share the solutions you'll be giving them on each page of your website.

  • Audience Demographics

The demographic audience is descriptions about your target customers such as their age, gender, location, income level, hobbies, and many more. You can get information about your audience from surveys you create on your website. You may even hire a research group to analyze the demographics you want to target.

  • Budget Of Your Customer

Knowing how much your customers are willing to spend will help you adjust with what you are offering them and how you price the products or services you will be giving in return. So you have to know if your customers are on a tight budget or can afford expensive items as well.

  • Competition Analysis

Since you already know the problems you are solving and already identified your audience, you should check what others offer, such as your competitors. You should analyze their site, and you may even call their customer service to know what you are doing well for your customers and what you can improve.

  • Product Or Services You Offer

Products and services are also one of the main factors you have to consider in identifying your audience. There will be times that you think you already determine your audience. You're ready to offer what you have. Only to realize that you're wrong because you thought your audience needs what you're about to offer, but you found out they do not like what you have in mind. Always remember you can't assume you know your audience. You have to research first and understand them thoroughly before you start offering your services.

  • Resource You're Going To Use

In the end, you have identified your target audience, so now you should prepare the tools you need to help you draw more visits and sales. You should create valuable content. You may also invest in instant messenger services or even hire freelance writers you can find online.

Conclusion

In the end, once you identify your target audience, you'll already know what you're going to offer them and have them visit your website over and over. You may even see what you're going to share with them, and you will be able to convert them into sales because you already know how you will do it.

How Do Social Sharing Buttons Affect Your Small Business Website?

Social media has been around for a long time now. But, I'm still surprised at how many businesses and organizations have not yet jumped on the social media bandwagon. After all, if you're not there, your competitors are.

No matter what type of business you represent, there are probably numerous reasons users want to share your content on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. For example, if you're looking for new customers, there is no better way to find them than by sharing your website via social media. If you are a retailer, having users spread the word is one of the best ways to promote sales.

But there are many other reasons why social media sharing buttons are a necessary part of your website's design. The following are just some of those reasons:

  • Most People Use Social Media

Most people who visit your site use at least one form of social media already, so why not make it easy to share your information on networks they already enjoy?

Social media is by no means just for young people. Sure, teenagers enjoy sites like Facebook and Twitter for chatting with friends and watching videos. But it's also functional for business professionals who need to maintain their professional reputation. Digg is a beloved site for readers who want to promote or share exciting articles they read online. LinkedIn is the place where you can make business connections with other professionals.

  • Valuable For Businesses With Limited Resources

If you're a small business with limited resources, just adding social media sharing buttons to your site will already make you more visible online.

Because social media sharing buttons are free, adding them to your site is easy and inexpensive. These sharing buttons are helpful for sites that don't have a large number of visitors yet. At the same time, it's very inexpensive to maintain a Facebook page for your business or organization. So, if you have limited resources now, add social media sharing buttons to your site, so you can get a head start on shaping the story.

  • A Way To Build An Online Community

In addition to adding social media sharing buttons, you should also add other ways users can connect with you online. You might be surprised at how many people will want to learn more about what you do and help spread the word if they feel like they are becoming a part of something special as a result.

Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin are just the first three choices in many people's minds. How about creating an online community? By providing regular updates on a site like www.meetup.com, you can attract new visitors who feel part of your organization or company. In some cases, you might even be able to provide incentives for users to spread your information online. Such incentives could include special deals or product discounts for those who post links to your website.

  • Keep Up With The Times!

Social media is growing all the time– Twitter doubled its number of users from its creation, and Facebook acquired Instagram, which now has millions of users. Today social media sites are about more than just networking and keeping in touch with friends. Business professionals have used social media sites to make new connections that have led to job opportunities, partnerships, and even speaking engagements. Adding social media sharing buttons is a must for those who want to get ahead and stay on top of trends!

Bottomline

Social media sharing buttons are not just fun gadgets. Data show that the more times your website is shared, liked, or tweeted, the higher it will rank in search engines and social media sites. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from including social sharing buttons on each web page, but ensuring they are integrated into every aspect of your site design will be vital to its success.

Things You'll Wish Someone Told You Before You Started Designing Websites

Designing a website is a tough job. From website appearance to content to the navigation system and technology, we all know how hard it is to develop an informational, attractive, and user-friendly website. There are indeed a lot of website design packages that web designers use to make things easier. But creating an effective website is still not that easy as it seems. For a successful website, you need to consider many factors before giving birth to something unique and appealing.

Thus, here are some things that you should think about when planning to design a website.

1. Know Your Audience – Who Will Visit Your Website and How Useful It Is To Them?

You have to know answers to some questions before you decide to create a website, such as “What is the purpose of your website?”, “Who is your target audience?” and “Why do they need this website?” These will give you an idea of what to develop.

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you have a clear vision and direction for your website. It will guide you in the development process,  making it easier for you to create a website that will serve your purpose and audience.

2. Know the Features You Have – What Do You Want This Website To Accomplish?

When you have the answers to some questions about your target audience, it is time for you to know what features you should include in your site. It can be about the products, services, and information you need to provide to make your customers happy. Remember that the more information you provide, the better chances of getting more traffic.

3. Know Your Budget – How Much Will You Spend On This Website?

It is also essential for you to know how much money you will spend on this whole process. Producing a website can be expensive due to web designing software, hosting fees, and other expenses. If you are not a professional web designer, it is necessary to hire one. But if you already know the basics of web designing, you can save some money by building your website yourself. But, be prepared to spend hours of preparation before you get the whole design set up on your own.

4. Know Your Business Plan – How Do You Want This Website To Affect Your Business?

You also have to decide how do you want your website to affect the business. Does this have to increase sales? To persuade people to join the membership, for example? Building a website is like building your company – no one becomes successful without having a proper plan.

5. Know Your Competition – Can You Offer Better Services?

When you already know how your website will affect the business, it is time for you to look at your competitors. You need to know what they offer on their sites and if you can develop something better. Being aware of what other businesses have to offer – or not have – can help you create a better site than them.

6. Know Your Skills – Are You Capable of Web Designing?

Do you know how to build websites? Are you good at some basics like Photoshop, Flash, and HTML coding? If not, then better hire someone who is. The whole process can be costly if you don't have the skills to create a website, and that's why you must know your level in this field.

7. Know Yourself – Are You Good with People?

Do you know how to interact with your clients, particularly if you have a business site? Before creating a website, try communicating directly with people from social network sites and see how they respond to you. Communicating with them will help you gain confidence in interacting with different people.

Conclusion

It is essential to keep these seven things in mind before designing a website. To create an effective website that will help your business grow, you must know what features you should include and how the site should affect your customers' lives. It can also be helpful if you have some basic skills like Photoshop, Flash, or HTML coding. But even without them, there are still ways of creating a successful site with the proper research into competitors and knowing your target audience.

The Most Important Questions To Ask Before Hiring Your Web Designer

Websites are a crucial part of any business. They give information about the company and allow potential customers to get in contact with the company. Websites can be very simple or highly complex, depending on what they need to do for the business. To find a package that’s right for your needs, you have to consider certain factors before you make your decision. Below are three things you may want to think about when choosing a website design package:

  •  What Is Your Budget?

Most companies will have a particular budget that they are working with when designing their website.  It’s essential to understand your company’s financial limits so you can find the package that is right for you and your business.

However, remember that settling with the cheapest package is not always the best idea. Often, you will receive more for your money if you choose a little more expensive package, so long as it’s still within your budget.  Stay away from companies that are too cheap to be true—they don’t tend to end well.

  • How Much Time Do You Have Available?  

While custom websites can be ideal for your business, they are sometimes the most time-consuming for developers and expensive. An easy-to-build and affordable website, on the other hand, can be done relatively quickly, but it may not be as attractive and interesting to your customers.  It’s essential to think about how much time you have before your business’s website is needed and find a package within the time frame you need it. 

It will be best to work closely with your web designer and discuss precisely how much time you have to work on the project before choosing the right package. This way, it will help them design a perfect website for you and your company without compromising deadlines, expectations, and the site's quality.

  • Do You Need Help With Content Creation?

Content is crucial to any good website. Without good content, your site is quite frankly useless. It needs to be interesting and relevant to what your company’s goal is. However, creating quality content can be challenging and time-consuming for businesses.

Many people choose to have all of the content for their website already written or created by a professional, but it’s possible to write this content yourself.  Choosing a package that you can edit without the help of outside sources will help save you money and time. However, this means you’ll be responsible for creating the content yourself. Be prepared to take on this responsibility if you choose to do everything on your own.

Conclusion

When choosing a website design package, the three things you should have in mind are your budget, the time you have available, and whether or not you need help with content creation.  It’s essential to ensure that whatever package you choose is within what your company can afford financially and how much time there is before the site needs to be done. It will also depend on if you want someone else to create all of the content for your site or if it falls upon you. No matter which option works best for your business, following these guidelines will ensure that making whatever decision leads to success!

You Need A Good Designer, But How Do You Choose?

It is essential to hire the right designer for your website because the wrong one can hurt your business.

No matter how good the website design package they're offering you, it's not worth hiring a designer if they have no experience in the niche you're involved in. Finding the right person or company can be daunting, especially after you've been burned once. So what steps should you take to ensure that the designer is right for you? Here are a few things to consider when looking for a designer.

1. Decide On Your Budget

One of the key concepts that are used to pick a designer for your website is their quote. Some quotes would be too expensive, and you cannot hire him because of your budget. Also, some designers would provide you with an affordable price, but the quality of the output would be shallow. Thus, you need to decide on your budget to find a designer who matches your requirement without compromising quality.

2. Find A Designer Who Has Experience With The Type Of Website You Want

While it's true that your designer doesn't need to have direct experience in creating a website that is exactly like what you want, it's still important to look for somebody who has experience with the type of site you're envisioning. Sometimes, being inexperienced can lead a designer to be unable to portray your vision properly, and an excellent example of this is the webmaster, who can't seem to be able to figure out how you want your website to look.

3. Check Out Their Portfolio And References

Most graphic designers, and even web designers, these days have websites so go check them out. Look for a portfolio that matches what you're trying to create. – if there isn't anything like it, move on. The other thing to do is to do some due diligence with your potential designer by asking for references from past clients in the specific niche you're in. If they can't come up with any, ask them why and have experience dealing with clients like yourself.

4. Ask For Recommendations

It's always a good idea to consult with others when you're trying to decide upon something. Consult with a friend or simply your neighbor and family member. Ask them if they know of a web designer because most people will have somebody in mind. In terms of asking for recommendations, this can help you weed out the bad designers from the good ones as you will be able to hear about negative experiences or any other issue that might have occurred.

5. Use Online Reviews Or Social Media Sites

Online reviews can be a great way to find out more about your potential web designer. You could also use one of the social media sites to ask for references. However, look at numerous references and do not focus too much on only one review or reference. There are always some people who would like to hurt an individual's reputation to get some benefit from it.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a designer to create your website, some key points will help ensure that the person or company is right for you. Decide on your budget and find someone who has experience designing websites like what you want to create. You can also use online reviews or social media sites as an additional resource when determining if this potential partner would be best suited for your needs. Using these tips should make it easier than ever before to find the perfect web designer!

Set Up Your Gym On The Internet

Most people know that online presence is crucial for businesses these days. If you have a gym, the question of “How do I establish my gym brand's online presence?” looms in your mind. You want to ensure that potential customers find you when searching for gyms on Google, Facebook, and other social media platforms. In this post, we will answer all your questions about developing an online brand strategy that will bring

  • Create A Website For Your Gym

You will need to create a gym website. Your website should include all the information you want potential customers to know about your facility: what equipment, classes, and programs are offered there, along with any other features of interest such as on-site childcare or new technology they might not have seen before. The more precise you can be, the better chance you have of getting visitors to click through and contact your facility.

Once you create your website, you must be consistent in updating it with new information. Updating it will make sure people can rely on your site as a more stable online presence!

  • Post Pictures Of Your Gym Equipment

One of the best ways to establish your online presence is by posting pictures of all your equipment. This way will not only give people a preview before they contact you, but it also provides them with information about what types of exercises are possible on each piece. These images must be clear and detailed so potential customers can get an accurate idea without visiting in person.

It is also essential to ensure your website has all the potential information your customers need when contacting you! This information should include a location, hours of operation, and phone number. Additionally, it's helpful to have pictures of yourself or staff working out on equipment so clients can get an idea of how enthusiastic you are about fitness.

  • Make Sure To Post New Content Regularly

Regular blog posts are great ways to ensure that you are consistently getting content online and, if done correctly, can build your brand. It's important to post new blog posts regularly because social media users often only scroll through their feeds so far before moving on. Therefore, having fresh content will help keep them engaged!

  • Use Hashtags That Are Relevant To Fitness

Hashtags can be a great way to get your posts noticed and seen by more people. It's essential to use hashtags relevant to fitness, such as #gymrat, #fitness, or #fitfam, so it'll reach the right audience!

  • Connect With Other Local Gyms Through Facebook Groups 

Connecting with other gyms can also help you establish your online presence. You can join Facebook groups, which are great places to share tips, answer questions about the industry and have a stronger sense of community.

  • Promote Events You're Hosting At Your Gym

You can also promote events by posting them on your social media channels and tagging the event page. Hence, people know where they can RSVP if they want to attend.

Events are a great way of getting people in the door and meeting members. You can also use them as an opportunity to engage with other gyms within your area!

Conclusion

Implementing these steps will help you create a website that can convert more visitors into customers. You may build up your brand and make new connections with other gym owners in the area through social media sites like Facebook groups or Twitter chats. If any of this sounds intimidating, don't worry! Our expert team is here for you every step of the way. We'll take care of all the heavy lifting so you can focus on what matters most- creating a fantastic workout experience for your clients! Do any of these strategies sound interesting? Let us know if we can provide guidance, ensuring everything is done right from start to finish.

Get Your Gym in the Limelight

Gym owners are always looking for ways to get more exposure for their business, and it’s one of the main reasons businesses are building their online presence. The internet is a powerful marketing tool, but it can be challenging to find the right strategies that work. This post will go over five different techniques you can use to gain more exposure and attract new members!

1. Create A Blog On Your Website

A blog is a great way to start attracting new members. Also, it is a great way to attract potential members because it shows that you are committed to providing quality content. People are always looking for information on gyms, and it's typically challenging to find quality content, which makes your website even more appealing. When people visit your site, they will automatically see the blog as one of the first things in their homepage feed- this helps with exposure!

Creating a blog also helps with SEO- making sure people find your website when they type the relevant keyword “gym” or other related keywords.

2. Post Gym Pictures to Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest 

Posting gym pictures to Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest gives you exposure. It gives people a realistic view of the gym- this means they will feel comfortable knowing what to expect when they visit your gym for the first time.

Also, adding pictures of people working out and being healthy is a great way to inspire people to see themselves in these pictures and want that for themselves. By posting gym pictures on social media, you're allowing yourself to be seen by more users of the specific networks. This tip will make it easier to spread awareness about your fitness center.

3. Create A Downloadable App On Mobiles

Nowadays, people are always on their phones, making it a perfect way to reach out and communicate with potential clients and your members. When they're scrolling through apps on their phone, your gym will come up (alongside other gyms), which helps get more exposure, and hopefully, customers.

4. Offer Free Community Classes At Least Once A Month 

Offering free community classes is also a great way to gain exposure in the community- it brings attention to your classes. It shows others that you are genuinely interested in giving back. That will make more people aware of what you're doing and, depending on the day of the week and time you offer your free class, you might have a waiting list!

5. Give Out Sample Food And Gym Products

You can do this at the end of your classes or when people come in to buy something- they'll get a taste for what you're using in the gym and hopefully want to be part of it! They also might become more involved with giving back.

Conclusion

It's time to start thinking about your business in a new way. At this point, you should be aware that there are five ways to gain more exposure for your gym and get the word out about how amazing it is. Implement these techniques into your marketing plan today so you can have websites that create better conversions! Giving samples of products or food from our cafe will help encourage customers to come back again. We hope these ideas help you think differently about how you market yourself as an entrepreneur.

Are You Making These SEO Mistakes?

SEO is hard. If you're a small business owner, it's even more complex. SEO can be intimidating for small businesses with many seo agencies to choose from and search engine algorithms changing all the time. The result? SEO can become the least priority, and it's where small businesses SEO mistakes begin. Click here to get the upper hand on your SEO game.

How You Can Avoid These Mistakes

To end up on the first page of Google, you need to avoid these eight mistakes. It doesn't matter what website design packages you're working with or which SEO company is building your site. If you neglect or choose poorly in any of these top eight areas, you'll likely find yourself buried under your competition.

1. No Link-Building Strategy

Businesses are increasingly taking on link building as a content marketing activity, primarily because it's easy and inexpensive – but even if that's true, it's still not enough reason to build links mindlessly in a large pile of unrelated ones. Businesses must have an overall strategy for the links they'll be building.

The Link-Building Strategy to Follow

If you're anything like most businesses, there's a reason you want links from others: SEO traffic. The usual expectation for businesses is that by acquiring some of these inbound links, and the corresponding search engine authority, their website will become more visible to searchers online. That's the point of link building. When your link-building strategy is put together properly, it should aim to build links that will move you up in search engine rankings for essential phrases and keywords or deliver those searchers directly through a conversion process on your site.

2. Not Understanding Your Competition

Small businesses are competing with giants. As such, when they're working on their SEO strategy, they have access to more resources than you do. They can afford better search engine optimization services and more expensive marketing strategies. While your goal is to out-rank them because you believe that you're wiser and more resourceful than they are, of course – you can't do it without knowing your competitors.

Understanding Your Competition is the Key to Your Success

When you understand your competition's SEO tactics, you can mimic them effectively. What content do they produce? How long is their content? What type of information does it contain? How is it structured and organized? What are its titles, headings, and meta descriptions? Where do they link to internally and externally on their site? All this will help you understand what factors contribute to your competition's search engine rankings – so that you can apply them yourself.

3. Not Getting On-Page Optimization Right

If you want your website to rank high on the search engine results page (SERP), you need to know how the on-page SEO tactics work. The main goal of on-page optimization is for search engines to see your site as valuable and authoritative. When Google bots crawl through your website, they're looking for meta description tags, titles, and keywords so that when a searcher looks for a phrase they've identified, your website will be among those displayed in the search results.

3 Tips to Get On-Page Optimization Right

  • Keep Meta Tags Concise

While you need meta descriptions – short summaries of what users can find on your site – it's essential not to use too many words in these tags. That's because the more characters you use, the less likely it is that search engines will include them in their results.

  • Opt For A Relatively Short Title

While meta descriptions are essential, so are page titles – and they matter most of all. You want to make sure your title isn't too long since search engines truncate them.

  • Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Search engines have gotten smarter than they used to be – so you don't want to turn them off with your poorly placed keywords. Don't stuff keywords in either your page titles or meta descriptions for the sake of doing so; it will look unnatural to both search engines and site visitors.

4. Not Making Your Site User-Friendly to Search Engines

If you want your site to come up in the SERPs, it has to be easy for search engines to crawl through your content. That means no broken links, 404 errors, or flash pages. You need a sitemap.xml file to tell search engines about the pages – and in what order – on your site. Your site needs to be mobile-friendly so that when people use their phones, they can still find what they're looking for easily.

5. Focusing Too Much on Content Quantity Over Quality

Yes, it would help if you had keyword stuffing. But that doesn't mean you should be writing content that reads like a Wikipedia entry. Google is smarter than that, as are your users. You need to write engaging and valuable content for them – not just stuff keywords into it. Focus on creating helpful, relevant, and original content so that people will want to link to you naturally.

6. Not Knowing Where to Focus Your Efforts

Search engine optimization is like a puzzle. It requires you to look at different pieces of your website and see how they work together. An effective SEO strategy for local businesses will take into account:

  • Content (existing site content and trends)
  • Site structure (site architecture, internal linking scheme, navigation layout)
  • Navigation structure Images (uploading optimized images, alt text)
  • Technical Enhancements (SEO metadata, site speed, and crawling improvements)

7. Not Tracking Your Results

You need data to tell what SEO tactics are working for you and which ones aren't. You can get this information through Google Analytics. If you're not tracking your results, then you can't make changes to your site – and what good is a website if it's not search-engine-optimized?

8. Not Getting Outside Advice

You may know SEO inside and out, but chances are there are things that you haven't thought of yet. It's essential to look outside your feedback business. Things like location, audience, and industry will determine your SEO needs. When you take the time to get that kind of information, it'll help brainstorm ways to optimize your site's content and structure.

Conclusion

If you want to optimize your site for search engines, you must make sure the content is user-friendly and accessible. This means no broken links or 404 errors on your page! It also requires concisely using meta tags, so they don't overwhelm users with text. Don't stuff keywords into either titles or descriptions because this will look unnatural. Instead of focusing too much on quantity over quality, focus on creating engaging and helpful content by considering what words people often search for.

Build your business online with a professional web design company

Creating a website for your business can be simple and easy if you have the right web designer or company that understands how to create an effective design specifically for your business. Many companies will offer small business web design packages and convince you that they know what is best for your website. This may include designing a site based on someone else's ideas without realizing it may not work for you.

Using an experienced business website design company has many benefits that will help a lot in the overall success of your business. With new challenges being faced every day by businesses, an experienced web design company can help you:

Save Money

Building a website can be costly, especially if the designer you choose is not experienced in this field. If you hire an inexperienced designer, they may try to get you to spend more money on unnecessary things that do not serve the purpose of your site. An experienced web design company will know what needs to be on your website and how much it should cost.

You don't also have to do it on your own. Hiring an experienced business website design company can help your company get started on the right foot and save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Your site is essential to your company, and using someone who has experience creating websites will ensure that your company reaches its goals. So, ensure you find an experienced company that can help you create a successful business website.

Expertise in Design

An experienced web design company might have been doing this for years. They know what works and what doesn't on a website. They know how to create the look and feel of your website properly and how others saw it.

A professional team of designers can create a site that is tailored to your business needs and requirements. Everyone wants to know what your products and services are to decide whether or not they want to do business with you. Having an experienced team of designers will ensure that this is accomplished professionally for the customer.

Get Access On The Latest In Website Technology And Features

The digital world is evolving each year, which means your website will also need to evolve. An experienced design company will keep up with the latest changes and know how to make your website effective for you and your customers. They can offer the latest in website technology and features, so your site stays up-to-date with all the current trends and technology without you spending a lot on getting the newest software that is needed.

Search Engine Optimization Expertise

Experienced Web design companies are experts in search engine optimization (SEO) – this is key if you want people to find your website on Google or other search engines. You must achieve a top ranking on the search engines to ensure that your website is easily found by people searching for products or services like yours, particularly when they need them most. Even if you are not looking to appear on the first page of Google for some keywords to drive traffic to your site, it could be beneficial to have a top ranking for your main keywords, such as your company name or business names.

More Sales!

An experienced web design company will know how to attract customers and convince them to become paying customers. They will design sites based on the customer's needs, have it easy to navigate, and create content that will help your company grow its revenues.

An experienced small business web design company knows what it takes to get people interested in your products or services. If you want more traffic, leads, sales, or conversions, you need to find an experienced web design company that knows how to make that happen.

Have The Expertise That Your Website Deserves

Finding the right small business web design company can be challenging, but it should not be lightly. The internet has made it easier for your competition to get in front of potential customers and steal them from you if you don't have an effective website strategy. Hiring an experienced team of designers who know what they are doing will help keep people on your site and drive more sales through their expertise.

Get More Clients By Showcasing Your Website

A fitness website can be a great place to showcase your accomplishments. If you're looking for work as a personal trainer, potential employers must know your achievements in the fitness industry.

But the question is, how can you and your website do this?

Your Website Should Contain Certifications, Publications, And Other Achievements

Your client's perception of you and your business is more important than ever, and they may be looking for fitness credentials to verify your expertise. They will be looking at things like what certifications your gym has, memberships, and other achievements. If this is true, then why not show off those accomplishments? 

Also, why not include your fitness trainers’ credentials, including awards and certifications from reputable organizations like the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)? These and their achievements may help you land more clients. 

You have a fitness website because you want to reach out and impact as many people as possible with your business! You don't want it just to sit there gathering dust, so make sure that your content and achievements are fresh & up-to-date each time someone visits it.

Include Testimonials From Previous Clients And Photos Of Body Transformations

You may request your client's permission to use their testimonials and body transformation photos on your website. Not only can they impact your business credibility, but they are also vital as they will help improve your website's SEO ranking.

Aside from that, images can be powerful motivators and change-makers. They may encourage and convince more people to sign-up for your fitness offerings and programs. Whether it be a free yoga class or a paid group class, showing that they can transform their bodies can get them moving to exercise and grab your next offering.

Some fitness websites provide testimonials for previous clients. Some allow users to upload before and after pictures to show the progress they achieved with your help! Statistics on weight loss, healthy habits practiced (e.g., reducing alcohol consumption), and fitness gains all speak to the health benefits of your service. Still, it's much more powerful when someone can say, “I did this!”

Why Do Clients Want To See Your Achievements

People who are visiting your fitness website want to know that you can do what you preach. It's a powerful testimonial for them when they see others who have been transformed by the healthy lifestyle and exercise regimen you introduce on your site.

It also helps people feel more confident in trying new things themselves. It's because it shows that even if they don't do everything perfectly, they can still get results! If you don't have any transformations to show off yet, then client testimonials or before & after pictures are just as powerful.

This result shows your client the positive effects of their fitness program. It motivates them in a way that statistics alone can't.

Boost Your Website's Clickability With These Easy Hacks

You may have heard of website optimization, but did you know there are many ways to optimize your website for more clicks and boost gym revenue? This article will discuss six underused tips that can help you get more people to click on your site.

1. Optimize Your Title Tags

Most search engines don't rank page titles in their index anymore. Instead, they rely primarily on meta-information tags such as the title tag. This is good news because you can increase your rankings in Google by optimizing each page's title tags!

2. Add More Pictures Of Your Product

People are more likely to buy something if they can see it, and pictures are a great way to show off your product. It's also an excellent opportunity to use your product's hashtag so it will show up in related searches.

In choosing the pictures,  make sure to follow the following:

  • Make it a quality photo
  • Include your brand logo or product label in the image
  • Use higher resolution images that are also square format. If you're using stock images, check who owns them and if they need attribution (usually in their copyright privileges) before posting them on any of your website's pages.
  • If you're using a stock image, add your logo or product label to the photo.
  • Use higher resolution images that are also square format. If you own the rights to the photograph (usually marked with a copyright symbol), feel free to use it on any of your website's pages without giving attribution as required by law.

3. Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly And Easy To Navigate

This simple tip is one of the best ways to increase your website's conversion rates.

  • Responsive design is vital in this one.
  • Keep it accessible on mouse movement and quick scrolling with a responsive layout that adjusts its content according to which device or screen size you're viewing from
  • Include large images, big buttons, and descriptive text for any links that  you have
  • Use compelling headlines that make people want to click for more content

These are just a few simple tips you can use to get more clicks on your fitness website.

4. Create An FAQ Page

A FAQ page for all the customers' common questions about your products or services is a great way to improve your website design.

This will help people find the answers they are looking for within just one click from their search, and it saves them time that would be wasted searching through an entire site.

It can also serve as a significant conversion point by providing valuable information about what features or benefits of your service are the most popular.

You can then use this information to strategically add content and design decisions to optimize for these points of interest.

5. Include Testimonials From Happy Customers 

Testimonials that show how good you really are at what you do will go a long way in inspiring others to take the leap and do business with you.

You can tell people about your work by adding testimonials to your site. That will convince visitors to buy or sign up for you first.

This can be done through video, text, and other media.

6. Offer Free Shipping

Free shipping is more likely to get people to click on your fitness website, as it encourages them to purchase multiple items. This is mainly for orders over a specific budget, so people will be more inclined to buy various things from you.

Conclusion

The tips we’ve provided in this blog post are just scratching the surface of what you can do to improve your website and increase conversions. If you want to have a website that has better conversions, implement these six tips. If you also want a more comprehensive strategy for improving your conversion rates, contact our team today! We'll be happy to look at your site and tell you how to improve it. We will advise on things like adding pictures or making sure that it looks good on a mobile phone.

Are You Losing Traffic?

You're doing everything you can to keep your members happy and coming back for more. But are you doing anything to make their friends want to join your gym? The truth is, it's challenging to get people motivated about joining a gym. That's why many gyms have started using fitness websites that can help them attract new customers and increase gym revenue.

If this sounds like something you need, here are three ways your website could draw in new members.

1. Build A Content-Rich Blog On The Site

A website with fresh, updated content will keep visitors hanging around to see what's new. This turns a one-time visitor into someone who'll visit your site regularly and tell their friends about it.

This can also lead to more traffic because people looking for fitness information may stumble across the blog searching Google or other search engines. They might be so impressed that they decide to sign up for your newsletter or even pay you a visit in person.

This is an easy way to get more traffic: exciting post content on the blog and let it do its work!  A word of caution, though- don't forget about posting good pictures too. Visuals are important when blogging because they help readers understand your point more quickly and easily.

Also, by doing the SEO work, you'll capture traffic from simple things like Google search. When someone searches for something on the internet, it may show up on the first page. But some ads might show up before your website. So it would be best if you thought about how people will find your site.

It is also essential to know your audience's words when searching for information on your website or looking for a product. By optimizing what you're posting with these terms, you can increase traffic from people who may not have even known about it otherwise.

2. Create an Attractive Landing Page

When people visit your leading site, they are looking for specific information. If you create a landing page with targeted content about what visitors want, you can capture more leads!

You might also want to consider a lead magnet, which is the incentive you give visitors for entering their contact information. This could be an ebook or video that will educate them on your services and products.

3. Promote Special Offers Or Giveaways

People love special offers, giveaways, and discounts! They love getting something cheaper than what they would typically pay—offering deals on products or royalties so that you get more visitors and conversions.

Your fitness website can offer special services such as personal training, group fitness classes, or even monthly memberships.

Conclusion

Your fitness website can be a great source of revenue, but it needs to have some work put in. Once you’ve built the site and created an attractive landing page, your next step is content marketing. The best way to drive traffic with that strategy is by creating blog posts on the site or through guest blogging elsewhere (if you don't want to publicize your company). It would help if you also promoted special offers or giveaways periodically for added exposure. Implement these tips and watch as your conversion rates go up!

Reasons You Need To Work With Social Media Influencers Today!

The fitness trends of today are different from the ones in past years. Fitness has been around for a long time, but technology and globalization have changed the way people train. This is particularly true for online influencers, who have made a lot of impact in the fitness world’s increasing revenue!

But how exactly do influencers affect the fitness industry, in particular with the latter’s online presence? Here are some ways they’re doing just that.

1. A Fitness Influencer Maybe The Perfect To Promote Your Website

It doesn’t matter if you already have a website or are planning to build one; whether it’s your blog, site, or online business venture, having fitness influencers promote you can do wonders for your brand and traffic.

They have a high level of influence and followers, and they can advertise your website in a very authentic way because they’re knowledgeable about it too. Fitness influencers know what kind of content to post on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook-and that is prime promotion material for your brand!

2. Influencers Have A Large Following 

Because influencers are primarily active on social media, they can gain many followers because they focus on a particular niche. It allows them to provide content that their followers will be interested in.

Influencers’ number of subscribers can reach millions, depending on what they do and who they are. This is where your website can benefit from. If you have a new product, movie, or service release, influencers can get the word out to many followers through their social media accounts.

It means that your brand can reach a wider audience, depending on the influencers' number of followers.

Just like the word-of-mouth effect, users are likely to buy or use your product if their favorite influencer is promoting it, too. If they trust them and follow what they do, you stand a good chance of having more customers signing up for your brand.

3. Influencers Provide Valuable Feedback

Because influencers are often among the first to try new products and services, they can provide timely feedback on the product or service quality. They can also help companies identify opportunities for improvement and determine whether a product or service will resonate with their audience.

When influencers share their experiences with your product or service, they provide an easy way for audiences to get a sense of what it's like. Addressing influencers' questions and concerns can help build trust among consumers who may be reluctant to buy products that they have never tried before. This will bring more traffic to any website as potential consumers will consider purchasing a product after seeing the influencer's review.

4. Run An Affordable Advertising Campaign  

You can't always afford high-priced advertising campaigns, but hiring an influencer might be just as beneficial. Celebrities and other TV personalities charge a hefty amount for product endorsements, but influencers are typically much more affordable.

By identifying the right influencers in your industry, you can get exposure to many consumers at a fraction of the cost. Plus, you're sure that you'll reach not only general consumers but also target audiences that are most likely to become your customers.

Conclusion

Getting their desired traffic is a challenge and a struggle for many entrepreneurs. Getting the right people to share your content is another hurdle that you need to jump over to get more traffic on your website.

But, with influencers, you know that they will be able to provide valuable feedback on products and services that are similar to what they do and help you build trust among consumers who may be reluctant to buy products that they've never tried before.

Having an influencer promote your product or service is a great way to get people interested in your brand and visit your fitness website to see and discover more about your brand.

Online Fun For Fitness Enthusiasts

What is the one thing that fitness enthusiasts love? They love a website that can keep them entertained and aware of the benefits of working out. A site with fun and interactive content will be more likely to drive visitors to your website and result in an increase in conversions.

In this post, we'll talk about how you can make your site more fun for fitness enthusiasts!

1. Keep It Fresh

There are many ways to keep your website fresh. Some tips are:

  • Start by posting new content more frequently or updating your images every few weeks.
  • Adding new pages to your website that provide information on fitness-related topics or sharing helpful videos.
  • You can also strive for a fresh look by changing your site design's fonts and colors.

2. Provide A Variety Of Exercises For Different Fitness Levels

If you're looking to attract fitness enthusiasts, then you'll need to make it easy for them to find the right content and workouts. You can provide a variety of exercises and routines that are specifically tailored for different levels of fitness.

The Beginner

For those just starting out with fitness or coming back after taking time off from regular exercise, these routines are meant to be less-intense

The Intermediate

These workouts will provide a more intense full-body training but won't leave the exerciser gasping for air. They're perfect if you want something that's not too difficult and still provides some challenge.

The Pro

For those who really love fitness, this is the kind of workout that will get you sweating and your heart racing. These routines are meant to be more intense but still safe for those who push themselves hard.

The All Levels

This is a mix of all levels, so if you want something basic or advanced, this can provide both. It includes beginner exercises with some challenges thrown in and also the other way around, with more advanced practices but with some easy ones mixed in

3. Include Links To Other Relevant Websites

Another way to keep the fitness enthusiast entertained is to provide links for them on your website. They can find articles or videos about exercises they are interested in, learn more about nutrition and get advice from trainers. They can also find blogs written by fitness enthusiasts and read about their successes, struggles, or funny stories.

4. Add-In Videos Or Pictures

Another way to keep a fitness enthusiast's attention is with great videos! Add short videos of quick and easy workouts for people on the go or inspirational clips about sweating it out in the gym. Whatever you choose to share, always make sure you're delivering content that's interesting and exciting!

5. Make Sure You Have Clear, Concise Directions

It's essential to have clear and concise directions on your website for fitness enthusiasts. If someone is looking for something particular, it can be frustrating if the instructions are unclear.

To do this, make sure you have a heading for each different fitness goal. For example, suppose someone wants to get stronger. In that case, your audience could find all the exercises related to that under another section on your website called “Getting Stronger.” This way, people know exactly where they need to go without having to sift through everything.

6. Be Creative!

Think outside the box when coming up with ideas for posts, articles, etc., primarily if they are related to your niche (in this case, exercise).

There are also a lot of fitness enthusiasts out there who love to have fun with their workouts. So, be sure you include a post or article that features them!

Conclusion

With these tips, you should be able to create a website that's both informative and fun. Remember to keep it fresh by updating with new content regularly and providing different exercises for various fitness levels. Make sure your instructions are clear so people can follow them easily without any confusion or frustration. Add in videos or pictures if possible to help demonstrate the moves being shown and links to other websites about this topic for more information on the subject matter. Finally, have some creativity!

The world of health and fitness is full of great ideas! Make sure yours stands out from the rest with creative graphics and design elements that will get visitors excited about revisiting your site soon!

Looking for the Perfect Website?

If you're a business owner who needs to find the right small business web design package, there are many options available. What is important is that you don't just settle on one without doing some research.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what your needs are. What kind of website will you need? Will it be formal, or does it just need to be functional? 

The answer to that question should help guide you toward the best option. There are many professional experts out there who can help you find the right package for your needs.

Which Web-Design Package Is Right For Your Small Business?

There are many types of website design packages available. And, while each one offers almost the same benefits and features, it's what your business needs, your budget, and the designer's reputation that will help you find the best web design option.

Determine Your Needs

Take time to determine what you need in a website design package. Most start-ups are looking for something functional and straightforward, but if you can afford it, going with a more extensive package will help your business grow faster.

One of the most significant factors is what type of clientele you're trying to capture. If you run an online store, for example, you'll want one designed to drive people toward your products. If your site offers a service instead, then simplicity is the name of the game — your clients must find what they're looking for quickly and easily. Think about what their needs are and choose a design plan accordingly.

Research The Various Options Available

Once you know what your website should provide, it's time to research the many different designers out there. Remember that just because a company has been in business for a long time doesn't mean they're the best option for you. Don't be afraid to ask plenty of questions about their track record and reputation.

Make Sure The Designer Is An Expert In Your Niche

It's also crucial that you hire a designer who is experienced in your specific area of business. For example, if yours is a law office and the site will help connect you with potential clients, an attractive design isn't as crucial as functional accuracy. If it doesn't display what you want it to, clients are going to be quickly lost.

Choose The Package That Suits Your Budget

Get a quote from different designers before you make a decision. The quote will help you determine how much the package will cost and if it matches your budget. However, keep in mind that cheap ones may not give you everything you want, and expensive packages may not always offer you what you need for your website.

Remember, while some sites offer many flash and glitz, they aren't always suitable for your business. It's essential to find a balance between function and design. While you want to make your site appealing, what's most important is that it completes the function you expect from it without exceeding your budget.

Follow Up With Any Questions Or Concerns Throughout The Process Of Designing Your Site 

Don't be afraid to ask questions throughout the process. If something doesn't exactly match what you want it to, let the designer know, and they'll make changes as necessary. Getting feedback from your designers is also important; this way, they can make any needed changes to improve the site's usefulness.

Review, Edit, And Make Changes Until It Is Perfect!

Once the site is designed, you can sit back and enjoy it. However, business owners should always be open to suggestions and changes that will help improve your company's image. Remember to keep your web design up-to-date as well; this allows you to connect with new customers regularly.

Conclusion  

So, now you know what to look for in a website design. It's vital that you choose the package that works best with your specific needs as well as your budget; remember to not settle for anything less! Keep new business potential clients coming back by keeping your site up-to-date and full of fresh content that will help keep your website visitors interested in your products and services. Keeping a professional-looking site will also help you stand out from the crowd, making sure it appeals to new customers.

Let us help you grow your business with our small business web design packages

If you're a business owner, you know how important a website can be. A website is an online tool that allows customers to access your business from any location, at any time. With the right web design company that offers small business web design packages, you can create a website that will help you promote your business and reach new markets. All while giving existing clients the information they need about your products and service and a way to make purchases online.

What should you know when it comes to creating an online presence for your business? Here are some basics to help you get started:

Identify Your Audience

When it comes to website design, targeting an audience is one of the most important things you can do. Your audience may be existing customers, potential new clients, or anyone looking for your product or service. Having a better understanding of who you are trying to reach will help you choose a web design company that will create a tailored site for you.  

Choose A Unique And Catchy Domain Name

Are you selling products or services? It will be helpful if your domain name has something to do with the product and/or service you are offering or at least something related to your business's name. Your domain name is the web address for your website, and it should be easy to remember.  

Choose The Right Business Website Builder

There are many website builders available, but you should choose one ideal for your business type. If you want to create a personal website or blog, then a free platform like WordPress will work well. But if you run an e-commerce or brick-and-mortar store, then the right web design company can help you create a professional online store for your customers to search, browse and make purchases.  

Pick The Right Template

There are many website templates to choose from, which may be one of the biggest mistakes you can make. A template for your site will set the tone for your brand and business. Some template designs look very basic and don't really promote your image or business. If you can, get a custom-designed template that fits the look and feel of your business. This will give you more control over how your brand is presented online.

Add Content To The Site And Customize It To Your Preferences

Ensure you add all the content that will help your site visitors find what they're looking for. Take some time to look around at similar sites and see how their navigation is set up.  You want to make it easy for your visitors to locate what they need quickly.  

It's also a good idea to add images that are relevant to your business. This gives a better sense of what your business is about.  

Keep Updating Your Content

The content on your site should be updated and relevant at all times. Make sure you keep this in mind when planning out the pages for your website. You also may want to think about creating a blog or news feed that will alert site visitors about your business and recent news, special offers, or sales.  Creating a blog will also help you establish credibility with your audience, increase the number of people who visit your site, and provide a better search engine ranking.

Make Your Site Mobile Responsive

With over half of all internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it's essential to make sure that your website is mobile responsive. This will ensure that your site looks good and can be easily accessed from any device.  

Pay Attention To SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

You want your website to appear at the top of search engine results. It would be best to use keywords in both the title tag and meta description and other places on the page. You also want to make sure that your meta description includes a call-to-action (CTA). If you have a blog on your site, make sure the titles and descriptions for each post are optimized.  

Add Social Media Sharing Buttons To Your Site

These days it's essential that your website be shareable.  Having social media buttons on your site can help increase the number of people who visit your website.  In addition to this, it's also a good way for you to reach out to customers and let them know about new offers or sales in real-time.  

Choose The Right Company For Your Needs

If all of the tasks mentioned above are too much for you to handle, it may be a good idea for you to hire outside help.  Depending on your business goals and how much time you have to invest in updating and maintaining your site, you can choose the level of service that best suits your needs.  

There are many different web design companies available to help you create a site for your business. Some web design companies specialize in specific fields, just as there are various businesses and industries. Choosing the right company that offers an all-in-one web design package will ensure that you get a website that meets all your needs, such as ease of navigation, visual appeal, and the ability to protect your online identity. 

3x More Conversions with 3x Customers

Group classes are one of the most popular fitness activities. They are a great way to stay in shape, and they're also a fantastic way to meet new people! Who knows they could also be one of the reasons why you should sign up for a gym this 2021!

That is why it's so crucial that group classes be featured on your fitness website, especially if you want to increase conversions. If you have been struggling with conversion rates lately, try these tips for increasing them:

1. Offer Group Classes As An Option

Offering group classes alongside individual workouts is a surefire way to increase conversions. Group classes are one of the most popular fitness activities. They also offer an opportunity for people to meet each other.

Thus, make sure that group class exercises are available on your website to know about them and add group classes to their fitness routine. You may also highlight these offerings by:

  • Creating a video of an instructor demonstrating the group exercise

Another way to increase your sales is by making a video of one or more instructors doing one of their favorite exercises.

  • Including the instructor's biography and credentials next to their photo

Including information about who the instructors are is another way of highlighting your offerings to prospective customers. This tactic can make them more likely to convert into paying clients.

  • Adding testimonials from satisfied group classes customers

Adding testimonials from happy fitness site users can help prospective clients know that they are signing up for reliable service.

  • Including information about what to bring and wear

Including this in the description of group classes is a great way to show that we care about their fitness experience and what they need for it.

2. Indicate The Cost Per Class Next To Each Listing

Including the cost per class next to each listing will help prospective customers know how much they would save if they signed up for group classes instead of individual workouts. Also, it's an easy way to show the customer how much they're saving by signing up for group classes instead of unique activities.

3. Show The Number Of Available Spots Left Beside Each Class

Showing the number of available spots left beside each class will help prospective customers know how many group classes are still available.

This can also be a great tool to ensure that they won't have to wait too long before signing up for a group class.

You may also include the number of group classes available is a great way to show how in-demand our fitness site has become. These numbers can also help prospective customers know their best options, so they don't sign up for more than they need.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to group fitness classes. It’s not just that you get the satisfaction of helping others meet their goals. It also helps increase your own motivation level. It provides a more social experience for those who may be feeling lonely or looking for friends in other areas of life.

What do you think about these types of workouts? Would you like to learn more about them? We would love to hear from you!

Want To Motivate Your Audience? Here's How!

Motivation is one of the most important aspects of a successful workout. It is one of the factors to help you get started on your journey towards weight loss.

To motivate people through your fitness website, many different factors need to be taken into account, such as designing an aesthetically pleasing layout for your site, providing information about what they will do before getting started, and giving them achievable goals!

How Your Website Can Keep Your Clients On Track

This post will discuss the importance of motivation in fitness and how to motivate people through your fitness website.

1. Design An Aesthetically Pleasing Layout For Your Site

Often, the fitness website is not as crucial to a person’s success in weight loss. However, it can be an essential piece of the puzzle when motivating them through your site! Aesthetically pleasing layouts are one way that you can make sure your site stands out from others and helps keep people on track with their exercise goals. They are also much more likely to stick around and work with you long-term.

There are two things to keep in mind when doing this:

Building a Site That Is Easy To Use

Your fitness website should be easy to use. Otherwise, clients will become discouraged when they struggle through your site’s design layout to find the information they need or figure out how to sign up for a program.

Designing A Unique Lay Out

You should make sure your website has an original design layout. This helps to set you apart from the other sites and creates something aesthetically pleasing to look at.

For example, adding photos of people doing various exercises or having videos on the loop can help motivate people through their site. They are also more likely to share your content on social media if you have a pleasing and easy-to-navigate site.

2. Providing Clear Information

Providing information about what they are about to do is a great way to motivate them. You should tell them what will happen when they sign up for your program and give them specific information on how the first few steps of their journey will be. This may be as simple as “The next step in the process is confirming that you want to start.” This gets people excited because it's the first step in a journey that will change their life.

Keeping them engaged is important-tit gives them an idea of how far away from the goal they are.

3. Give Them Achievable Goals

You might wonder how you can motivate people to stick with their fitness websites. One technique is setting achievable goals for them. Working out might seem like an impossible goal. Still, suppose you break it up into weekly or monthly benchmarks and ask your clients to commit to a schedule. In that case, they'll be more likely to achieve the goal of working out every day because they're giving themselves small, achievable steps to follow.

Your website can integrate this by

  • Having an online schedule where clients can check in when they work out and track their progress. If you're using the same fitness website, it might be a good idea to set up reminders on your phone or computer so that you'll never forget to go for a run.
  • You may also try to integrate your fitness website with your clients' calendars to make it as easy for them as possible.
  • Offer virtual coaching sessions or hold regularly scheduled group classes on your site. You're giving people a reason to work out and stay motivated.

Conclusion

To truly motivate your customers and keep them coming back for more, it’s essential to design an aesthetically pleasing layout for your site that is easy on the eyes. Please provide information about what they will do before getting started, so they know what their workout will look like, and give them achievable goals! 

This way, you can get people hooked into working out with you in a matter of minutes. If you want help developing a fitness website or app that drives results, let us know today!

Fit For A Fitness Website Design 

Finding a good web design agency can be difficult, especially when looking for one specializing in fitness. It's because fitness websites have to be designed and built with an understanding of the needs of the client's target market.

If you're not sure what to look for in a fitness website design company, this blog post will help you out!

Fitness Website Design Agency: What They Are And What They Do

A fitness website design agency can create a site that is both attractive and functional for your business. They know what features are needed to help you grow your business with ease. This includes tracking clients' progress or managing appointments in advance from the convenience of their mobile devices.

These agencies also have designers who are experts in translating a company's message into an attractive and well-designed site. They can also give you access to programmers with skills that meet your requirements and marketing specialists who promote your site on social media and search engines.

How To Find The Perfect Agency For Your Needs

To find the  right agency for your needs, you'll need to take into consideration the following qualities:

  • Size of company

You want an agency that has enough resources and manpower so they can tackle any project size or scope with ease and without delay. A larger firm may not be as agile when tackling more minor projects, while a small office may not have the staff to take on your project.

  • Design style and aesthetics

Consider whether you want a clean, minimalist design or something more complex with lots of bells and whistles. The type of branding work available includes logo creation, marketing materials such as brochures, and in-house illustrations.

  • Price

No matter the size, most companies offer a range of prices to suit your needs and budget. It should be easy for you to find someone affordable that fits what you need.

Tips For Getting The Best Deal On Your Project

If you want to get the best deal on your project, it's important to do some research.

Be sure to investigate the agencies or companies’ past experience with similar projects, or ask them how they guarantee customer satisfaction.  It may also help if you provide them with examples of other websites that you like, or even a clear picture of what you want your website to look like. If they seem uncomfortable with these requests, they may not be the company for you!

Remember that customer satisfaction is essential. If there are any problems with your project's completion date, it should be in their best interest and yours to come up with a solution.

Why You Should Use An Agency Instead Of Freelancers

Confused about whether you should use a freelancer or an agency for your website design? It's important to note that there are advantages and disadvantages of both. Freelancers have the freedom to choose their own schedule, whereas agencies often have set hours.

Agencies are often a more expensive option, but they often have the expertise to get your website looking professional and up-to-date. Freelancers are usually cheaper than agencies, but you might not know what kind of work is going on behind the scenes.

Takeaways

Finding a good website designer can be difficult. Still, these tips will help narrow down your search process and give you peace of mind that you are making the right decision for yourself or your business!

Once all of this information has been compiled together, it's time to make a list of agencies that fit your criteria, then start contacting them one by one until you find someone who is willing to work with you! Good luck out there!

Get More Gym Memberships With These Tips

Are you a fitness gym owner looking to find ways to grow your business? If so, then this blog post is for you! Online marketing has become an essential aspect of successful businesses. You can even use it as a way to generate more traffic and increase revenue for your fitness websites. To learn how, here are some helpful tips for online marketing success:

1. Create A Website

A website is a great way to get your business out there. Websites are more than just digital brochures for customers; they can be used as marketing tools, too!

There are things to consider to create websites for fitness gym owners and other small businesses. Some of the questions to include are:

  •  What services does your gym offer?
  •  Do you have a physical location, or are you an online store?
  •  Where is your target audience located, and how do they want to find out about what you're offering?

Once these things are figured out, it's time to get going.

2. Create An Email List For Readers To Sign Up On The Site

Creating an email list for readers to sign up on the site is a great marketing tool. Not only does it allow you to track who signed up, but it also gives them updates about your business and blog posts in the future.

There are some things you need to create an email list:

  •  A website or blog
  •  A contact form on the website or blog, preferably a hosted one
  • An email list software program like Mailchimp, Active Campaign, etc.

You can also use your social media accounts (e.g., Facebook) to create an email list of followers. Use custom audiences and retarget those that have visited your site.

3. Write Articles With Catchy And Engaging Headlines 

When writing a post, try to include the keyword (e.g., fitness) where appropriate on your article's title and content so it will show up when people search for it. Also, don't forget to share your content on social media.

When writing, make sure you have a heading. If you need help on this task, 

  •  Hire someone to do this for you (e.g., “hire writer”)
  • Outsource the tasks by using freelancing websites like Upwork
  • If you're not sure how to check out sites, such as Copyblogger

4. Use Social Media Sites, Like Facebook, Twitter, And Instagram 

Social media sites are also excellent ways to promote your business. They also make it easy for people to review companies they've interacted with in a public way. This step helps build trust among potential clients who are interested in your services.

  • Create a Facebook page for your gym and post updates on fitness tips, workout schedules, etc.
  •  Share photos with hashtags relevant to the brand (e.g., #gym), so they will be found by people who search those tags.

Be sure not to overdo social media marketing, however, as it can become overwhelming. Instead of posting every day, post once a week on Facebook and share your posts over the other social media platforms as well.

5. Promote Your Gym Through Local Events Or Partnerships 

Collaboration with other businesses in the area is a great way to promote your gym.

  •  Ask partners if they would like to post about fitness on their website or social media page.
  •  Consider sponsoring local events such as races that are popular among people interested in working out.

It would be best to give back by donating time and money, especially during charity runs.

6. Get Creative 

Use unique marketing tactics that will stand out from competitors. Examples include hosting a “Fitness Day” at a school during PE classes, partnering with local restaurants for discounts.

Other ways to be creative with marketing is to offer:

  •  Giveaways like a free month of a gym membership or a one-week tryout pass
  •  Coupons for services such as massages, acupuncture, personal trainers
  • Some gyms have even started giving away monthly memberships through social media promotions.

We Got Your Back

You now have the tools to have a successful online marketing campaign!

If you have any thoughts about how to market your business, let us know! We'll be happy to help you figure out what's best for you.

What Most People Do Wrong In Their Sites, And How You Can Avoid Them

If you're thinking of building a fitness website, it's essential to learn from the mistakes others have already made.

The most common mistake is not considering your target audience or who your potential customers may be. It's important to know what they want to find your site easily online and get the information they need quickly. People make mistakes when they use stock images of people doing exercises. Some people think that all activities look the same, but there are many different ways to work out.

These are just a few of the most common mistakes owners make. In this blog post, we will discuss five more big mistakes that are easy to avoid and save you time and money.

1. Not Doing Any Research On The Competition

One thing that is important to do before starting your fitness site, is checking out what other sites are doing. You want to make sure you're not duplicating content or designing something similar in order to avoid any copyright issues down the road.

It's also important to look at the design and layout of other fitness websites to see what others are doing that you might not have thought about yourself. You want your website to be different from any competition, but still offer a user experience comparable with competitors'.

2. Using A Template That Looks Like All Other Fitness Websites Out There

Another mistake many fitness site builders make is using a template that's used by most other sites. It saves time and money, but it also makes your website look generic, hurting branding. Thus, keeping an eye on trends in design might help avoid this mistake and things such as Google Fonts becoming more popular.

Many fitness site owners assume they can launch their site without any branding or logos. But this might not always be the case because SEO optimization relies heavily on a site's branding.

3. Creating An Unoriginal And Generic Name For Your Website

In a sea of fitness sites with similar names, it can be challenging to get people's attention. Thus, a generic fitness site name might not have the same effect as a more descriptive or unique one that really speaks to what your site is about.

If you're using an unoriginal and generic name, there may be no need for branding at all, which could help save time and effort. However, there's no point in creating your own site if people will forget it or not be able to find it.

4. Being Too Simple With Your Content And Not Providing Enough Value To Readers 

Content and value are two of the most important aspects of any fitness website. Your content should be well-written, informative, and engaging so that readers will come back to your site again and again. It doesn't matter how beautiful your site is if it isn't providing valuable information or help somehow.

The mistake might also have come from focusing on making lots of posts instead of doing an excellent job with each one. Thus, it would be a good idea to take some time before launching your fitness website to consider what type of content you want and how often it will need to be updated.

5. Putting Up Ads Everywhere

Also, putting up ads everywhere is a big mistake when building a fitness website. It's essential to balance ads and content to not scare away potential customers or make them feel overwhelmed by too many choices. The last thing you want is to turn potential customers away.

Conclusion

Creating your own website can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. If you want to have a good website for your customers, we recommend avoiding these mistakes. With this helpful advice from us, now you don't need to worry about making mistakes for your fitness website.

Using WordPress For CrossFit Websites In 2021

CrossFit gyms are a trend that has been gaining momentum over the past few years. They use high-intensity exercises to build strength, speed, and endurance. Many believe that the workout is excellent for building muscle mass and burning fat in a short amount of time. If you own a CrossFit gym, then you should consider using WordPress as your website platform. Here are four reasons why:

1. WordPress Is Free

There are many options out there for website platforms, but none can beat the price of WordPress. It's completely free!

2. Easy Content Management

CrossFit gyms have a lot of content to share, which is why you want a straightforward system. You don't need any special skills or knowledge in web development since it’s all built into the platform. Content management on WordPress is easy because everything is built into one system, which makes posting new articles or blog posts fast and straightforward!

3. Simple WordPress Websites Are Easy To Update

WordPress websites are great for your Crossfit business because they are easy to update. Because CrossFit gyms need a quick and straightforward system for posting new content, it’s essential to have an option like WordPress, which makes this possible!

The best part about using WordPress as your website platform is how easily you can update the site with minimal costs. There are many other ways that WordPress is the best option for CrossFit gyms, so be sure to read on!

4. Some WordPress Websites Are Mobile-Friendly

CrossFit gyms can use WordPress themes that work on any device, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This means your website visitors can easily find what they are looking for, no matter what device they use.

Mobile-friendly is important for CrossFit gyms. People want to know what is happening with CrossFit, and they may not want to come if your website isn't mobile-friendly.

5. WordPress Websites Are SEO-friendly And Have Google Analytics Built-In

Crossfit gyms want their websites to show up in search engines and tell you which pages get the most traffic. The good thing is WordPress is a website platform that CrossFit gyms can use to post new content, update their site quickly, and track what visitors like on your website.

You don't need to spend hours customizing your Crossfit gym's website or pay extra for someone else to do SEO optimization. You can use WordPress and start your Crossfit gym's website on a shoestring budget.

Conclusion

WordPress is the perfect solution for creating a simple, easy-to-manage website. It's free to use and has plenty of resources available to help you make an interactive site that will work across any device or browser. Suppose you're looking for a way to simplify your web design process while still having complete control over every aspect. In that case, this platform may be the one for you! 

Create your own WordPress Site today with these tips from our blog post on how it works.

Expert Tips For Launching Your Website

A CrossFit website can be a very successful marketing tool for your business. However, there are some important things to keep in mind before you launch yours.

This blog post will discuss six CrossFit website launch tips so you'll know what it takes to have a successful site.

1. Make Sure Your Website Is Responsive

CrossFit is a great way to stay in shape and your website should reflect that. Thus the goal of your site is to attract people who are interested in CrossFitting, and not just members or athletes at your gym.

To do this, follow the steps below.

  • Make sure what you have on the page appears well when viewed from different devices – desktops, laptops, tablets, and many others.
  • Make sure your site looks good on a mobile device.
  • Keep the text clear and easy to read on any device.
  • Take advantage of scrolling space as it is more difficult for people to access all information in one sitting when browsing from a mobile phone or tablet.
  • Don't try to cram too much onto one page

2. Include A Blog That Can Be Updated Regularly

Updating your blog site with new information and articles will increase your visibility, help people get to know you better as an expert in the field of CrossFit, and keep people coming back for more.

This is essential if you want to grow your Crossfit business with a successful website. Blog posts should not only be about fitness or CrossFit but for the subject matter that is related to CrossFit as well. Make sure you always provide useful information in each blog post so people will feel like they've gained something from it.

3. Create An Informative FAQ Page With Answers To Common Questions

Your fitness website should include a FAQ page that answers any questions or concerns that your visitors may have. The best part about this is it will allow you to make sure all of the information on your website is up-to-date, as well as provide some helpful insights for those who are just starting out with CrossFit and are unsure of what they should wear.

You may also include information on the benefits of CrossFit, which will allow you to show your visitors that there is a noticeable difference in case they take your classes. Information such as pricing and packages may also be given, so potential clients can get an idea about how much it may cost for them to work with your company.

4. Include Promotions As Part Of Your Website Content

This step might come later but including your website as a way to promote your deals and specials could be a great way to get people through your gym's door.

You might start by running an advertisement during a CrossFit event and then offer them something special on your website in relation to that promotion for some time after. You may also allow customers early access to information about what you have coming up, as well as any competitions or events you are

5. Announce Your New Site On CrossFit Forums And Other Related Communities

The most important thing to remember is that CrossFit communities are very tight-knit which means many people on these forums will be your clients. Thus, announcing your new site on CrossFit forums and other communities you are involved with can be a great way to get the word out about your new site.

Simply reach out to someone who is an admin on one of these sites, introduce yourself, then ask them if they would consider posting a link to your page in their forum or community for all of their members and other individuals to see.

Make sure though that all your products are CrossFit-related. If you mention a new event, product, or service in the CrossFit forum and it isn't something they're looking for then chances are good those members won't take the time to check it out.

6. Be Patient With The Results

Once your website is up and running, it can take some time for the rankings to be impacted by your SEO strategy. You can ensure that whatever keywords you use are being repeated throughout your content.

For example, if you're writing about CrossFit training for senior citizens then include the keyword “Crossfit” or “senior citizen” in a blog post and mention it in social media posts as well.

It's also best practice to let your site establish itself on Google before you start investing in pay-per-click advertising, and focus instead on building up more of a following through social media channels such as Facebook or Twitter.

Conclusion

Your website is a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy. It's the first impression you give potential customers and it should have everything they need to know about what you offer, how much it costs, who does this type of work or training, etc. The following tips are designed to help you create an effective site that will drive sales through increased traffic and conversion rates.

The Secret Behind Designing A Great Crossfit Site Revealed!

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program that focuses on constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. These workouts are designed to improve overall fitness by challenging your body in new ways, making it an ideal workout for people of all ages, shapes, and abilities!

When it comes to designing a Crossfit website, there are many elements that you need to consider. From the color scheme to the font, every detail counts! This blog post will talk about designing a CrossFit website that will help you get more memberships for your gym.

1. Design A Website Logo That Incorporates The CrossFit Emblem

Designing your website with the CrossFit emblem is crucial to making it look professional and attractive! It's because CrossFit is a lifestyle-based exercise program, and this can be conveyed through your website logo.

To start your design, you may put your CrossFit logo on a black or white background for contrast and visibility – this will also make designing text around it easier. You can also include an image representing the words Crossfit, and the symbol of your gym or company can be integrated into one graphic for branding purposes if desired.

2. Create A Striking Homepage For Your Website

The best way to start designing your website would be to sketch out what you think it might look like to get a feel of where everything should go on the page. This can include pictures of people working out and basic information about what CrossFit is.

It is also essential to have an idea of what type of CrossFit training style your website will focus on so you can make the most use out of it for promoting your services. This should be focused on your homepage and not hidden in the links.

3. Upload Videos To YouTube And Embed Them On Your Site

You'll need a blog with plenty of content, and you can also add videos from YouTube or other video hosting sites. A workout video may also accompany a blog post with all necessary details about that particular session. This idea is vital to help people find your content on social media and any other place they may be looking for CrossFit training.

You'll also need to have a video of your facility and CrossFit classes so people can get an idea about what it's like to work out there.

4. Include Links To Other Sites

Including links to your sites is a great way to gain traffic and followers. It is also a great way to market your products and services. If you don't offer them, links can also be used to show sites where you can buy workout clothes or shoes, as well as post-workout food options.

Using a link may also provide the reader with more information, or it can be used just for fun.

There is not any right or wrong when it comes to linking strategy, but there are some best practices that you should follow depending on your goals and objectives.

5. Offer Free Trial Classes

There's no point in spending all of this time and money on your CrossFit website if nobody visits it or joins as a member. Thus, offering free trial classes is a great way to boost your Crossfit gym membership. You can adapt this strategy to attract new members who are curious about the sport but not sure if they want to commit yet.

6. Put Social Media Links At The Bottom Of Each Page 

Another thing to remember when designing your CrossFit website is to put links at the bottom of the page that let people share posts on their Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms.

This will increase exposure for your site while also giving potential members an easy way to spread the word about you and what you do.

Conclusion

The more you know about your target audience, the better you can design a website that meets their needs. Use these six strategies for CrossFit websites and see what works best for you!

A Better Way To Create Your Gym's Identity Online

A fitness website is a great way to get your business noticed and generate new leads. However, if you want it to be successful, you need to ensure that your site's branding reflects what your company wants people to think about when they hear your name.

To help with this process, we have created a list of four musts for any gym website: logo design, tagline development, slogan creation, and color scheme selection. Before going to them in detail, here are fundamental questions that need to get addressed first.

Your Gym Website And Its Goals

“What is your website about, and what are the goals of your site?”

This is the most critical question to ask before you begin designing your website. This will determine what design elements are used in the site.

  • Is it going to be a social media platform?
  • Are you creating an e-commerce storefront?
  • Do you want people to sign up for a monthly membership through the site itself?

Regardless of which goals you have, diving deep into this area will help you narrow down the design elements needed to be on it. It makes for an easier and more efficient process because you know what type of content needs.

Website Logo

A logo is a symbol that represents the company, product, or service. It is usually created in a specified image format, and it's shown on all branding materials.

It also needs to be simple enough, so anyone who sees the logo will know what your website is about—whether you're selling apparel, running a gym, or promoting fitness classes.

Ideally, this information should be included in the logo:

  • company name;
  • product or service being offered;
  • slogan

A gym website's logo can be a colorful, stylized depiction of fitness symbols.

Website Tagline

If you want your gym website to stand out from the crowd, you need a tagline. It's an integral part of your branding and marketing strategy.

A tagline is usually short (five words or less) but catchy—and it can come before, after, or in place of your company name on signage and other promotional materials.

Examples of taglines for gym websites are:

– “The gym of the future brought to you today” by Egymvision.net;

– “Get fit with us.” by FitnessConnectionsLLC.com.

A basic rule is, a company name should be only one word long, and it should not have the same meaning as your tagline.

Slogan

A slogan is a phrase that's more than five words long, and it repeats the company name but in different ways. It must be catchy like taglines are; however they can also have meaning behind them.

Examples of slogans for gym websites include: “We make your fitness goals come true in a fun and welcoming environment” by FitnessGym.com, or “Shop for your next workout.” by FitNghtLaters.

Color Scheme

A color scheme is a set of colors that work together to create an aesthetic look for your website or branding. They are essential because they can impact the mood of your readers.

When choosing a color scheme, it's essential to make sure you have basic options like black and white so viewers can still read the content with those schemes on their screens. For gym websites, the usual color schemes are black and white, black and red, or blue.

  • Black on White

This color scheme is a classic choice for gym websites because it can be used with any logo or background image. It's perfect if you want to highlight text instead of images.

  • Red on Black

The traditional color combination in gyms gives the website specific energy. It makes it easier for viewers to find the information they want.

  • Blue on Black

This color scheme is perfect if you're looking to create a more professional feel for your website. It may not be as flashy, but blue can work with any logo or background image and never go out of style.

Other Design Elements

Here are other elements to consider

  • You might want to add images of people in various poses or a series of “before and after” shots that will inspire your clients to work out. Pictures of what the workout space looks like and an equipment list for just starting may also be included.
  • Include links on the homepage so visitors can find information about you and links to the social media pages.
  • You can also include a contact us page on your homepage so that people know how to reach you in case they have any questions or would like more information about pricing and membership options.

Get More Gym Memberships With Social Proof

Your business is growing, and so is your customer base. You have a lot of happy customers that are coming to you for fitness advice. Still, the problem is there's only so much space on your website to list their testimonials. Testimonials are one of the essential elements to create a winning website. But how do you get them? Where should they go on your site? We're here to talk about five types of testimonials that will help grow your business.

Types of Testimonials That Drive Membership

If you need more testimonials for your website, here are some types you'll want to consider:

1. The “I'm not going to lie, I was intimidated by the gym” Testimonial

This person may have been nervous about joining a new gym for the first time or just signing up for their online membership. They were scared of what they might see inside and how intimidating it would be, but once they got there, everything changed.

This testimonial matters in driving gym memberships because it builds empathy with those who are just starting. Effective testimonials will mention an obstacle or challenge that the client overcame. These are more memorable and have a higher chance of persuading potential clients.

2. The “This is why I joined this gym instead of another one” Testimonial

When looking at different gyms in their area, they always want to know which one best suits their needs. This testimonial talks about why someone chose this particular gym over others. Your website needs this because it makes someone left unsure of what gym to join, to feel more confident and at ease when making a decision.

In this testimonial, the author may also highlight the favorite aspect of your gym. It is a subtle but significant way to tell people the staff is friendly or to mention any other qualities about our organization. It might be helpful when people are deciding if they want to join us.

3. The “My favorite part of my workout routine is…” Testimonial

Everyone has a unique workout routine that works well with them and helps them stay motivated throughout their fitness journey. We all have those parts of our workouts we enjoy more than others, so they'll talk about theirs! 

This testimonial is impactful because it shows that you offer diverse workout routines and delivers an exciting point from someone who has tried many other gyms in the area.

4. The “I've never felt better!” Testimonial

Having a testimonial on how working out has helped people feel better about themselves internally and externally is crucial for gym websites.

Your gym website can significantly benefit from content like this because people are always looking for ways to improve themselves.

Also, this type of testimonial is a great way to show your gym's success stories and how they can lead someone else towards their fitness journey!

5. The “If only I had started sooner” Testimonial

Another testimonial that is a great way to show your gym's success stories would be the “if only I had started sooner” testimonial.

This type of testimonial can help motivate people because it shows how much they could change their lives for the better in a relatively short amount of time!

It's also a great way to drive memberships. This type of testimonial is usually an inspiration for people to start their journey with your gym. This type of content can be suitable for helping show visitors that you have a community, and it's never too late to get involved!

Takeaways

Testimonials are excellent social proofs. Having the right testimonials on your website can help you attract more prospects, drive conversion rates, and generate higher revenues.

How Gyms Get Found Online

If you're a gym owner, your goal is to get as many people in the door as possible. You want more memberships, and you want them now!

But, how do you go about getting new customers? Luckily for you, we've compiled a list of our top three promotional strategies that will help you attract new customers and achieve a winning website.

1. Offer Discounts

Discounts are a great way to get people in the door. There are many areas to offer discounts for.

  • Offer a discount or free trial membership when someone joins their email list. This way, they have a chance to get more information about the gym before signing up for an expensive membership.
  • Offer special discounts on membership packages during off-peak hours or on specific days of the week when fewer people are working out-think “early bird” specials. 

2. Offer Deals

Another tactic is offering deals and monthly specials where people on a budget can choose what type of plan they want. This deal automatically renews at the end of each month until cancelled by customer service.

Also, you may put together deals where if someone pays for three months upfront, they'll receive a free month, or they can purchase an X number of weeks and get one week free. 

Offering incentives such as fitness classes and workshops can also work out at times too. Just make sure the perks are worth it.

3. Create Promotions with Other Local Businesses

To grow your client base, collaborating with other local businesses can also be a great way to do this.

To give an example, you might partner with the local coffee shop and offer free iced coffees if people sign up for your gym membership on Wednesday mornings. 

When creating these promotions, it's also essential to align with what is being promoted to avoid confusing potential members.

How Your Gym Website Can Help With These Promotions

Now that you have a few strategies to offer your members, how does this help with having a website?

Some of the things you can do are:

  • Showcase you discounts on a gym membership
  • Share upcoming events happening at your gyms, such as workshops and fitness classes.
  • Provide an overview of what's offered at your facility so new members know what to expect.
  • Include a blog post that showcases some of the new products or services you offer and how it helps them reach their fitness goals, such as weight loss.
  • A customer might be more inclined to purchase an item if proof of the service's or product's effectiveness.

You may also promote your discounts through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and others that cater to fitness enthusiasts. These offers should change based on what's going on that month-think Black Friday deals or Memorial Day sales.

Conclusion

If you’re struggling to find new ways to promote your gym and make it stand out from the competition, this blog post is for you. We’ve outlined three strategies that will help get more customers in your door; discounts, deals, and promotions with other local businesses. Implement these strategies today!

SEO Tactics for Your Fitness Site

Search Engine Optimization is one of the most important aspects of a successful website, which is essential to have, especially in the fitness industry. Fitness websites have competitive SERPs, and it's tough to rank on top for popular keywords such as “Yoga” or “Crossfit.” 

This blog post will discuss some strategies that will help your fitness site climb the SERPS so you can get more traffic from search engines!

1. Choosing The Right Keywords

Keyword research is an essential first step to SEO. The keywords you choose will dictate the content on your site, which ultimately affects how well it ranks in SERPs.

The two best ways to identify relevant keywords for your fitness website are:

  • Google Adwords Keyword Tool

This free tool from Google helps you select keywords with good search volume and low competition.

  • BuzzSumo

This is another free tool that searches for content based on the keywords you provide. You can type in a topic such as “low carb” or “healthy recipes.” It will show the most popular blog posts, articles, videos, etc., related to your keyword.

It's important to note that some of the results from these tools might not be relevant to your fitness website. It's wise to review each and decide whether it would make sense as a post topic on your site.

2. Optimizing Your Site For Mobile Devices

With more and more users browsing the internet on their mobile devices, your website must be optimized for those users.

When you optimize your site for mobile devices, be sure to use the following:

  • Include a “view desktop site” link on any page where you have resources or media files that would help you on a mobile device.
  • Optimize images by using an image editor and saving them in their original size rather than resizing them for different screen sizes.
  • Use CSS media queries to only apply when viewing on a smaller screen or another mobile device.
  • Include mobile-friendly navigation, with links to your most popular pages on one page. One notable example of this is a horizontal scrolling site with content responsive to the device it is being viewed on.
  • Keep in mind that you might need to add additional features for mobile devices like maps or forms. However, it is a good idea to make sure you are not loading too many scripts or stylesheets.

3. Creating Unique And Engaging Content

Regardless of what your fitness website is about, make sure to fill it with engaging images. You want readers to be engaged when they view your site, not just bored or feeling like they're waiting for some new content.

To make content that is unique and interesting, you need to think of other things, such as:

  • Including topics or specific article ideas before writing the content for your Fitness Website
  • Try to use different content formats such as quizzes, games, or other interactive media like calculators or videos. This way, your visitors can have a more entertaining experience on your website than if they were reading text all day.

4. Promoting Your Blog Posts On Social Media

Social Media is another great way to promote your content and engage with others in the fitness community.

A social media management tool, like Hootsuite or Buffer, will let you schedule posts ahead of time to maximize engagement.

5. Building Relationships With Influencers In the Industry 

Influencer marketing is a great way to promote your content in the fitness industry. Many influencers on sites, like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, have a large following that you can reach with just one post or mention.

You can also take this strategy a step further and build relationships with these influencers by following them, liking their posts, and commenting on them. When you do so, they are more likely to notice your account or content when it comes up in their feed. This could lead to a link back to your site for better reach.

6. Linking To Other Sites In Your Niche

A great way to build site authority is to link out to other sites in your niche. Doing so will help increase the number of visitors that come from high-quality websites. This can lead to higher rankings and more traffic for your site as well.

Make Your Fitness Website Convert Like Crazy

If you are looking to increase the ROI of your fitness website, it is important that you optimize for conversion rates. There are many reasons why an excellent fitness web design is essential, but the design alone won't be enough to get the conversion rate that you're looking for. To help you out, below are some of the best tips for conversion that you need to know.

1. Don't Give Them A Chance To Say No

There are many different types of objections that a customer might try to use, and if they don't have a reason not to buy your product, then the conversion rate will increase. This can be resolved by:

  • Including clear calls to action on all pages of your site. This will make it easier for customers to find what they want quickly and efficiently.
  • Making sure that there is a sense of urgency in the message on your site (e.g., “Only 3 left!”) so people feel compelled to buy now rather than later.
  • Avoid making visitors fill out forms or answer questions before being able to access content or purchase products from your store – this reduces conversions!

2. Have A Blog On Your Website

A blog can allow your customers to read up on the latest and greatest fitness trends. They can also increase conversion rates because they provide fresh content, deals, or updates that the customer may have missed.

To transform them into a great way to build trust and rapport with your customers, be sure that you include original content so it's not just rehashing what was seen earlier on other websites.

3. Offer Discounts For Customers

Discounts are a make or break in any conversion rates.

If you have been using your website as a way to promote fitness and health, then it may be time to rethink the strategy behind discounts.

Instead of just offering one discount for all new customers, explore different methods that will work best with your product or service offerings!

Offering first-time customer discounts is a great way to encourage people to sign up for a membership and continue their fitness journey.

It is also important to offer discounts that are useful in the long-term, instead of just one time only!

For example, if you're offering 20% off your monthly membership fees or registration fees (for classes), then make it last as long as possible.

4. Include Testimonials From Happy Customers

Testimonials are a great way to show the success of your business and what people think about it. They are surefire ways to show how satisfied your customers are with your service.

Testimonials are also important because they can be used on other platforms outside of just social media or your website (like Yelp).

5. Create An FAQ Section Of Common Questions Or Concerns

One thing that you should be doing if you want to increase conversion rates is creating FAQs pages on your site with questions or concerns that the customers may have about fitness in general so they can easily find their answer without having to do much searching around themselves.

They may include questions about fitness, such as “How do I know if this is right for me?” or “What's the difference between classes?”

6. Make Sure You Include Pictures Of Exercises And Workouts

Images are powerful.  They can help increase conversion rates, and they're just as important to the success of your fitness site as good copywriting.

People are more likely to buy a product or service from somebody who is showing it off in an image rather than someone who's giving them text-based instructions on how to do something.

So if you want people coming in and signing up for classes, uploading their info to your site, or buying a membership package, you need to have high-quality images that show people what they're getting into.

Conclusion

Implement these strategies today to increase your fitness website conversion rate and drive more first-time customers. These tips will help you convert prospects into loyal, repeat customers who love what they see on your site.

You’ll be able to grow the business by attracting new leads with content that resonates with them, which is something we can do for you at a high level or in detail if needed. Do not wait any longer; start implementing these strategies now!

Your Gym. Digitalized.

If you are a fitness club owner, you know that there is nothing more important than your members. They are the reason to have an excellent online experience on your website. After all, many of them will research their gym before joining- so if they don't find what they need or want, then it's likely that they'll go somewhere else!

In this blog post, we cover tips on how to create an unforgettable online experience on your fitness websites to keep your valuable customers coming back.

1. Add A Section For Members To Upload Their Favorite Workout Music

Adding a section for members to upload their workout music is a great way to increase engagement with your online content.

It can also be an excellent tool for helping them find the right music that will help them stay motivated during their workout, which in turn helps ensure they stick around and sign up for more classes!

And if you're worried about copyright infringement from uploading copyrighted material- don't worry! Many platforms allow you to upload your favorite songs and playlists for free.

Some of our favorites include YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, Grooveshark, and Pandora (among others).

A quick search on any one of these sites should help you find exactly what you're looking for!

2. Create A Page Where All The Classes Are Listed 

There are times that your members may be looking for a new class to try, but they don't know what's coming up. That's why it can be a great idea for your website to include classes are listed and people can sign up in advance! This will also help encourage them to come back again the following week or month if they enjoy their first class with you.

3. Encourage Members To Post Pictures Of Themselves At The Gym

Images are great motivators. This is true especially when working out.

Many people are so proud of themselves that they post pictures of themselves at the gym or while working out. This is especially true for women, who often have insecurities about their fitness level and body image. Seeing their improvement can be a huge boost for them.

Allowing your members to post their pictures can help them build a sense of community and also be an encouragement to others who may need it. Additionally, as mentioned before, it is also a way to help promote your gym and encourage others outside of the facility to become members!

4. Create A Mobile App

Sometimes, logging in to a website can be a frustrating experience. It can take too long, it might not load at all or you could just be in the middle of something and don't feel like going through the steps to log in.

Just as with any other part of your website, an easy-to-use app will make it easier for members to access their account information from their phones and make it easier for them to renew their memberships, check in on class schedules or find the nearest location.

An app is also a great way of keeping your members engaged and bringing new people into your fitness community. You can send out push notifications about events that are happening at different locations, host polls so they can share with other users what they've learned in a class and offer exclusive deals to those that have signed up for your app.

5. Send Out Monthly Newsletters 

A newsletter is also a great way to keep your members up-to-date on what's happening at the gym. You can highlight new classes that they might be interested in, the equipment you've recently installed, or events coming up.

All these tips can make your members have the greatest online experience of any gym in town.

You've Got Two Seconds To Impress Your Visitors

If you have a fitness website, you know that it can be hard to keep up with the latest trends. Fitness is constantly changing, and new exercises and diets are popping up all the time.

One of the best ways to stay ahead of this game is by making sure your site loads quickly. A fast loading speed will give your visitors an easy, enjoyable experience, increasing their chances of becoming customers!

What Is A Fast Loading Speed And Why It Matters

A fast loading speed is when your site loads quickly. This is important for two reasons:

  • Your visitors will have a better experience on your website, which increases their chances of becoming customers.
  • You will rank higher in search engines if you are fast loading, meaning that more people will find out about your business and visit it because they know they won't be waiting that long to load the website.

Why Your Fitness Website Needs A Fast Loading Speed

Fitness buffs and enthusiasts love fast loading website speeds because of the positive customer experience.

Most of them are very passionate about their sport and spend a lot of time researching, reading blogs, following fitness pages on social media, and others. If your website takes too long to load, there is no chance that they will stick around or want to find out more about you.

Another thing that you should know about this audience is that they are online constantly-maybe a few hours of the day spent on their social media or keeping up with blogs here and there. However, you'll find them looking for new information about fitness, dieting, or training for most days.

How To Get A Faster Loading Speed For Your Site

There are many ways to speed up the loading speed of your site. However, knowing about the main factors in loading speed is an excellent place to start.

The main factors that affect speed are file sizes for images, videos, typography and other graphics present on your site. Thus, the best way to reduce file size is by optimizing your HTML code or compressing them with a program like GIMP.

Other ways are included in this list are:

  • Choosing a faster Web Hosting service.
  • Optimizing your images and videos for the site. Remember that you can't just upload them from their original size but need to reduce them before uploading. This will allow your pages to load more quickly.
  • Optimizing the site's plugins to reduce their loading times. For example, if your WordPress blog has many social media buttons or shares links from other sites like Facebook and Twitter, you might want to look into removing them as they can add some time on page load.
  • The final thing that can be done is breaking down the site into smaller sections. This will reduce the number of page loads and can be done using plugins like WP Rocket or Really Simple SSL.

Following these can help you improve your site's loading speed and be the top fitness web destination!

Top Content That Should Be Present In Any Fitness Website

The fitness industry is a huge part of society and has developed into an industry that people are spending more time and resources on than ever before. With the rise of health-conscious consumers, there have been many new opportunities for content to be created in this category.

In this blog post, we will discuss website content as a factor to attract fitness enthusiasts!

1. Why It's Important To Exercise

If there's one thing that you should target first, it's content found on the importance of exercise.

This is because content that focuses on the importance of fitness and getting in the habit of exercising is one way to attract people who are just starting out with fitness and want to learn more about why they should exercise.

Content on this topic may include reasons why people should start exercising, how important exercise can be for weight loss and other benefits that come from regular exercise. These contents can offer a more compelling argument for exercise, and encourage them to sign up for your fitness programs.

2. How To Start A Workout Routine

A post on a workout routine is also necessary on a website that has fitness in the title.

A beginners' workout routine, including guidelines for exercises that are best for different muscle groups, how many days a week the person should be working out, and other considerations when creating an effective workout plan are a big hit for fitness enthusiasts and those who are just starting out.

This could make your visitors feel that they are on the right path and have access to a website that is not overwhelming with information.

3. Tips For Working Out At Home

Content on tips for working out at home should also be included in a fitness website.

It may cover different ways to work out that are available if you do not have access to a gym or fitness facility, as well as ideas for immediately actionable steps your readers can take today.

You might also use this as a selling point for your online fitness classes if you decide to use them. Because many fitness facilities are closed outside of business hours, it can also be difficult for people who work or have children to find the time and energy in their day to fit a workout into their daily routine.

Though you might not win customers to visit your studio physically, you'll secure them online. Your website can provide a virtual fitness experience that is comparable to visiting your physical location.

4. What Is The Best Workout Plan For You And Your Lifestyle 

Many people would like to get fit, but their lifestyle and commitment won't allow them to do so. Thus, fitness companies can target individuals who are active in a different way, and provide plans that can meet their needs.

By doing so, your offering would sound more inclusive and your website will seem more welcoming. You'll see higher engagement and a greater probability of long-term success with your fitness business, which is all any entrepreneur wants in the end.

Conclusion

These are some staples that we think every fitness website should have if they want to be taken seriously in today's world.

An Image Is Worth More Than 1000 Words

In fitness, we have to be mindful of the unique needs that people have. That's why it is essential to choose graphics and pictures for your website that will resonate with people looking for fitness information and those trying to get back into shape after a long period of inactivity.

This article will focus on how you can use images strategically when designing your fitness websites so that you can attract more visitors and convert them into clients!

1. How To Choose A Color Scheme

Choosing a color scheme for your fitness website is very important. The color scheme will set the tone for the content in that area of your site, and it also has a significant impact on how people feel when visiting your site.

It would be best to choose colors with low contrast to avoid eye fatigue and focus more effectively on specific elements. For example, you may go with a dark background with light-colored text.

If you are focusing on fitness and wellness, choosing a lighter color scheme for your site could be better if you want to attract clients looking for weight loss. Colors in the shade of blue are believed to be effective in weight loss because they are not appetite-stimulating color in the way colors like yellow and red are.

Some other considerations include the color palette used on your website. As mentioned earlier,  colors should be used in a way that is complementary to the website's design and branding and thoughtfully incorporated.

2. What Type Of Graphics Should You Use On Your Site

If you're thinking of what graphics to use on your website, you should consider what type of fitness business you are running.

If you're a gym or clinic, then images of people exercising might be appropriate. Meanwhile, if your site is more about nutrition and weight loss, graphics with food may work better for the purpose.

Also, it's helpful to use authentic transformation images that show what people can look like if they follow the fitness or weight loss program. This gives them hope and helps them visualize their goals and stick with their diet plan as well.

3. When Do You Need Images vs Illustrations

Though they might seem similar, images and illustrations are two different things and have other purposes.

Images are beneficial for fitness websites because they can show people using the equipment, digesting their food, or exercising to get the point across to readers. They're also great if your website is about health and fitness because it's easy to find images that correspond with what they're looking for.

On the other hand, illustrations can be better for marketing or informational fitness websites and materials because they can show different scenes and ideas without being limited to the photo. Logos, business cards, and other promotional materials typically use illustrations because they're more detailed than images. They're also the best option when you want to provide a lot of detail in your content without slowing down the load time.

4. What Are Examples Of Different Types Of Pictures And Graphics For Fitness Websites 

Now that you know the differences between an image and an illustration, you might want to know specific examples of graphics and pictures that you could use on your fitness website.

  • a photo of an individual doing bicep curls with their hands up in the air, as if they're celebrating completing the exercise (this image is suitable for illustrating how to do different activities)
  • photographs of people exercising outdoors; this may involve any form of exercise, such as running, swimming, or biking
  • images of people working out with weights to show different types of workouts that you can do on the fitness website
  • a fitness instructor demonstrating how to use exercise equipment properly; this illustration would be ideal for showing your readers what they should and shouldn't do when using specific equipment
  • And many others!

5. What Are Some Tips for Using Logos And Fonts On Your Fitness Website 

Typography is another area of concern for fitness websites. The fonts you choose should be in a legible size and still have some flair or personality

  •  large, bold letters
  •  cursive text
  •  script lettering with lowercase characters (e.g., “f”) to give it an elegant look

Also, your logo should work well with your fitness branding guidelines. This means it should be appropriate for your fitness website and reflect the tone or style you want to communicate.

6. What Are Some Online Resources Free Or Inexpensive Photos

There are many free resources on the internet to find free or cheap photos and graphics for fitness websites. You will need to search individually, but some sites are:

  • Unsplash offers a variety of high-quality images.
  • Pixabay is a popular resource that has more than 600 million pictures in its library.
  • Pexels

With all this information, a fitness website can be created functionally and attractively.

Build an Online Presence for your Gym or Studio

Do you have a fitness and gym website? If not, then you need to learn more as you are missing out on some crucial benefits. When people search for fitness products or services online, they are often looking for the best deals. Therefore, when your website is optimized for SEO keywords like “fitness website” and “benefits,” it will appear higher in search results. This means more traffic to your site!

What's more, when people find what they're looking for on your site, there is a greater chance that they'll purchase from you because of how easy it was to see what they were looking for.

But these only are a few of the many reasons why a fitness website is a wise investment. There are many more as listed below.

1. Increase The Number Of Members At Your Gym

Having a website for your fitness center is a great way to reach people who may not know about you. When someone searches the internet and finds your website, they'll see all of the benefits that come with working out at your gym-whether it's having access to personal trainers or on-site childcare.

This could lead them to sign up for one of your offered classes and eventually become a member of your gym if they don't live close to the area- no problem because they're able to sign up online and get access to all of your classes; from anywhere in the world!

Remember, your website acts as an advertisement to easily find you, which means more members!

2. Promote Your Services And Educate Potential Clients About What You Offer

With your website always available for them to look at and browse, you're able to promote your services and educate potential clients about what they can expect from working out with you.

This is especially useful when people decide on a new gym or whether they should switch gyms in the first place! You can also promote free or discounted classes to find it easier for people trying out working out at your gym. They'll get all of the benefits without paying an arm and a leg right away. Just make sure that all of the services that your gym can offer are easy to find.

3. Stand Out From Other Gyms In Your Area

To ensure that you get to stand out from the rest of the gyms, you need to make sure that your website is not just an essential website with no personality. Instead, why not use it as an online brochure for people to read about what they should expect from working out with you? This might help them decide if they want to sign up or continue their search elsewhere!

4. Websites Are Inexpensive And Easy To Get Started

Another great thing about websites for fitness studios is that they are inexpensive to set up and maintain. So even if you were a new business, you would still afford this website to advertise your products or services.

In general, starting with just 1000 dollars (or at times lower) can get the ball rolling when it comes to owning your own website!

5. A Site Is More Accessible Than Printed Materials

Because of websites, businesses can now take advantage of reaching more people with their products and services than ever before!

Anyone can visit a website from any device on hand, including tablets, laptops, or smartphones. This makes it so much easier for your marketing campaign to see as many potential customers as possible.

A fitness website can promote individual health and wellness and help strengthen communities by promoting an active lifestyle that invites all members.

6. Web Design Companies Do All The Work For You!

As a business owner, you would want to focus on running your business and not worry about updating your website. A web design company handles all the work for you, from creating a site that fits with what you're looking for to making sure it's responsive on mobile devices.

With all the benefits of owning a fitness website, there are no excuses left to grow your revenues!

Get More People In Your Gym For Better Revenue

Gym owners know it's not easy to stay afloat in the fitness industry. With more members joining gyms every day, competition is fierce, and prices are low. That means gym owners have to be creative in how they market their business and look at online marketing strategies for more information.

Therefore, if you are struggling to increase your gym revenue, don't worry. We have three steps that will help you in no time.

1. Find Out If Any New Trends May Be Affecting Your Business

You can increase your gym revenue by starting to assess the trends in your industry and see if they are affecting gym revenue. For example, an aging population could be a reason behind fewer visits from locals. 

This step can help you create a gym that caters specifically to the new trend. For example, if your gym has more older members than younger ones, you can start up an “Elderly Fitness” class which will help encourage these members to stay active and healthy.

2. Offer Incentives And Packages

A few simple changes can make all of the difference. Thus, why not try to offer:

  • Incentives 

Offer free trial periods or one-time payments with no commitment (either monthly or annual). This gives people an opportunity to experience your services firsthand before committing, which will lead them to sign up for a membership after seeing what you have to offer. 

  • Packages 

Create packages that focus on specific goals such as weight loss, muscle building, or something more tailored to your gym. This gives people the opportunity to pick a package that will suit their needs. It can be as cheap or expensive as you want to depend on what services are included in each box.

3. Create A Website And Digital Presence

The last step to increase gym revenues is to create a fitness website and ensure it has all the information clients need to join. This includes schedules, prices, location details, amenities offered, and more.

You may also start promoting your business on social media! Social Media is the key to getting your gym the desired exposure, and it's also an excellent way for potential members to find information about you. Ensure that you're following up on each social media post with an email marketing campaign because people interested in fitness will want more than just what they see online.

Conclusion

With these three steps, you can increase revenue at your gym. Implementing them will help retain current customers and bring in new members with higher rates of retention. 

Start by finding out if any trends affect your business, and then follow up by offering incentives and packages to keep them coming back for more. Third, create a website and digital presence, so they can make an informed decision before joining.

Success is just around the corner! Get started today!

Stop The Excuses And Just Do It!

If you have been thinking about getting back in shape, now is the time to act. First, you should know that there are many benefits to working out at a gym to get you started. Thus, if you’re a gym owner, providing a way to help your clients reap these benefits is doable. You may click here to learn more.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your health,  what are you waiting for? Start signing up for gyms right away!

1. The Benefits Of Exercise Are Too Good To Ignore

Exercise has always been associated with many health benefits, and for a good reason. Unfortunately, there are too many to list here.

For one thing, though, there's a lot of evidence that exercise can help reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes by lowering your cholesterol levels and blood sugar level, respectively. Also, it will give you more energy and help you sleep better at night.

As if this weren't enough, there's a good chance that it will make you happier! So what are you waiting for?

2. There Is A Gym Near You That Will Work With Your Schedule

If your place is near a commercial gym, you're in luck. You'll be able to go at the times that suit your schedule best without having to travel too far or pay for childcare while you exercise. 

This may also help you find out about all of their membership prices and special offers before committing yourself, saving you time and money on regretful decisions later.

3. You'll Have An Easier Time Getting Motivated When You See Other People Working Out Around You

If there's an advantage of going to the gym, it's finding motivation in those around you. You'll see people of all shapes and sizes working hard to get their sweat on, which can be a great reminder that everyone struggles with staying healthy. Also, seeing others as your equals will make it easier to push yourself past obstacles while at the gym too.

Believe us: there's no other feeling like knowing that others are rooting for you when it comes to your health. Thus, you might be more likely to stick with your workout plan if the people around you are cheering on your success.

4. It's Essential For Your Mental Health And Wellbeing To Stay Active In The New Year 

Though the year might be over, you can still make the most of it by trying to get your fitness on.

Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and improve sleep quality—both important components in maintaining mental health. And if you need an extra push, it's worth noting that research has shown exercising regularly may reduce stress and anxiety and have a positive impact on mood.

The gym can also offer a community that cares about what you're doing and will cheer you on as your fitness journey unfolds. It helps to have people around who are cheering on your success—especially

5. Gyms Offer Group Classes, Which Can Be A Fun Way To Meet New People While Staying Healthy 

If you feel like you're struggling to find the time or motivation, consider signing up for a local gym. Here are a few of the benefits of joining your local gym in 2021:

– it can be a stress reliever and mood booster;

– you'll have a built-in community cheering you on as you work toward fitness goals;

6. Plus, It Won't Break The Bank 

Many gyms offer monthly memberships and short-term passes so that you can try them before committing to them. Though gym memberships can be expensive, they're worth it. Aside from the community, the benefits of getting fit are undeniable! You may not see results immediately, but if you try to stick with it and get to the gym, you'll find that your body is more robust and healthier over time.

How To Build A Fitness Website From Scratch

The fitness industry is a massive market with many different niches. It may be weightlifting, powerlifting, personal training, Crossfit, and other communities. Unfortunately, most online retailers have underserved this group of people, so there's plenty of opportunities for new businesses to take advantage of this untapped market. This article will discuss seven tips that will help you build your fitness website design.

1. Know Your Fitness Website Goals

If you are looking to make money from your website, there is a lot of work to create high-quality content and sell products. On the other hand, if you are not interested in making money from the site but simply want to provide free resources for others who lift weights or power lifts, ensuring that your website is engaging and helpful enough.

2. Figure Out Your Target Market

As you develop your fitness site, people’s biggest mistake is not focusing on their target market. You need to know who you want to serve with this website to create content of interest to them while also ensuring they purchase something.

Here are some tips for identifying your target market:

– Who does this website serve?

– What problem does it solve?

– How many people will it reach (in terms of location, age, income)?

– What is the competition like in this space, and how can you differentiate from them?

3. Get A Domain Name

A domain serves as your website address.  Choose a name that is recognizable, memorable, and descriptive of your services.

Another domain service to consider is GoDaddy's, making it easy for you to find the perfect .com address – or any other domain name you might want.

4. Select A Website Building Platform

Once you have your domain name,  you'll need to choose a website platform.

Wix is one of the most popular tools and has over 100 million users worldwide, making it perfect for beginners or small businesses on a budget. With its drag-and-drop interface, Wix also makes it easy to upload and manage photos, videos, and files.

If you're looking for something more advanced, WordPress may also offer an extensive list of features that can help grow your business when used correctly. 

In the end, choose whatever you think fits your goals best!

5. Customize Your Website

Knowing how to customize your website can make the difference between getting a few conversions and having an online business.

When customising your site, you should know many essential things, such as changing fonts, editing navigation menus, and moving content around with drag-and-drop features. You might also want to add other features, such as social media log-in, newsletter signup boxes, and contact forms. On the other hand, if you're unsure whether the changes will work with your site layout or design, there are plenty of free planning tools that can help you visualize different formats. You may try this before committing to anything.

6. Add Apps To Your Website

Aside from customizing your website, you may want to add apps to your site. Of course, this won't necessarily be appropriate for all areas, however. 

If you're a fitness provider and want to offer clients one-on-one coaching services online, it might make sense. Apps let you add features that are only available in the app version of your website—for example, time tracking or video chat software. You can also use other apps to connect your fitness website with other popular services like Google Calendar.

7. Promote Your Website

Congratulations! Now you have an up and running website.  So, what?

It would be best if you let people know about it. You can do this in several ways, including advertising on other websites or in magazines and using social media (Twitter, Facebook) to promote your website.

If you're going for an affiliate program, you may also add links to popular products like FitBit trackers or protein powder supplements.

So, there you go! Good luck with your new fitness website!

Crossfit Website Design Made Easy

It is no secret that CrossFit has become a huge fitness trend over the last few years. If you’re looking to have your business live on the Internet, this article will provide you with some insights into your website’s CrossFit design. This can be an effective tool in attracting new members and retaining existing ones.

What Is Crossfit

Crossfit is a fitness program that focuses on high-intensity workouts and constantly varied exercises-a mix of weightlifting, gymnastics, and cardiovascular exercises. There are three main categories in the program: strength training, aerobic fitness conditioning (cardiovascular/resistance), and flexibility training. In addition to the exercise sessions for all three areas given above, CrossFit may also include exercises aimed at improved balance and agility.

It is also a fitness regimen that uses rhythmic movements to improve overall physical performance. Crossfit workout routines are typically progressive in nature or present variations on basic themes with different set numbers of repetitions for any one exercise. The core principles include “Constantly Varied Functional Movements” and uses some practices such as “Metabolic Conditioning” and “Muscular Endurance.”

Why Should I Choose A Crossfit Website Design

There are many benefits of having a CrossFit website. Some of these benefits include:

  • Increased attendance and engagement rates;
  • Improved competitiveness;
  • Better communication with members;
  • Cost savings through improved efficiency;
  • Marketing opportunities for business partners, affiliates, or sponsorships. Traditional advertising methods are typically expensive because they usually require a significant upfront investment or a long-term commitment to generate returns.

How Do I Go About Building My Own Site

The CrossFit website should be designed to quickly find the information they are looking for, such as membership fees, class times, and location. It is also important to provide background about what CrossFit is if you want to attract new members.

Designing a CrossFit website can be simple with the proper knowledge of what to do. However, some tips will help you plan your site correctly and rank better in search engines. These quick tips provide an overview of how CrossFit websites work, including:

  • Links to your social media pages so that you can advertise and recruit new members
  • Sign up for a free trial program, which allows people to see if they like the gym before committing
  • Can set up a blog or blog posts on why CrossFit is beneficial and provide an overview of what it is.

Is It Worth the Cost To Hire A Professional Designer

Does CrossFit website design matter? In short, yes!

Though you might be tempted to design on your own, hiring a professional designer can save you time in the long run. CrossFit websites often have many different features that require a lot of design expertise to implement correctly and successfully.

Remember that Crossfit is not just about working out. It's also about community involvement. Therefore, it’s essential to make your CrossFit website fully functional and easy to navigate.

The Secret To Creating A Killer Gym Website

A successful gym website design can be the difference between attracting new members and struggling to keep them. Your site needs to be easy to navigate, provide a clear call-to-action, and showcase all of the different ways you offer services.

Gym websites should be designed with a customer’s satisfaction in mind and may include:

  • Information on the different programs offered, such as weight loss classes or athletic training;
  • Contact and location details;
  • Testimonials from happy clients

Tips To Create Gym Websites

We’ve compiled some tips from our team of experts on how you can create a winning gym website design:

1. Use White Space Wisely

White space isn't just good for aesthetics; it also provides an opportunity for visitors on your site to breathe when they're looking around.

2. Make Navigation Intuitive

Visitors should never have to guess where they are or which links will take them where they want to go next.

3. Create A Visual Hierarchy

Create a visual hierarchy using large images and contrasting colors for your header, navigation bar, and other essential features. This is important as you'll want to make sure the most important things (such as navigation) are always at eye level and easily accessible.

4. Use Call To Action 

Include a call to action that encourages visitors to take the next step (i.e., “contact us” or “sign up now”)

5. Use An Appropriate Color Scheme

So people can find what they're looking for easily, you should use an appropriate color scheme on all pages.

6. Keep Content Concise But Informative

Avoid long paragraphs with lots of text. To achieve this, make sure that your sections are broken up with headings, bold or italic text, and bulleted lists.

7. Add Contact Information On Every Page

Adding contact information on every page is also important so that if you're running a contest or promotion, visitors can quickly sign up for it.

8. Offer Social Media Integration

Social media allows users to share their experiences with friends and followers. Adding this may encourage more visitors to sign up for your gym. Include social media buttons if users want to share anything with their followers. This can attract potential new customers who can sign up and start working out.

9. Websites Should Also Feature Gym Offers

Gym offers such as a free WIFI to make a good impression on customers. This may also help retain members who may want to work out while waiting for their spouses or friends (already there) to finish the class.

10. Use Branding

Utilize branding at the homepage and throughout your website. This includes logo, tagline, slogan, and color scheme.

11. Include Reviews And Testimonials Page

Consider including testimonials from happy customers or members on every page to let visitors know that other people have had a great experience at your gym.

12. Provide Contact Info

Provide multiple ways for users to contact you with their questions. This can include a phone number, email address, live chat service, and FAQs section (which can also be a separate page).

13. Include Discounts And Promotional Page

Add a members' area where they can take advantage of special discounts or offers, such as package deals if you offer multiple classes throughout the day.

Bottomline

As you can see, the website design is crucial in drawing potential members and customers into signing up because it's the first point of contact with a new client! Keep these ideas in mind as you're creating or redesigning your website so that it can help you grow your business.

Why Your Fitness Business Needs A Website Today

One of the most important factors to consider when opening a fitness center is what your website will look like. After all, you need to have an online presence! But it’s not just about looking good either. Your fitness web design and layout can make or break how people view your business.

To help you out, here are five reasons why a stellar web design is essential for your fitness center:

1. Easier for New Clients To Find the Information They Need

Fitness center clients need to know about your prices, training methodology, and class offerings. The design of your website should be so intuitive that it's easy for them to find this information without having to make a phone call or stop by in person.

2. Provides A Professional And Appealing Image

Whether it's for fitness or any other type of business, web design is an important marketing tool. It helps you attract new clients, but it also sets the tone for what your business is about. If you want to build a community around fitness and well-being, then your website should be clean and inviting – not cluttered or confusing.

Clients are becoming more meticulous these days, and having a professional website can help you appeal to them.

3. Well-designed Pages For Conversion

Your fitness website's landing pages can make or break your conversion rates. That means it's essential that they're designed well and offer visitors what they need to make a purchase decision.

If you want people to sign up for classes, your landing page would have the course schedule with prices listed and little else. However, suppose customers are looking for information about how exercise affects their bodies or an upcoming fitness and wellness expo they need to attend. In that case, the landing page should have a link leading them in the right direction.

4. Top Position In Search Results

Your gym or fitness company can also benefit from a stellar web design. For one, you'll be more likely to land in the top position of a search result if your site is optimized for SEO best practices.

That means including keywords throughout all pages and using on-brand images so people can click through without getting distracted by other competing listings at the bottom of the search results.

The same goes for keyword density. You want to include your keywords a few times throughout the page, but not so many that Google will flag it for being spammy or too repetitive.

5. Great Experience To Your Members

Another aspect of a stellar website is the user experience. The easier it is for your customers to navigate the website, the better they'll like it and become repeat visitors.

That means making sure all pages load quickly and that there are top-notch security features in place so people don't get hacked or scammed while on your site.

Takeaways

Your fitness website is a hugely important tool for driving business.

Therefore, it's not enough if it looks good or is easy to use. It also has to be in line with today's search engine standards so you can rank high and get found easily by people looking for your services.

Remember, a stellar website will keep your members happy and provide them with the information they need.

Make or Break an Effective Fitness Website Design

The fitness industry is booming with the number of people who are looking to get in shape. As a result, fitness websites have become more than just a place to find workout routines and diet plans. Instead, they have evolved into an informational hub for all things related to health and wellness. To have a successful fitness website design, there are six factors that you should consider.

1) User Experience

The user experience is the most essential factor in successful fitness website design. Without a pleasant, functional user experience, designers risk losing their customers. Thus, the layout of your site should be aesthetically pleasing while being easy for users to navigate.

Having a user experience-oriented design also means that your site should be responsive and easy to use on any device. It could also mean making sure your site is easy to use for people with disabilities or those who are visually impaired.

To have a good user experience on fitness websites, you need a compatible layout with search engine optimization. This means that you need easy-to-identify URL and title tags, meta descriptions, H-tags, and backlinks.

2) Responsive Web Design

Your website needs to look good on any device so that customers can access it anytime from anywhere! This is particularly true for your busy clients who can't always come to your fitness studio.

But why is it so essential to ensure that your website is responsive enough for fitness buffs? Responsive web design is necessary because it means that your website will work on any device with ease, whether it's a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. It is essential for those who lack access to devices or internet connections. People can still get all the same benefits of going to the gym online, which can be cheaper and more accessible.

3) Quality Content

For your visitors to stay engaged on your site, high-quality content must be readily available.

This is because your clients are not only looking for fitness information, and they'll be looking for content on healthy recipes or workout programs as well.

If you're unsure what to write about, make an outline of topics from different categories, such as fitness advice articles, and then gradually work your way through the list. They might also want content on lifestyle, fitness gear, nutrition, or weight loss.

By doing so, your website is not only a place where they can find the schedule they need on their fitness journey. But it'll also be a place where they can find the inspiration to keep going.

4) Fast Loading Speed

Your website should load quickly for visitors to have a pleasant experience. A good rule of thumb is that your site shouldn't take more than three seconds to fully load! A good tip is to use the Pingdom tool that tells you about how fast a URL works.

5) Navigability

Another factor that can help you win the client is making sure your fitness website design is navigable.

To make the site easy to navigate, you can use graphics and links that are easy to understand. You could also use a precise navigation bar to show what it does or a sidebar menu with icons for navigating around the site. A good rule of thumb would be to keep them as evident as possible, so your clients can see them easily.

Navigability is an essential factor in a fitness website design that will ensure the client has a pleasant experience with your site!

6) Attractive And Sensible Graphics And LayOut

Finally, we come to the last few tips that you can incorporate into your Fitness website design.

Attractive and sensible graphics are essential in encouraging your clients to come to your site, so don't forget about this! Also, your layout must be both beautiful and rational so that navigation around it feels natural.

It's also a great practice to add the following.

  • Use pictures of happy, healthy people as an inspiration
  • Please include photos of people who are in the best shape they can be, not models or celebrities
  • Showcase the before and after transformation for those who are looking to change their body
  • Make sure your site has an attractive design with lots of color and graphics
  • Allow for comments on posts so readers can interact with you 
  • Use videos to get across essential points for viewers 

With all these factors, you're in your way of having one of the most successful fitness websites out there.

Maintain Your Online Presence or Lose Out!

Are you worried about the amount of time it's taking your company to maintain its online presence? If so, you're not alone. Many companies are struggling with this problem as well, especially after a successful outsourced website move.

The good news is there are several ways to deal with this issue and successfully maintain an online presence for your business! In this blog post, we will discuss six steps that will help keep up your momentum on social media, blogs, and other areas of the internet that need constant attention.

1. Create A Professional Email Address

Create an email address for the company that includes its business name and domain name. If your business's current email sounds spammy, personal, or unprofessional, make sure to get a new address immediately.

2. Keep Your Social Media Profiles Updated With Fresh Content

With most of the population signing up for social media accounts, it is essential to make sure that yours is updated. It means your account should have fresh content regularly and also responding to messages or comments promptly.

If you don't know where to start, you may begin with mixing evergreen and seasonal content. This content can be anything from blog posts, videos, images, or infographics.

3. Make Sure To Tag People In Photos Or Posts 

Tagging people in photos or posts that you post on Facebook and other social media sites will help people find your content more easily. It is also a great way to connect with existing clients and potential audiences who may not follow you on these platforms.

4. Be Careful About What You Post Online – If It's Not Appropriate For Work, Don't Post It!

It might be tempting to post non-related matters on your business website. However, this is not a good idea because it will confuse potential customers about your company's offers.

5. Integrate Your Website Content

If your website is integrated with your social media platforms, include links back to the blog in all of your posts so readers can subscribe.

Include a call to action at the end of blog posts and any other content you publish online. It might include directing readers to subscribe for new blog posts via email or following your business on social media sites, like Twitter and Facebook.

6. Use The Right Hashtags When Posting On Twitter Or Instagram

You want to create a memorable hashtag and be used by other people, but it should not sound like an advertisement. For example, if your business is related to fitness and you're promoting an event about healthy eating habits, “#healthyliving” might work.

The right hashtags can help you gain visibility online and might even generate new customers for your company. Some of the most popular is “#followback,” which is used to request that followers follow each other; “#tbt” or #throwbackthursday, which highlights nostalgic pictures from the past week; and “#instatips,” which is used to ask for health, beauty or fashion advice.

With all these tips, your online presence will be stronger than ever.

Make Your Logo Work For You

If you're in the process of rebranding your company or just considering it, then you might be wondering how to choose a logo. You might also ask yourself if they really matter. The answer is they do. They make a big difference — even if they don't look like much at first glance.

So here are some reasons why your business logo matters:

  1. Create Brand Recognition And Familiarity

The colors, shapes, and images in a logo all contribute to customers' feelings for your brand. For example, let's say you're walking down the street and pass by two coffee shops — one is an old-fashioned style with a giant sign out front. At the same time, the other has sleek lines of black and white painted on their windows. Which do you think would make you feel more like stopping in for a cup?

Logos create a space for companies to connect with customers. They are the silent voice behind brand recognition and familiarity, often found in every corner of society. As such, they require more than just an aesthetically pleasing design; they need to be functional, too. Thus, there are four factors to consider when designing your company's logo.

  • Logo Design

The most crucial factor in a successful logo is its design. A great, functional design can be the difference between being taken seriously and having someone walk right past you without giving you a second glance. This consideration applies to both customers as well as potential employees.

  • Functionality

A logo represents the company and serves as a functional tool to inform and guide customers through their experience with that specific brand. Therefore, logos need to be readable from a distance, identifiable at small sizes on social media screens, and easy to draw or write.

  • Relevance

Today, consumers are more informed and educated than ever before. Thus, they scrutinize logos for design and consider how that company aligns with their values.

  • Familiarity

A logo should be recognizable to the consumer but not too familiar. This is to avoid becoming a generic placeholder for companies that offer similar services or goods (think of an international conglomerate’s logo, like Coca-Cola).

  1. Send Your Business Message Clearly

Logos are the invisible difference-makers for your company. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can find virtually anything online in today's digital age. So it is no surprise that many people will first look at your logo when they visit your website and social media pages! So how do logos provide an identifier? Logos provide visibility through brand identification — it is a signifier for your company.

Logos are more than just identity, though. They can communicate messages and ideologies about the company they represent. For example, if you see an apple logo on someone's t-shirt or water bottle, it instantly tells you that this person might like to eat healthy foods. If you see a book or a torch, you know that the company values education or enlightenment. 

So remember, your logo should be more than attention-getting in today's digital age. It should be thoughtfully created to convey the right message and ideology you want to portray.

  1. Increase Businesses' Revenue

When people like the logo, they are more likely to buy products or services. Businesses can also use logos as a marketing tool by doing things like designing t-shirts with their company's logo on them. Companies that take time to create and design their logos will have an advantage over those who don't because customers are more willing to do business with them!

A Great Business Logo May Be Your Path To Success

Logos are a great way to make your business stand out in the cutthroat world of marketing. This invisible difference maker is what makes all the difference.

 

SEO Audit Made Easy

Every business has a website, and if you're reading this post, it's safe to assume that you treat it as an essential part of your marketing strategy. If so, you must conduct SEO audits regularly, specifically after outsourcing your website move.

The great thing is, SEO audits are easy to do with the help of some free tools available online. In this blog post, we'll cover some of the basics of an SEO audit.

What Is SEO, And Why Do You Need It

An SEO audit is a way to evaluate your website's performance and effectiveness in search engines.

Reasons For An SEO Audit

An SEO audit can help you identify any potential problems with your website. It includes:

  • identifying duplicate content or broken links that need fixing to improve the quality of your site. 
  • Identifying other potential problems with your site to improve its performance
  • ensures things are running smoothly with your online marketing strategy.

How To Find Your Site Map

Your site map is a critical component of your website. Its structure and content can affect how well search engines can crawl, index, and rank it. 

A poorly structured or outdated site map will not show up in Google's organic (nonpaid) results for relevant queries. Moreover, most crawlers rely on site maps to help them understand the structure of a website. Thus, when your sitemap doesn't work, you're limiting your presence online.

There are many ways to find your site map. These can include:

  • Navigating to the HTML source code of your site
  • Using Google Webmaster Tools or Bing Webmaster Tool
  • Analyzing your website's code for “sitemap” and related content

These are just some of the basics, and you can find more in-depth information about it.

How To Check For Broken Links On Your Website

To check for broken links on your website, you need to know how a site map is structured. For example, if your site has more than one hierarchy, you will need to provide a separate URL for each level or branch of links from the “root” or main commands and information.

To check if there are broken links within a specific website, follow these steps:

  • Visit every page on the website. Watch out for remarks, such as “Page not found” or “404 errors”.
  • Note these broken links that do not lead anywhere. 
  • If you find one or more broken links, go back and edit them accordingly by removing any spaces within URLs (if applicable). You may also remove hyperlinks containing external information such as phone numbers or email addresses.

How To Check For Duplicate Website Content 

The first thing to do to determine duplicate website content is to access search engine logs. You will use these logs to decide how many times a page has been found. Then compare it against the number of pages indexed by Google or Bing (or whichever one you are using).

Next, you may also use a tool for duplicate content on the internet, such as Copyscape or Duplicate Content.

Lastly, you should check whether or not Google has found your page and given it a penalty by using their Search Console. If they have penalized that URL, then you know there are some issues with duplicate content.

Why Does Google Penalize Websites With Too Many Ads Or Pop-Ups

Though it might be a way to monetize your website, Google does not like ads that disrupt the flow of your website. Instead, they want users to navigate freely and without interruption issues.

Before They Start Building Your Website, Let Them Know What You Want

Many people think they can take some time to develop a logo, and then their website will be done. Sadly, this is not the case. Therefore, it would be best to discuss things with your web designer before building your website.

In this blog post, we're going to go over four of those points so you know exactly what needs to happen before the work on your site begins.

1. What Are Your Website's Goals

You'll need to answer this question for your designer before they start building because designs will be completely different depending on your goals. To illustrate:

  • If you want people to buy things from your site, they need to have a shopping cart and purchase process.
  • If you're trying to get more followers on social media, then have a social media integration that allows people to follow you on the site.
  • If you want your website to be a portal for your business, then there should be an easy way to find and contact you on the site.
  • If your goal is to get people to sign up for a newsletter or mailing list, then it needs forms so that visitors can subscribe.
  • And finally, if you want people to stay informed about what's happening in your industry, then an Updates Tab is necessary.

2. Who Is Your Target Audience

When you're designing a website, it's essential to know who your target audience is. Knowing your audience's wants and needs gives you the best chance of meeting their expectations with your chosen design.

It also helps determine how much content will be on each page. This makes it not too overwhelming for them or underwhelming if there's not enough information available.

3. How Would You Like First Time Visitors Feel

This is an important question to ask when designing a website. You want people who visit your site for the first time to feel like they're in good hands and that you care about them.

Some ways of achieving this are by having search fields on every page. These can include contact information so visitors can reach out with any questions. Providing easy-to-find buttons for making a purchase can also help you go a long way.

4. What Are Your Branding Elements

Some elements need to be included in the design, such as colors or logos. These are what a designer needs to know before they begin. It's because they may not be able to use certain colors if you're using a logo with specific guidelines. Thus, if your brand has an official color, this should be communicated in detail to avoid confusion.

It's up to you as the client what else to share. Some points can include:

  • Share your logo with them and other necessary imagery to integrate branding guidelines into their design.
  • Check the size of your logo. Ensure it's not too big and doesn't take up more than a third of your page space.
  • Consider font style, color, shape, and letter spacing to create an attractive design that will complement your brand identity on social media platforms.

Takeaways

Web designers need to know everything about your logo before they start working with it. They should be familiar with all of the different variations and what's included in its design guidelines, so there are no surprises when you get the final product back.

Select an Efficient Website Host Provider With These Tips

You might have decided to outsource your website transfer and get a new hosting company. Your hosting plan is changing, and you need such a decision to make.

Although every business with an online presence needs a web host, not every hosting company is a good fit for your particular business. There are many different factors to consider when choosing the right one, so we have put together this list of three tips to help you find the perfect match!

1. Do Your Research

It is always a wise option to look at reviews from other customers before deciding which hosting company to use. These reviews can be found online in places, like Yelp or on social media sites, like Facebook or Twitter.

Reviews from other customers are also a great way to see how the hosting company handles customer service and what kind of experience they typically provide. It is also worth checking out reviews for information that may affect your services with them. Some of these are

  • any third-party services that your chosen hosting plan will cost you extra too, like domain names or email addresses
  • promos and incentives
  • their hosting plans
  • the kind of customer service they provide

You can also check out reviews on blogs or industry websites. Customers may not write them, but that doesn’t mean you won't find helpful insights in the article. Be sure to read through them carefully and look for any patterns between what one blogger says and another.

2. Prioritize Excellent Customer Service

The latest promotions and deals may have attracted you to get web hosting services, but don't get too carried away with them. The hosting company you choose should meet your needs and offer the level of customer service you are most comfortable with.

Sure, you'll want a good deal for your hosting plan in the end, and it's great when one pops up. However, don't forget that customer service is just as essential to have at an affordable rate. Thus, don't just focus on price, but consider all other factors as well.

You might quickly be able to save money by choosing a hosting company with lower prices, but if they have horrible customer service, then it might be worth the extra few bucks. With a little bit of research, it is easy to find the best fit for your business needs and budget.

3. Evaluate Services Offered

Hosting companies offer various hosting services; some may specialize in just one or two types, while others will handle anything you need. Be sure that you know your needs and how many resources you’ll require before deciding which host to choose.

Also, hosting companies offer varying degrees of customer service ranging from chat support, phone support, and email support to no customer service. Be sure that you consider these differences when deciding which host offers the best level of customer service for your needs.

Conclusion

With these tips, you’ll be able to select an efficient website hosting provider for your business. Once you find one that meets all of the criteria on this list, it will take a bit extra work to get them set up with your site content and files. But once everything is in place, you can feel confident about moving your website with them. 

So what are you waiting for? Try out some of these recommendations and see which ones work best!

Your Logo's Color: What to Choose and Why

What Your Logo's Color Says About You

Your logo is the first thing that a visitor will see when they come to your website. Your audience will be drawn in by your logo’s vibrancy and design, but if you're not careful, those traits can hurt your conversion rates rather than help them. The colors may also affect how visitors perceive it and determine whether or not they want to stay on your site for any length of time. 

This post will discuss some tips on choosing the right color for your logo to increase conversions and improve customer experience.

Color Psychology And The Impact On Your Logo 

Colors can affect your mood, emotions, and perceptions. This fact doesn't just apply to you as an individual; it also applies to your site visitors. Specific colors will make them feel more welcome, while other colors will leave them cold or even repulsed. But don't worry, there's a science behind color psychology that you can use to your advantage.

Colors And Their Meanings

There are many colors globally, so how do you know which color is right for your logo? We'll cover some of the most popular ones:

Blue 

It is used by most Fortune 500 companies and is considered a great option because it's professional and conservative. Blue is often associated with confidence and trustworthiness; therefore, this color might not work for websites trying to convey warmth or friendliness.

Yellow

Some say that yellow leaves a negative impression, but it can be welcoming or playful when used in moderation. It is also said to increase appetite.

Green

The color of growth, which may make your site seem more modern or eco-friendly.

Red 

Red has been shown to raise blood pressure and stimulate discussion in a post. It is also associated with power and confidence.

Orange 

Depending on the hue, it can be seen as a playful color or buffering for sites that need to look refreshing. This energizing color might be good for promoting actionable items on your site. However, use it with caution as it also tends to be overpowering.

Pink 

Known to be feminine, the color pink is not always soft, depending on how you use it. This color could also make your site seem more serious or lighthearted.

Purple 

A color that is associated with creativity and royalty, but some may perceive it as feminine.

Black

Black is the color of sophistication or elegance. This color is an excellent option if you want to make your website seem more upscale.

The Color Wheel: How To Choose Your Logo's Color Palette

In the world of color, there is a lot to take into account. You need to consider your logo and branding colors and look on various devices — desktops, smartphones, tablets, or laptops.

It can be challenging to choose the right color for your company logo, blog post titles, and social media posts when working with many different colors. Fortunately, there is an easy way to work around this problem using The Color Wheel. With the help of a color wheel, you'll be able to choose the best colors for any other project.

To use the color wheel in your palette, you need to know if your image or design has a “cool” or “warm” color tone. Cool colors are usually blue and purple, whereas warm colors range from yellow to red on the spectrum. Below is an example of how these two types of color tones can be used in projects.

Cool colors create a feeling that's more modern and sleek.

Warm colors are more inviting and create a sense of warmth.

The color wheel can also be used in projects that need a logo design or branding work. It helps choose an ideal color palette and guides setting up a cohesive branding package.

How To Use Colors For Conversions, Engagement, And More

Many believe that specific colors can work well when you want to increase your engagement.

For example, blue is calming and serene. It's also associated with trustworthiness. This may be why Facebook chose this color to fill in its logo (and why it is usually the most popular choice).

Another favorite for increasing conversions and engagement levels is red, bold, powerful, and exciting. As mentioned, these colors can help your audience feel excited about what you’re offering.

You can also use colors to set the mood. Colors like yellow and green are associated with happiness, so they're perfect for creating an upbeat environment where people feel comfortable shopping around your store.

Social Media Analytics App Is Best For Your Business Needs

You’ve finished your goal of starting a blog, and now you’re faced with the challenge of analyzing your social media strategy’s performance. You look for a social media analytics app, only to realize that choosing the right one can be difficult. There are so many different options out there, and it is impossible to know which one will work best for your business.

Social media apps have changed the way people interact with each other. That has made it even more critical for companies to monitor their social presence to understand how they perform on these platforms. In this blog post, we discuss some factors you should consider when choosing a social media analytics app!

1. Pricing

Social media analytics apps vary in price. Some are free and offer a limited amount of features. In contrast, others come with an expensive monthly fee or annual subscription.

If you're looking for simplicity, then the free option is perfect! You won't be paying any upfront, and there will not be any surprises down the road if your company wants to scale. On the other hand, if you want more features and support, it's worth considering a paid option with unlimited data storage and customer service access.

2. Ease Of Use

Several social media analytics apps offer drag and drop functionality, making it easier to create customized reports. Social media analytics should be easy for even new users to navigate around with a minimal learning curve.

This can also depend on what type of company you have. For example, if your business has multiple people in charge of marketing or content creation, the app should simultaneously handle each person's data.

3. Should Be Mobile Friendly

It is vital that any social media analytics app you are considering can also accommodate mobile devices since these platforms have been growing exponentially in recent years and will continue doing so this year. For example, if an application only has a browser-based interface, it won't be easy to use on mobile devices. Also, social media analytics applications that are designed specifically for tablets can quickly provide the information you need while you are out and about with your business or spending time with family.

4. Features And Integrations

Many social media analytics applications have features that go beyond the basics and can be cost-prohibitive. Social media integrations are a great way to add value to your application. Still, you must choose one which already supports the platforms you use, like Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, or Instagram, so you don't need another app for each platform.

5. Customer Support

There is no such thing as too much customer support. But, unfortunately, social media analytics applications are not inexpensive and, in many cases, require a monthly fee. That's why you must choose an application that offers live chat, phone, or email support to help answer questions about the app and how best to use it for your business goals.

5. Other Features

Features may include scheduling posts in advance, content curation, and design tools. In addition, social media analytics is a powerful tool to measure the success of your efforts. Still, it can't do everything by itself. Therefore, you have to make sure that the device you're using should feature:

  • Social Media Integration
  • Live Chat Customer Support
  • Reusable Analytics Reports
  • Social Media Scheduling Tool
  • Content Curation & Design Tools

Takeaways

We have all been there before. You've just spent hours and days researching which Social Media Analytics App is best for your business needs, only to find out that the app you selected doesn't include a feature that you need or it's too expensive. By following the recommended tips above, we hope you can save yourself time and money when choosing the social media analytics App for your business.

Social Media Photos That Make Your Business Stand Out 

Aside from starting blogs, many businesses in social media are looking for their profile photos to be a representation of them. They want the image to show what they do, who they are, and where they are all at once.

Therefore, it is essential to know how you want your business portrayed on social media. Here are some tips to help you find the perfect one!

1. Choose A Picture That Portrays Your Business

Social media profiles represent your business, so the photo you choose must portray what you do. For example, if your business sells food and beverage items to restaurants in Boston, then take a picture of your business in Boston. If you’re a social media marketing company, then take photos of social media marketing work that you have done for clients.

Also, try to use a catchy image when you're trying to grab attention and interest from potential customers. Thus, the best option is a profile photo that shows off your social proof- e.g., a picture of you in front of the company building or an image with an award from one day's business.

2. Make Sure The Photo Is Clear And High Quality

Another thing you can do to find the best social media profile photo is to make sure it’s clear and high quality. This means, if you are taking a picture of your office space, for example, try not to take the photo through glass or from far away. A good tip would be to use natural light. This will ensure that your image has the best quality.

It is also essential to check the exposure of your profile photo before you post it on social media. The camera should be set at a medium or high aperture, and make sure there’s not too much artificial lighting in the background. If you are taking pictures with your phone, try using an app to make your social media profile photo look professional.

3. Use A Square Image

A landscape-style image is less social media profile photo-friendly because the image will be too broad. Therefore, a square social media image allows for a full, high-quality frame of your office or your product which is also perfect for posts and blog content.

4. Include Your Logo 

Using your logo is probably the best profile photo tip because it is evidence of social proof. The practice shows that you have created an identity for your company and that you’re proud to show off what makes you different from other companies.

5. Consider Adding Text To Make Your Profile Stand Out

You can also include additional social media profile photo tips within the photo by adding text or using a font that best suits your company.

6. Don't Use An Inappropriate Picture

Using inappropriate pictures on your social media profile photo is a social media faux pas. You may think that it's amusing, but your social media profile photos should be professional and appropriate to the business you're in. This step may also help with cultivating trust among customers.

But what exactly is an inappropriate social media profile photo? It's when the social media profile photos include nudity or anything that could be considered offensive in your industry. For example, if your services offer graphic design and post a racial stereotype, that photo may be regarded as inappropriate.

So how do you find social media profile photos that are appropriate? First, you might want to make a list of what your business represents, brainstorm phrases or words in the industry if necessary, and find pictures from there.

Bottomline

Your business social media profile photo is the first impression someone will get of your business, so it is vital to choose an appropriate social media profile photo representing what you do and your brand.

Why It May Be a Bad Idea to Move Your Website

One of the most common questions that business owners have is whether or not to move their website from one hosting platform to another. In general, though, people should avoid moving their site and opt for website maintenance services first. If that fails, then probably, hiring a firm with expertise in moving websites is the next best move. 

Thus, it's essential to weigh out all of the pros and cons before making a final decision to transfer one’s site. It's because web hosting is a long-term commitment, and changing that can be not easy. Aside from this, moving your websites’ address can cause other effects on your business. They include:

  • Content not being indexed by search engines or social media sites and;
  • Other websites’ loss inbound links can be detrimental to your website's ranking on SERPs.

Still, if these aren't enough, here are five other reasons not to move your website.

1) It Can Cause Downtime At Your Existing Address

If someone has an established website domain name with content already published under it, they would need someone on the other end to manage it if they were to move to a different address.

If not, there will be downtime at their old and new domain name until both are up and running in tandem.

2. It Can Be More Expensive

Another thing that comes with a new site address is the expenses! It's because

  • You may not need all of the features on a new platform and will likely end up paying for things unnecessarily.
  • You will need to run both sites for a while to ensure that everything is working correctly. The change in the content management system will mean a lot more work for you and your team. It means more work, which costs you money.
  • It can be difficult (and expensive) to maintain two sites, even if you are not actively posting content on both platforms. In addition, if one platform is drastically more popular than the other, it can cost you money in advertising, too.

3. You May Lose Some Or All Your Content

Many risks may be involved in a website transition process. One is you may not be able to replicate your current site's success on the new platform. It may primarily be a result of the new platform's lack of familiarity with your existing audience.

You might lose some or all of your content in the process too! It can happen if you use specific platforms to host your blog. You might lose all the posts, pages, and images on the old site if you move away from this platform. It will mean that your Google rankings will also change, and it may harm the SEO value of your site if you move to a different domain.

4. You Might Lose A Lot Of  Followers And Revenue

Customers may not find you once they search for your brand, which will cost you revenue. They might get frustrated and not trust you because they can't find the information or products they were looking for.

Still In Doubt?

Before jumping on the board of migrating your website, you should check with the experts to see what they think about it.

If you are confident that the move will boost your site's performance, do not worry too much about these cons. Also, get a reliable agency to assist you with transferring your website to another platform. It may be worth the risk, after all!

Your Domain Name Is The Face Of Your Business

What is your domain name? Does it tell your business story well? Domain names are crucial to the success of a website, and it’s one of the most important factors when buying a website. Also, a good domain can help attract visitors and make them stay, while an off-putting one might have the opposite effect.

Domain Name Basics: What You Need To Know

Find out more about why you should choose a perfect domain name in this blog post!

1. Domain Names Are Your Website's Foundation

Domain names are the foundation of your website because they act as a permanent ID for your business online. Thus, domain name providers often claim that it is the most critical decision in choosing a hosting company. These services also offer options to protect or renew them if necessary.

2. A Domain Name Is Your Website's Street Address

Another important thing you should know about your domain name is it works like your website’s street address. It acts as an identity and helps make connections with potential customers or clients. Thus, whenever they need to find your services online, they need to use the domain name you provided. This information can help them know how to find you easily. 

To sign up for a new domain, you will need to have some knowledge about web hosting. Web hosting companies often offer many domains, and it’s up to you to decide which one you think best fits your business needs.

3. Your Domain Name Should Be Easy To Say And Remember

It sounds simple, but having a domain name that is easy to pronounce and remember can go a long way in helping you reach your marketing goals. For example, if you own a skincare business called “Lisa’s Skin Care,” it would be best for you to get lisaskincare.com than something hard to pronounce and remember.

If another site is already using the name you want,  you can use a hyphen to create a new name. There are also cases wherein businesses or individuals had to buy an existing site and update it with their content to get their domain.

4. Right Domain Name = SERPs Ranking = Great ROIs

Search engines favor sites with the right one and penalize those that don't. Also, when they look for new websites, they start at the top of their list and go down. Then, they rank domain names by how many other sites link to them. These links are considered as votes from trusted sources backing up a site's relevancy in their field. All these results are achievable if you start with the right domain name.

Therefore, choosing the right domain name can make a big difference in your search engine rankings and online traffic. They are the first things people look for, so make sure yours sound reliable and authentic. Also, remember that the more people who come to your website, the more money you can make from ads and affiliate marketing if you have them on your site.

Final Thoughts

If you're not happy with your current domain, there's no reason not to change it! To avoid changing domain names, though,  be sure to choose wisely when you register them. 

In the end, owning a reliable and authentic-sounding domain will motivate people to visit your website more often. This situation can lead to an increase in revenue for your business.

Moving A Website? Do These First…

Every business owner knows how challenging it can be to keep your customers happy when transferring to a new website. The truth is that there are many website move mistakes you could make, but the key is making sure you don't lose sight of these five tips. 

1) Make Sure Everything Still Works As Well As Before

Once you move your website, you might think that you're done, but it's not. You need to test everything so you know that your customers are getting the same experience as before and can access all the information they need.

You can do this by running a test on your current website, comparing it to the new one, or running certain pages through both websites while looking for any differences. It will help you identify what needs fixing before anything else.

​2) Give Your Customers An Easy Way To Get In Touch With Customer Service

Sometimes, the process isn't frustrating. It’s the way that businesses fail to handle their customers, that is. Therefore, if your customers are losing their patience and have been going to social media or contacting you through email, make sure that they know how easy it is to contact customer service.

You can do this by providing a phone number on the website and all of your marketing materials, so people don't feel like they're being ignored. You may also try investing in a call center or chatbot to answer their questions and provide them with the information they need.

Remember that it's your responsibility as a business owner to find ways of reaching out to customers looking at other options because you haven't answered their questions promptly.

3) Consider Offering Incentives

Incentives are also a great way to stay on top of your customer's thoughts and needs throughout the process. For example, you can offer them a discount if they sign up for email marketing to keep their inboxes filled with information about what's happening or updates on where things stand during the transition.

Offering coupon codes or special deals during this time will also help keep customers from jumping ship for another company. Since many people will be looking elsewhere for goods and services during the transition, this can help keep your customers from going elsewhere.

Don't forget that customer retention is key to business success, not just getting new ones!

4) Consider A Checklist

You might also want to consider a checklist that will be revised and updated as the transition progresses.

This way, everyone in your organization knows what tasks need to get done next, so you can keep customers satisfied while they wait for the move.

5) Offer Feedback And Ask For Regular Feedback

Feedback is also essential at this time. You'll be able to reach out to customers regularly with updates on the progress of the move and ask about their experience in return. It will help minimize customer anxiety about when their favorite websites are coming back online and how they're managing without them while waiting for it all to finish up.

Takeaways

Transitioning from one website provider or CMS platform to another can be a daunting task at the best of times, but it doesn't have to be! If you're taking on this challenge and want to avoid losing clients in the process, follow the tips above today!

Your Worst Investment Could Be Your Website

It's time to take a step back and evaluate your website. Is it helping or hurting you? If you're not getting the results that you want, then your website needs some serious work. Check this quick guide to assess if your current site has everything it needs to have.

What Is A Website And Why You Need One

A website is a collection of pages that can be viewed on the internet. They are often used for personal or business purposes, but some exist just as informational resources, like Wikipedia. Additionally,  a website's content is called “web content” and consists primarily of text, images, videos, and other multimedia elements.

For a business, a website usually plays an essential tool in its marketing strategy. It functions as the company's online “shop window.” It can also include information like its history, products or services offered, contact details, and many others. Thus, a business must have a good website as it’s usually the first point of contact leading to a phone call, sales meeting, or simply more information.

Other benefits of the website include:

  • Consumers choose to do business with companies they can trust. Thus a website is an easy way for you to grow your customer base and keep in touch with them.
  • It's a great way to extend your company’s reach and position it as an industry expert.
  • It can be used for two-way interaction with customers, suppliers, partners, or other stakeholders in the business enterprise.
  • Your website is the first place where prospects look when researching which products or services to buy.

Keep these benefits of websites in mind when designing yours, and you're off to a great starting point.

Why Your Website Is Holding You Back

You might think that having a website is good enough. Sometimes, though, it could be the reason why you're not getting new customers. This problem comes from:

  • Your website is outdated or hard to navigate.
  • You're missing social media marketing on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These can be powerful tools for reaching potential customers and engaging with them within their comfort zone.
  • It loads very slowly or not at all
  • It's hard to find contact information
  • The website design doesn't resonate with your target market, especially in a niche industry. For example, an eco-conscious company may want a site with images of greenery and starts on a green page or uses light blue colors for navigation.
  • It is non-existent on the internet.
  • The website is not mobile-friendly. This is because most internet traffic comes from smartphones or tablets in today's world, and most people use their phones as their primary way to go online.

How To Create An Engaging, Interactive Site

If you want to grow your customer base, it's time to rethink your website design and get a professional company that understands what is needed in today's business world… if it isn't already too late!

Your website needs:

  • Images of your products or services on offer (no stock photos)
  • Videos to bring your site alive and show people what you do in action. If the business is a local one, videos of some of your happy customers talking about their experience would be very powerful too!
  • Testimonials from satisfied clients or even awards that your company has won; are great for convincing potential visitors to trust you.
  • Social media buttons with links to your business's Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages. This will make it easy for people to follow you on social media so they can get updated.
  • Clear contact information, including a clickable email address in the header.

Remember to make your company's website stand out from the competition and convert visitors into contacts. Thus, ensure that its four main components—an adequate number of web pages, up-to-date content, sound design, and functionality (navigation)—are present.

As a solution, you may want to get your website redesigned by professionals. This step can make it easy for potential customers to find you on Google search results pages that have been optimized.

Conclusion

The world of digital marketing is constantly changing, and the way that users interact with websites has changed drastically. If your website isn't up to date, it could be hurting you to generate revenue for your business. So get started on designing a website that will generate sales by following these tips!

Your blog needs a home, so find the best platform and hosting provider to suit your needs.

There are many reasons to start a blog for your business. Blogs can help attract new customers, establishing credibility and authority, enhancing search engine optimization (SEO), building relationships with prospects and clients, and creating leads.

But with all these benefits comes the hard work of designing it correctly. This article will cover four ways to develop and launch a blog that will meet your business needs.

Ways To Design And Launch Your Business Blog

There are many ways to consider if you wanted to get the right design to launch your business blog successfully. Below are some of the significant steps to consider.

  • Pick A Niche And An Easy To Remember Domain Name

Some of the best blogs out there are niche sites, and they have two things in common: a memorable domain name and an easily identifiable focus. That means you should select a topic that's interesting to you (or your target market) as well as something with a catchy title-preferably one that's easy for people to remember. 

It may be hard to stand out from the crowd when you're starting, but it'll be well worth the extra effort to pick a domain name that's memorable and easy for people to search. 

Picking the best niche that will appeal to a broad audience will help you get traffic. However, it would be best if you also considered what place would fit your business perfectly. Don't pick a niche that will not showcase your business' abilities.

  • Find A Website Building Platform And A Hosting Provider

Creating a blog needs finding the right website creation platform to be your blog's home. It's where you will post your business's blogs. 

You will then need to find a web hosting provider that can host your website. The best thing you can do is try out many of these providers until you find the one for you. Keep in mind what features they offer, such as bandwidth, storage space available on their server, and many more. You may want to compare their prices as well.

Whatever platform or hosting provider you will choose, make sure that they are easy to use and offer all the features you need. If building the website on your own isn't an option for you, you may want to consider hiring a website developer to make it for you.

  • Select A Theme For Your Blog

There are not only different blog post formats but also different themes. Themes can be as simple or complex as you want them to be and differ depending on your site's content.

Keep in mind that the design of your website is an essential factor in attracting readers. Thus, your blog's theme should also represent your brand.

Basically, what is your blog's theme? What color scheme do you want? Is there anything specific that will be included on each page, such as logos or images and so forth? These questions should all have at least one answer before starting your design process, as it will help you decide faster and make the process easier.

  • Create And Publish Your Content

Before you start creating your day-to-day blog post, ensure that your static pages (Homepage, About page, etc.) already have content. It's where your visitors will find more information about your blog, and it will give them a reason to stay on the site. Once you've created content for those pages, then start creating new posts.

Most bloggers recommend publishing at least once per day or every other day because it gives readers an incentive to check in periodically. You can also post more often if there is something, in particular, you want to promote.

Final Words

Designing and launching a business blog can be daunting. Remember to pick a niche that will showcase your business's brand. An easy-to-remember domain name should also be considered for customers to find your blog easily.

Your blog needs a home, so find the best platform and hosting provider to suit your needs. Selecting a theme aligned to your business's goal will also attract more customers, so it must be considered before publishing your blog content.

Following these four ways should help you design and launch a successful business blog smoothly. 

 

Is It Time To Move Your Site

Most business owners are aware of the importance of their website, but not all know what they need to do to ensure it is up and running. For example, some consider changing addresses but are afraid of site transfer mistakes that could happen.

However, there are still many reasons why someone might want to move their websites, such as a fresh new design or switching hosting companies. But before that, you may want to go over some of the pros and cons of moving your site. 

Pros Of Transferring Your Website

The benefits of moving your website include:

1. Faster Loading Times

If you are experiencing slow loading speeds, it may be time to move your website and hosting company. If done correctly, this can result in faster load times for those who visit the page and increased SEO.

However, if you decide to switch hosting companies, know that they will not automatically transfer your data. It can lead to downtime for any site updates or changes while transferring files manually.

2. Improved SEO Ranking

Another benefit that may come with moving your site is improved SEO ranking- this means that you will rank higher in search engine results. It might, however, be a hit-or-miss as the change in hosting could affect your site's ranking. Thus, it is very crucial to do thorough research before switching your site to a different server.

3. Increased User Engagement With Dynamic Content

Are you wondering if you can still engage your users while you're moving your site? Well, the answer is yes; in fact, it may be even more accessible. One key factor to consider is a new domain will allow you to publish fresh and engaging content without worrying about any potential loss of traffic from old pages or discontinued posts. Just make a note to edit your old posts if you need to.

4. More Control Over Your Site's Appearance

One of the biggest mistakes that owners make in their first website is not having enough control over appearance. Sometimes, the feeling of having your business live on the internet feels enough that you forget that your site has to look right too.

Thus, once you move to a new site, you might want to take a second and think about how you want your new domain to appear and have it ready before the move so that everything goes off without a hitch.

Cons of Moving To A New Digital Address

On the other hand, these are some of the potential drawbacks of moving your website. It may include:

1. Having Limited Access To Your Old Domain Name

The first possible disadvantage of moving to a news site you need to know is there are compromises during the transition period that may come with it. It includes limited access to your old domain name, which will likely affect your rank on Google's SERPs.

2. Possible Downtime

There are instances that you'll encounter a problem with the files or with implementing a new domain name, and transfer times take longer than people anticipate.

Your old site might also be inaccessible for a time, and you may have no way of telling your visitors where to go while it is being updated or moved elsewhere. Thus, many experts recommend notifying users beforehand so they can subscribe via email notifications instead.

3. Broken Links

There are instances that after a website has been moved, broken links on the site need to be fixed. These can include 404 errors, wrong page names or titles, and even broken image files which people may overlook at first glance.

To avoid this, always invest in professional quality website moving services.

When Should I Move My Website?

As you review the pros and cons of moving your website, remember that it is a project with some risk. Generally speaking, you should only proceed if there are significant benefits for you-like better site performance or more control over content and appearance.

If these advantages outweigh the risks to your business, then planning will make sure everything goes smoothly when the time comes. The final decision is up to you!

Improve Local Search Rankings Without Hiring An Expert

I hear they're all the rage these days.

Local SEOs, that is.

Not everyone has the resources and money to hire one, yet it is crucial when building or buying websites. In this post, we put together seven things you can do in your spare time to improve your local SEO without hiring a professional.

  1. Utilize GMB

It will help if you start optimizing your business listing on Google My Business (GMB) to make sure it's ready. Google My Business lets you edit your business' location, address, hours of operation, and photos. You can also add a link to your website from the “Contact Us” section on GMB and any other social media accounts you have (like Facebook).

  1. Go For Social Media

Next up, post some engaging content to Facebook groups for local businesses. This will help people get a sense of your products or services and create a buzz around your brand.

Also, social media is free, and you might find people interested in what your company is selling. Thus, it may be a good idea to grow your audience through it. If possible, you may also include links to relevant content within the body of your posts. This will help drive traffic back to you and make it easier for customers or potential leads.

  1. Attend to Negative Reviews Immediately

It may not be directly related to SEO, but handling negative reviews assists the effectiveness of SEO. Your site may be easily searchable, but with poorly handled reviews, they might be affected, too.

Also, negative reviews are inevitable, but your business could suffer if you wait too long to do something about it. Thus, responding immediately to reviews won't only help bolster the reputation of your company. It will also allow people to consider using your services.

So remember, make sure you respond to reviews promptly – negative feedback can seriously hurt business!

  1. Work on those CopyWriting Chops

For the best local SEO results, learn how to write an excellent copy to convert users into leads and rank well on search engines. If you're a beginner, you may start with reading copywriting tips that can be found on the internet. 

Other beginner writing tips include:

  •  Use short sentences
  •  Simplify your words
  •  Be brief and to the point
  1. Include a Local Map

To help boost local SEO, you should also optimize your website so users can find where you are located with ease.

But how can this be done exactly? 

First of all, you should upload a local map to your website. This is recommended if your business has an office or store that's open to the public. You may also include it on your contact page. This way, when people visit your website, they can easily find where your business is located. 

Also, include the map in many blog posts and pages related to local attractions, activities, or services you offer. For example, a lawyer should consist of their office location on all of their practice area pages. Hence, people know that they are the most accessible within their locality.

  1. Get Your Pages Indexed

Lastly, make sure that Google indexes all of the pages on your site. This will allow people who don't know about you yet find what they're looking for and contact you.

To start with this tip, you may want to make sure that your home page is set up correctly and includes all of the services you offer. Next, you may add an XML Sitemap to Google Search Console, so they know about every single post on your site. From there, you may want to index your blog posts separately.

  1. Do Simple SEO Strategies

Here are some you may follow.

  • Include keywords in the title and meta description of each post so that search engines can know what you're talking about. 
  • Add relevant links back to other sites on your homepage. This will help people looking for information or services like yours, and it also strengthens your credibility.
  • Include a “blog” link on your site's homepage. This tip will help people find these pages if they're looking for information or services like yours.

Implement these tips, and you might be on your way to the top soon!

Ads Are Killing Your Conversions

Are you noticing that your website is performing worse? There might be an explanation for that: ads. The ads on your site can hurt the page's performance and even make visitors leave before they finished reading what you want them to see. You may even want to get your website redesigned, too!

But before that, let’s discuss the reasons why ads can be bad for business. We will also give tips about how you can put a stop to these pesky advertisements.

1. Ads Can Be Distracting

When visitors come to your website, they want the content and ads to be complementary. It's essential for them not only to see what you're selling but also why they should buy it from you. When there is a barrage of ads on the page, it becomes much more difficult for people to find relevant or interesting information. This scenario is not only frustrating but can also cause a dip in conversion rates.

Thus, if you're looking for something a little more drastic than eliminating ads from your site altogether, you can use ads on another site and link back to your website. While direct links have been frowned upon in the past, they're becoming more accepted these days. As long as there are disclaimers or opt-outs for those who don't like promotions, links can work well as ad replacement.

2. Ads Can Be Misleading

Another thing to remember is that ads can be misleading.

Thus, avoid using a flashy banner to lure your visitors into clicking on something and finding out it's crap after wasting time, bandwidth, and other resources. This practice will make your site visitors mad and hurt the trust they have with your brand.

Also, only use ads that are relevant to your site. For example, if you have a travel blog with destinations in Asia, don't use an ad for an unrelated product or service simply because they pay the most money per click.

3. Ads Interrupt Your Site's Content

It's already hard enough to keep your visitors' attention with so many distractions on the web. So, why make it even harder for them by cluttering up their screen or page with ads?

You might think you would be able to charge more for ads, but if they're always getting in the way of what people are trying to read, they'll go elsewhere. The best ads are the ones that don't interrupt your site's content or annoy visitors and readers!

4. Ads Need Updating And Keeping Up With The Times

Another thing to remember is that ads need to be updated and changed like any other content on your website. If you keep showing advertisements that are more than a year old, visitors might think your company is out of date or hasn't been paying attention to what's going on in the world.

It can also be difficult keeping up with all of them. The best way to make sure you're staying on top of it is by using a tool like Google Ad Words Editor. This will help you keep everything updated and running smoothly!

5. Ads Can Make Your Website Slower

Do you know that ads can also slow down your website? If you have many ads on your website, this makes it difficult for visitors to load pages. This is because the browser needs to spend more time loading ads than content, and that's frustrating. This point especially applies when people are trying to read or watch something. They're waiting around while an ad loads in their face. 

It doesn't matter if you're running an ad network or just one advertisement. This extra work will slow down your website. That's why it's essential to have a balanced ads-to-content ratio so your site loads fast and visitors can enjoy the content you're trying to show them.

6. More Ads Mean Less Space For Your Own Products And Services

Although ads might be a way to monetize your blogs, they might also take away some of the much-needed attention you would otherwise get. In effect, the potential ROIs your business could have made are taken away by these advertisements.

Don't Let Ads Derail Your Business Growth

It's important to remember that there are plenty of ways for your business to increase its visibility without resorting to ads. You can promote social media, newsletters, and email promotions, so you don't have to annoy visitors on your website.

Tips For Redesigning Your Business Website

The internet is a vast and ever-changing land. It's hard to keep up with all of the new things that pop up every day! Of course, every small business needs to have an online presence, but how do you make sure that your website is optimized for SEO? If you're looking for quick tips on redesigning your website, this blog post has three suggestions:

1. Create a Content Management System

A Content Management System (CMS) is a website that allows you to edit and update content without having to know how to code. This can make managing your website much easier since CMSs handle everything from updating pages, posting new articles, and designing logos for branding.

There are a few different CMSs that you can use: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, and more. Whatever your preference is for, the look of your site, or which features you want to have available on it – there's sure to be a system that will work best for you.

2. Make Your Site Mobile Friendly

Nowadays, people spend more time on their smartphones and tablets, often using them to research products before purchasing in-store or online. The easiest way for small businesses to make sure they're catching the attention of potential customers is by making all of the content available from a website accessible via smartphone and tablet screens as well as laptop screens.

Small businesses looking to redesign their website should keep in mind that the site needs to be easy enough, so visitors don't have any frustrations when using smartphones or tablets as they browse your site.

Also, avoid making a mobile website that is essentially just an expanded version of a laptop or desktop page. Instead, use responsive design techniques that automatically change the layout based on whether you're viewing it from a smartphone or tablet. If possible, avoid advanced features and stick to a simple, mobile-friendly format.

3. Be Consistent With Colors

Your old site might likely look poorly planned as all you wanted initially was an online presence. Thus, it's essential to choose a color palette that will work well with the rest of your branding with a redesign. One good way is by using tone on tone design, which means your site should have primarily only two colors (such as black and white)

Thus, be consistent with colors. Small business owners might not have thought about how the color scheme of their online presence will affect them and visitors. Still, your site needs to be easy enough so visitors don't have any frustrations when viewing your content.

Conclusion

After reading this blog post, you should have a better idea of what to do to redesign your website successfully. First, you’ve learned that it is essential to create a content management system and make sure it functions well on mobile devices. Finally, it would help if you were consistent with colors throughout the design process, so everything looks cohesive.

If any of these steps sound intimidating or confusing- don't worry! Our team can help with all aspects of web development, from content creation to designing an eye-catching interface for your business's new website. So contact us today if you're ready to take your small business's digital marketing strategy into the future!

Fix The Top 3 Problems With Your Website Right Now

You're probably reading this article because you feel like your website is not performing as well as it should. You might even be thinking about redesigning the site with a new look or changing some of the content and layout to attract more visitors. But, before you decide on either of these options, take a moment to read what we have to say about website problems and how they can be fixed.

Problem#1. Your Website Isn't Responsive

A responsive website is one of the essential aspects when it comes to website design. With many users browsing on smartphones, a site that doesn't adjust for smaller screens can be frustrating and even lead people to leave your page altogether.

Therefore, if you don't have a mobile-friendly version of your site, it hurts your SEO and conversion rates. To avoid this from happening, make sure that

  • Your content is easy for mobile users.
  • Incorporate a contact form or phone number on every page of the site to reach customer service representatives without emailing them quickly.
  • If there's something important that people should know before they contact you, put a banner on the homepage
  • Make sure that all links are mobile-friendly and accessible from any device. This includes text links as well as images (like your logo)
  • Avoid making your website too heavy or complicated to avoid frustrating mobile users.

Problem#2. No Clear Call To Action On Every Page

Not seeing what you want your website visitors or customers to do is a mistake that will cost you. It would help if you had a clear call-to-action on every page of your site, so there's no question about what the visitor should be doing next. For example: “Download my eBook” or “Contact me to set up a meeting.”

Be sure to include these on the homepage and contact page. Not only does it increase conversion, but it is also an essential aspect from an SEO standpoint: Google wants people to complete actions and will rank sites higher if they are successful in doing so.

To solve this issue, make sure to adapt the following steps:

  • First, create a clear call-to-action on every page of your website. This is the first step to fixing this problem. Make sure you include these throughout your site, including contact information and other pages.
  • Use the right font so your visitors can easily read what action you want from them.
  • Make sure that your call-to-action is prominent and in a place where it will stand out on all pages of your website.

Problem#3. Long And Unengaging Content

You might think that your content is engaging enough. But if your website visitors are scrolling through page after page of text and not clicking any links, then it's probably time to make a change.

To fix this problem, ensure that:

  • The tone you use on your website should also match the feeling you want people to have when they leave your site. For example, if you want people to feel inspired when they visit your website, your content's tone should be inspiring.
  • Get their attention! If you are having trouble getting their attention: turn your text into images with a call-to-action in them! People have shorter attention spans on websites than in print, so make sure that it grabs their interest right away when people click on something like this.

Bottomline

Many mistakes can be made on a website, and we have listed three of the most common ones. We hope this blog post has helped you identify areas where your site may need improvement to be more user-friendly and reflect your brand.

If you're still struggling with any of these issues or would like to discuss them in detail, please contact us for help!

Why You Should Start a Blog

Blogging is one of the best ways to connect with a new audience, and having that as a feature is possible through affordable web development. When you blog, you share your thoughts and expertise and get feedback from readers in comments on your posts. 

Why Should You Start A Blog?

Some people are hesitant to start a blog, and for a good reason. Blogging is not easy to do. You have to write consistently, make your content engaging or informative, and develop new ideas on what to post about every day. However, blogging can be a rewarding experience that provides many benefits.

Here are six reasons why you should start a blog today. 

  •  Blogging Is An Excellent Form Of Self-Expression

You have something to say, and by blogging, you get a chance to express your thoughts, opinions, experiences, or any other form of content. It is an excellent way of self-expression and creativity that can help boost confidence and make others happy. It will also help keep your mind sharp as you need to think about something new to talk about every day.

  •  Attract Wide Audience

Blogging can help you get an audience that is broader than what you can imagine. This audience can include those who are not followers on social media or newsletter subscribers and don't know you personally. In addition, you may find your blog readers in the form of search engine crawlers or regular visitors to popular blogs who stumble across yours by accident.

  •  It Helps Build Relationships With Potential Readers

With blogging, you'll be able to connect with potential readers. They can subscribe to your blog and comment on posts, providing valuable feedback to improve future posts' content.

Genuine interaction with your readers will help build good relationships with them, bringing in more traffic and sales if you are selling a product.

  •  Make Money By Sharing Your Thoughts And Opinion

You can also make money by sharing your thoughts and opinion. There are many different ways to monetize a blog, but you will have more control over what you want to do with it in the end. Once you reached a significant number of readers, you can start to monetize your blog by creating affiliate links with products and services.

You will also be able to make money through advertisements, sponsored posts, or advertorials placed on the side of your page and sell ads in your sidebar where other companies pay for their advertisement space.

Making money from a blog doesn't have to be difficult, and once you start experiencing it, the time spent working on your blog will feel worthwhile. 

  •  It's An Opportunity To Perfect Your Writing Skills

If you're one of those people who can't seem to get out of their heads long enough to write a complete sentence, starting a blog is a perfect opportunity for you. Learning how to sound articulate and thoughtful about what's on your mind will do wonders for your self-esteem as well.

The more you write, the more opportunity for you to learn and improve your writing skills. It will also establish your expertise in a particular topic. The more you talk about something, the better you'll get at it. Finally, it will reflect on how your readers see you as an expert in that particular field.

  •  Build Your Online Presence

If you want to be an influencer or have a brand that you want people to be aware of, blogging is a good option. 

Also, if you blog about topics that other people are interested in, then these readers will share your posts and get more impressions for your content. It's another way to grow a following to increase your online presence. If you have a product, blogging is a great way to introduce it to people so you won’t sound like you're doing hardcore selling. 

Final Words

Blogging is a great way to express yourself, reach an audience, and improve your writing skills. It also allows you to build relationships with potential readers and help you make money in the long run. So, if you’ve been on the fence about starting a blog, now might be the time. Create some unique and valuable content for your readers and see how it generates positive results.

Website Redesign: Will It Help?

It's difficult to tell if another redesign is necessary, especially when your website seems to be performing well. Also, your business may have a poor conversion rate even though your site design looks modern and updated. To solve this problem, you might opt for a quality but cheap web design that fits your need.

To determine if a redesign is necessary for your website, you might want to answer these questions below.

  • Is Your Website Responsive Across All Devices?

One of the primary things that you need to consider is the responsiveness of your website. No matter what type of device your visitors are using, they should have a seamless experience on your website. Is your website mobile-friendly? Does it function well in all other types of gadgets like tablets, iPad, and many more? If the answer is no, then you might want to consider redesigning your website already.

A responsive web design can also help you achieve higher rankings in the search engine result pages. A higher ranking means more exposure to potential customers. The more potential customers you get, the higher your sales rate will be.

  • Does Your Website Represent Your Brand?

Another thing you need to consider is the representation of your brand. Does your website represent who you are? Is it as professional and up-to-date with all of today's technology trends as possible? If not, then consider a redesign because this will be one of the most critical factors for getting more conversions on your website.

As a business, there are times when you need to evolve and change. So as your website, to ensure that it is still representing the brand that you currently are. You don't want your customers to get confused about what your website truly represents.

A website redesign is one of those changes that can do a lot for your business if it's done right. 

  • Does Your Website Include All Of Your Current Offerings?

Does your website include all of your current offerings? Some people believe that a website should be updated periodically to keep fresh and up-to-date with new features. 

You should consider a website redesign if there has been any significant update in what you offer, such as new product lines or services. If you've had new offerings without updating your website, maybe it's time for an overhaul. People should be aware of your new offerings to gain more exposure. Customers will also feel that your company is continuously expanding since they will see new products and services available on the website.

  • Are You Confident With Your Website's Cybersecurity?

Cyberattacks are evolving each year. Cyberhackers are continuously developing ways to execute their next attack, and they are constantly trying to find vulnerabilities. It's the reason why it's essential always to be aware of potential security threats that can happen so you can take preventive measures for your website not to get hacked.

Therefore, if you're not confident that your website's cybersecurity is up-to-date, then it may be time for you to consider a website redesign.

Don't wait until your website gets hacked and you lose valuable data because of the security flaws in your site that were not addressed before. You could also be risking your company's reputation if this happens as well. It's better to be safe than sorry.

  • Are Your Page Load Times Too Long?

If your site is taking a long time to load, then you are losing customers. Nobody wants to wait for more than five seconds before they start scrolling down the page and looking elsewhere for what they want. It's the reason why website owners must make sure their pages load quickly, so visitors never have to wait.

If your website is taking a long time to load, you may want to consider redesigning your website already to lessen its page load time.

  • Is Your Website Optimized For Search Engines?

Changes in search engine algorithms or a site launch can impact traffic and rankings. If your website isn't optimized for current search engines, then a website redesign is highly recommended. A website that was built using a ready-made template is likely to be not SEO-friendly. Thus, redesigning it will help to improve its site architecture making its optimization a lot easier. 

Conclusion

Whether a website redesign is necessary or not depends on your answer to the above questions. If you think that your website is no longer responsive, user-friendly, up to date, and your cybersecurity can no longer protect your site from modern threats, then a website redesign might be necessary.

Stop Wasting Time Managing Your Website

After moving your website, you might consider regular maintenance as a part of your site transfer checklist. You can do this by asking yourself questions like, “Is it your responsibility to update the content, check for broken links, and ensure everything is running smoothly?”

If your answer is yes, you might want to consider outsourcing your website maintenance. In this blog post, we will discuss some reasons why it can be a good idea.

Why Websites Need Maintenance

Websites need to be maintained for several reasons. Firstly, their design may change over time to stay current with web standards and trends. Also, to stay at the top of Google's results for specific keywords and phrases, web admins need to make sure their site is up-to-date with new content.

Secondly, as websites age, they become less visible and less attractive to users. Thus at these times, the company logo changes, navigation gets redesigned, or content gets updated. Now, it requires more pages on a website to get indexed, so the higher its ranking in search engines will be.

All of these efforts may require maintenance at some point. However, doing everything yourself can be a very time-consuming and expensive process, which is why outsourcing website maintenance makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes.

What Is Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a business practice of hiring an outside company to take some of the required tasks for your business. It can help provide flexibility and more time to focus on core competencies while allowing you access to experts who may have skillsets not available in-house.

Benefits Of Outsourcing Your Website Maintenance

There are many reasons why outsourcing your website maintenance can be advantageous for your business.

1. Saves Time

Website maintenance is time-consuming and can take you away from other aspects of your business. If you outsource this task, you'll be able to maximize your time and energy to focus on the bigger picture of your business instead of worrying about maintaining the website.

2. Saves Money

Outsourcing your website maintenance saves money. Working with an outside agency instead of hiring employees on your team can be more cost-effective. It eliminates the expenses of salary, benefits, and the need to provide a workspace.

3. Expertise

Maintaining a website requires a wide range of skills and experience. Outsourcing your website maintenance will give you access to people who have years working in the industry, know what needs to be done for your business, and can offer a wide variety of services from copywriting to programming.

4. Advanced Tools

Outsourced agencies also have access to the latest tools and technology to take care of your website. However, if you'll have it in-house, there's a good chance you'll be using outdated software or whatever available tools the company can provide.

5. Security

You'll have less of a chance of being hacked because no one on staff could accidentally expose your personal information or sensitive data through poor security practices. In addition, an outsourcing agency will have a strict set of guidelines for handling customer data to make sure that it stays safe from cyberattacks.

5. Keep Your Site Up To Date

Working with an outsourced agency allows you to no longer worry about keeping up with the latest trends or updates on SEO because the experts in these fields know what works best for your business.

Conclusion

So, you’ve done all of the hard work and got your website up and running. Now it needs to stay that way. If you don’t want to spend hours maintaining your site every month or two, consider outsourcing help with a third-party agency that can take care of everything for you in one fell swoop. Then, you won't regret having more time to focus on what matters—growing your business!

Does Your Site Face This Issue? 

Plugins are a great way to add more features, functions, and design aspects to your website. Many designers and developers have recommended plugins they believe have significantly improved their site performance and customer engagement. However, some also think that they have a disadvantage when it comes to loading speed.

But do plugins really slow downloading speed? Unfortunately, the answer is not always simple to determine. Plugin developers work hard to ensure that they run smoothly and don't affect your site's load time. But sometimes, there are unavoidable factors that can still affect your page load times. 

In this article, we'll explore whether plugins can hurt your site's loading speed and how you can optimize them for better performance.

Plug-Ins: What They Are

Plugins are an extension to the original program or site that provides additional functionality. 

List of Common Plug-Ins:

  • Plugin for social media sharing
  • A plugin that allows you to post audio or video content directly from the website.
  • The plugin that shows links to your articles on other websites
  • A plugin that creates a store of images, video, and text you can use for free to make your website more visually engaging.

Plug-Ins And Site Speed

Generally speaking, plugins can either increase or decrease loading speed depending on whether they're poorly coded and how much you use them.

These are some signs that your plugin is slowing your site's load speed

  • If your site takes a long time to load or throws up an endless series of warnings, plugins may be slowing down the page.
  • Other signs may include:
  • Your site's SEO ranking goes down
  • Fewer visitors stay on your page than before
  • You see a lot of plugin messages pop up when you load the page

It may seem like all that's slowing down your site is these pesky plugins. Still, if you know how to use them, they can also be a great way to make your site personal and find more people who share your interests.

PlugIn Issues: Advice for Developers

If you think that plugins are the culprits for your site's turtle-like speed, here are pieces of advice you may want to consider.

  • When evaluating plugin performance, a developer should look at your site's front-end page load time with no plugins enabled or enabled to see if there's an impact. Then, go through your list and disable them one by one to see which ones may be causing problems with performance or security.
  • If you find some plugins are slowing down your site, try optimizing them.
  • Always keep plugins updated to help eliminate any potential security gaps that may be exploited by hackers or malware.
  • Consider switching to lighter, more modern plugins that are compatible with current web technologies and browser performance. This tip is accurate if you find your site is slowing down due to poorly coded or outdated plugins.
  • Developers can also measure the impact of plugins with a tool like Google's PageSpeed Insights.
  • Remember that using HTML/CSS can lead to an even faster loading experience for visitors than possible without any plugin whatsoever.

Conclusion

Plugins are a great way to add more features, functions, and design aspects to your website. However, some believe that they have a significant disadvantage when it comes to loading speed. Therefore, be cautious with how many plugins you use on your site; take them one at a time and see if the additional functionality is worth the trade-off in page load times.

Most Common SEO Issues When Moving Your Website

You’ve been thinking about making a move for some time, and now you finally have the chance to do it. But before you push that button, there are a few things to consider: Is your website ready for the big change? Do you have a site move checklist? How will search engines react to this change-up?

This post will go through four SEO issues that you may encounter when moving your website. You may not be aware of these SEO issues, but they can significantly impact your site's visitors and search engine ranking.

1) Duplicate Content  in the New Location

The first issue you may encounter is duplicate content in the new location. It may have been the result of copying and pasting pages or images during the process.

Duplicate content is an SEO issue that can significantly impact visitors and search engine rank. If this happens, it would be best to remove as much of this duplicate content as possible, or else you risk having Google penalize your site by lowering its rank in the search results.

2) Broken Links

Another SEO issue when transferring your website to a new domain is broken links. Broken links can happen for several reasons, such as if the link is no longer available or if it's been changed and there was a mistake in transferring the URL. Also,  it can be a challenge to identify broken links because they might not be apparent in the website's new location.

Broken links can cause problems because they usually prompt visitors to click on them before realizing that nothing will happen when they do so. Thus, it wastes their time as well as yours by making your site seem broken and less trustworthy than it should be.

3) Mismatched URLs

Mismatched URLs are another things you must consider when moving your website. When you move your site and change the URL structure, there might be links to existing pages on external websites which are no longer valid. For example, if a page were previously located at “/page-name” but changed to “example.com/page-url,” any links made from another website to the old URL would need to be updated to point to the new and correct one.

4) 404 Pages

Broken links trigger 404 pages. They are also one of the most common SEO issues after moving your website.

When you move your site, there's a chance that some of the old URLs still point to live content. It could confuse visitors, and they might end up on these pages rather than finding what they're looking for. Additionally, it affects SEO as it might result in people being sent to a page that doesn't have the content they're looking for.

The solution is simple: you need to go through every link on your website and make sure that it links back to an actual URL using 301 redirects before launching your new site.

Takeaways

With this list of SEO problems, you should be able to keep your site from being penalized and ranking lower. By doing so, you'll enjoy more traffic and possible ROIs.

What Beginners Need To Know About Website Plugins

When picking website plugins, it can be challenging where to start. There are so many options out there, and they all promise different things. In this guide, we will cover some of the critical things you should keep in mind when deciding which plugin to use for your business needs.

Website Plug-Ins: What They Are

Let's start with the basics. What are plugins? They're just bits of a website that provide additional functionality or options. Some can be straightforward, like an analytics plugin that tracks traffic to your site and tells you how popular it is. They can also refer to more advanced ones where people buy products on your site without you having to be there.

There are thousands of plugins available, and the plugin you choose must be suitable for your needs. For example, suppose someone wants a calendar on their website. In that case, they might want one with event management functionality or integration with Google Calendar. That's because not all calendars have those features built-in – they need to be added on.

How To Choose The Right Plug-Ins For Your Website

Here are  some tips to help you choose the right plugins for your website:

1. Know Your Business

When choosing a plugin, you always need to start looking at the nature of your business. For example, suppose you are a law firm that works with immigration cases and is looking for a website plugin to help make your work easier. In that case, something like “Immigration Website Plugin” might be what you're looking for.

2. Identify Your Website's Role In Your Business' Overall Marketing Strategies

What is the role of your website? Is it going to be integrated with your social media account? Is it going to be linked to a Youtube Channel? Will it be a way to generate leads?

Knowing the answers to these questions can help you decide on the plugin you need for your website. Therefore, you may consider a plugin that includes features like contact forms, e-commerce functionality, or social media integration to resolve these questions.

3. Know Your Platform

Which platform are you using for your website?  Is it WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal?

Knowing this information can also help you identify the plugin that is compatible with it. For example, if you are using WordPress, your plugin options will be different from running Joomla. This step is effortless, but it’s usually an overlooked aspect, particularly if you’re a beginner!

4. Paid Vs. Free Plug-Ins

Do you need a free or premium plugin?

The free version of a plugin may not offer everything you need. Thus, some may suggest that investing in a plugin can save you time and money by speeding up the process of future updates to your website. However, it can be hard to know whether the paid version will work better or worse for your company's needs.

Therefore, the best way to find out if a particular plugin is worth investing in is by reading reviews from other users. It is also important to note that choosing website plugins is an ongoing process that never ends.

5. Research If Support Is Available

Sometimes, even the best plug-ins experience bugs or confuse you on how they work. Thus, having a developer support community can be a great way to know that you won't always be alone in figuring out how to use or troubleshoot them.

Before taking a step further, asking yourself these questions can help you decide if a plug-in is worth relying on or not.

  • How frequently are the features and functionality of this plugin updated? Does it support future versions of your website?
  • Is there a developer community or forum that you can rely on when something goes wrong with your site?

Last Tip

Don't forget that plugins are not a one-size-fits-all solution! You may need to use more than one plugin for your business needs.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to narrow down your plugin options, it is time to dive into the plugins themselves. Hopefully, this information can make it easier for you to choose which are best for your needs.

Move Your Website with the Experts Today!

There are a lot of mistakes people make when choosing a website moving company. Unfortunately, these mistakes can lead to disappointment, frustration, and even financial loss, which is why a website transfer checklist should matter. This blog post will go over five of them that you should avoid when looking for a company to help you in your site move.

1) Not Getting A Quote

The first mistake people make is not getting a quote. Unfortunately, many websites moving companies are priced by the hour or project, so it's essential to understand how much your site will cost before starting down this path.

You could talk with one company and find that their rates are comparable to another company. Specify what you want and ask the company how much it will cost. You can then compare multiple quotes to see who has the best rates.

2) Choosing The Cheapest Option

The second mistake people make is choosing the cheapest option. Sometimes, businesses think that having the most affordable agency is beneficial, only to learn that they fail to deliver the benefits they offer. Another way of looking at this would be picking the most expensive option. However,  being expensive doesn't mean it's the best. 

The rule here is to find a company that can provide you with what you need at an affordable price point without compromising the quality of work.

3) Assuming That All Website Moving Agencies Are Equal

People make the third mistake when getting a company to move their website is assuming that they're all equal.

Transferring websites can be complicated, which means you need to choose the right partner for your project, or else it might not go as smoothly. As with any profession, there's always going to be someone better than others and vice versa.

So what are the signs of a good company?

  • First, they should be responsive and available. Second, you want to make sure you can get in touch with them when needed to have no delays on your project.
  • Second, does their portfolio include sites like yours? Again, having experience working on similar projects will always be better because it's easier for them to understand your needs.
  • Third, do they have the right team size? If you're working on a big website with lots of content, it takes more time and resources than just starting with an empty site.
  • Fourth, does their price seem reasonable? Some companies charge exorbitant rates for essential website moves.
  • Fifth, do they offer a guarantee? Again, a big mistake people make is failing to get assurance if anything goes wrong. You need to find an agency that can provide a guarantee in case your site crashes or malfunctions after the move.

If any of those five things are absent when picking a company, then it's best to move on and find one that ticks all of the boxes.

4) Not Reading Reviews From Past Customers

When choosing a company, people's fourth mistake is not asking for references or testimonials from companies they contact. A website moving company should provide you with recommendations with similar experiences to show their expertise and trustworthiness.

5) Not Setting A Timeline

The fifth mistake people make when choosing a company is not establishing milestones or timelines. Before you sign up with any company, you must know if they have enough time to complete the project in the timeframe that will work best for your needs. Setting up a doable timeline for the company and will fit your needs will ensure that your website is transferred without any problems.

Get the Right Plug-in for Your Site

Plug-ins are a great way to add features and functionality that WordPress doesn't have built into its core software. These plug-ins can make things easier for the user or allow you to do something you couldn't before.

However, plug-ins also have some downsides that we'll go over in this article. If your site uses them extensively, it's essential to understand these pros and cons so you know what's best for you!

Advantages Of Using Plug-Ins

First of all, plug-ins can make your site easier to use. If you are looking for a way to solve an issue that you may not be able to do manually in WordPress, there is likely a plug-in out there that will help.

For example, if you're worried about how your visitors can contact you, having a plug-in that makes it easy for them to submit a contact form can be very helpful. There are also many plug-ins out there that focus on making your site more search engine friendly. This feature is something you should always consider when designing or updating your site. Plug-ins like Yoast SEO and HeadSpace both do wonders.

Plug-ins also allow people with less experience or coding knowledge the opportunity to improve their websites. All they need to do is find and install the plug-in, then make changes.

Generally speaking, plug-ins can be an excellent way to add additional features and functionality without purchasing expensive software or hiring a web developer. Many plug-in designers also have tutorials and videos available that make it easy to learn how to use them.

Disadvantages Of Using Plug-Ins

However, using plug-ins offer some disadvantages as well:

Plug-ins can be expensive to purchase and use over time. If you find a free plug-in that does what you need it to do, great! But if not, you may find yourself paying a lot of money for the plug-ins to meet your needs.

They can also be difficult or impossible to uninstall and remove from your site without losing data. Some plug-ins are set up so that they cannot be removed from WordPress or your blog without the developer releasing an update.

They may also be a security concern because they are set up to allow your site to work with scripts containing viruses or spyware, which puts you at risk for identity theft.

Additionally, plug-ins may not always provide consistency in the way of features or the way they look. It may be because plug-ins are designed to meet a specific need, so it is difficult for them to provide different types of interfaces at once.

Others can also cause compatibility issues or interfere with other plug-ins, resulting in a malfunctioning website and poor performance because of all the extra features running at once.

Takeaways

Plugins are an excellent tool for websites, but they can cause disadvantages. For instance, they do have the potential to create security risks or slow down your website’s performance if there is an incompatibility with other plugins you may be using.

The best way to avoid these issues is by researching before installing any new plugin on your site and then following up after installation to set it up properly. It also helps to take a grain of salt; don't get too dependent on plugins because they could go away at any time! Be cautious when getting started with them so that you're prepared in case something goes wrong.

Why should you hire a third-party firm to move your website?

If you are thinking about moving your website, there are a few reasons why outsourcing this process might be the best option for you. It will save you time, and many reputable web design agencies can do this for you. Check this site for more information on how you can get started.

Why Outsource When Moving Websites

Here are some reasons why outsourcing this service may be beneficial for you.

1. You Don't Have Time Learning How To Do It

If you're not tech-savvy or have never done this before, moving your site can be a daunting task. In addition, you don't want to spend hours on the phone with your provider trying to figure out how their system works while simultaneously updating and moving all of your content.

Many firms specialize only in this service, so hiring them can help your company go through the process without hiccups. As a result, you'll save time, frustration, and hassle.

2. You're Busy With Other Priorities

Running a business is hard work. Besides taking care of your website, you have other priorities that may be more important, like marketing or product development. The beauty of outsourcing this service is you don't have to do anything except signing a contract and wait for the project to be finished. You won't need to invest time, energy, or money into it. You can focus on running your business; another company does all the work for you.

Therefore, it's valid to outsource this task so you can spend less time on it and focus on what really matters. However, you may not want to outsource this task to some inexperienced company in the process, as it could ruin your entire site. You need someone who knows what they are doing, which a reputable company will provide for you.

3. You've Never Done A Similar Process Before

One of the most common reasons to outsource your website move is you have never done it before and are afraid of doing something wrong. That's totally understandable since it's not that easy as just uploading a new site on top of an old one and crossing your fingers! It would be best if you had someone who has the expertise so they can make sure everything goes smoothly.

Therefore, it may be essential to outsource this need when you have no experience at all. It could cause significant issues for your site if you do it yourself and break something important in the process. This would also leave you wasting a lot of time trying to fix things on your own. You don't want this headache, so why not outsource it and be done with the stress?

You may also want to outsource if you're going through an SEO or redesign process for your site. These processes are time-consuming and require specialized knowledge that not everyone can do correctly. Again, save yourself the trouble of messing up during these areas by outsourcing it so that you can focus on the more critical aspects of your business.

4. It's An Affordable Option

You may opt for outsourcing this service instead of hiring an in-house team because it is more affordable and provides much better value for your business. In addition, you can outsource the work to a group of experts who are well-versed in moving websites from one server to another. This can help them leverage their specialized knowledge and experience with this type of project.

There are many companies out there that offer similar services, and they all have different rates. Some will charge you a set price for the service, while others may vary depending on how long the process takes. Therefore, it's best to compare prices from at least three or four firms to get an idea of your budget.

Bottomline

Hiring a third-party agency to move your website can be an excellent option for you and your business. Whether it's because you don't want to spend time learning how to do it, are too busy with other priorities, or because this has never been done before – this option may work best for you. 

Be cautious in what company you choose, though. Research and ask for recommendations so you can maximize the benefits they promise to offer.

Buy A Site Like An Expert

Have you ever wondered what is the best way to get a website? Do you know some of the things that go into buying a domain and maintaining an optimized site? If not, ask help from web design experts for more details on how it is done. Also, this post will get this task broken down for you. 

Start With A Domain Name

The first thing is the domain name or URL. Your website must have a .com domain extension rather than anything else, so you can be taken seriously as an online business. 

Also, the domain name is what people will see before they click on any links. Thus, make sure you have an easy and memorable address, like “YourCompanyName.com” rather than something complicated that no one will remember, like “yourcompanyurl.com.”

Get A Reliable Hosting

If you want t have a 24/7 functional website, hosting should be considered when purchasing your website. You can get hosting from less than a dollar to hundreds or thousands per month. They come with different features and services, so think about what your site really needs. The thing is, most people will be able to find an appropriate plan for their needs by simply shopping around a little bit.

Evaluate The Website Design

Website design is something else that varies in cost depending on the style, layout, graphics, and other elements that go into it. It may be tempting to get a website design for $50. However, there is often low-quality work in the final product if you make this decision. Thus, you may want to keep your budget higher and look at all of your options before making any decisions!

Know your Site's Purpose

Next up is deciding on what type of website do you want? Do you need a blog site so that people can post their articles and other content for viewers to see? Maybe create interactive e-commerce capabilities with payment processing features like PayPal? It all depends on your needs, so take time to ponder this critical aspect of a website.

Look For Great Content

Content is a crucial part of any website. You need to remember that you want your content to be readable, helpful, and engaging for your visitors. This makes them stay on it for an extended period – so take the time (and budget) necessary to create high-quality content before anything else.

Assess If The Site Adapts SEO Strategies

Search engine optimization can be a bit complicated. Still, there are some basics that you should know before making any decisions. First, your website needs to have keywords to rank on Google and other major search engines. 

Thus, make sure to include the most important words/phrases from your website's content on the page's title, URL, and meta tags. You should also make sure that your website is readable by humans (i.e., not too many links or large blocks of text).

Conclusion

The decision to buy a website is a big one, and the great news is you've already taken the first steps of understanding your options and what it takes to find a site that really fits your needs. 

However, there are still some things you should consider before making your final purchase. By doing so, this investment will likely pay off in the long run!

Moving a website? Here's what you need to know

Moving a website can be an exciting process, but there are many mistakes that you may not know about. Check this for more details on the reasons why doing so is sometimes necessary. 

Also, learn how to keep your site's traffic and SEO rankings high by avoiding these mistakes when moving domains and web hosts. Read on to find out more!

1. Ensure the New Web Hosting Company is Reliable and Reputable

One of the most common mistakes that website owners make is not researching their new web hosting company before signing up. When you transfer your site to a new server, it's crucial to know the company’s service and reputation. 

You may also research how reliable the servers are: whether or not there have been previous outages, and how quickly they can recover. Obviously, the last thing you would want is your website going down for any time whether while moving or just on regular days. That's why it's so important to be very thorough in planning out and executing this undertaking – it needs to go smoothly!

Another thing you can do is check out the company's reviews on social media sites, as well as customer testimonials that are posted online. You'll also want to find out if there will be a contract-signing fee for this service.

2. Ensure Mobile Accessibility

Your site's accessibility is vital even after shifting to a new server. If you want to make sure that it will be usable on any type of device, it's best to work with an expert specializing in mobile web design.

3. Test your Website for Performance Before Launching it

After moving your site, you may want to test your website for performance to ensure it loads quickly. 

If it doesn’t, start optimizing the site using SEO (search engine optimization) strategies. You may also check if all web pages have at least one image with descriptive alt text. This strategy helps search engines understand what they are about, so they can be easily searchable. 

4. Be Aware Of Any Changes in Google Search Results Rankings After The Move 

As you transfer your website from one URL to another, be aware of any changes in Google search results rankings after moving that may happen. For example, once a site is transferred onto a sub-domain, there’s a possibility that it will no longer be “ranked” for the previously relevant keywords on its original domain. 

If the process requires changing to a new URL or sub-domain, update any SEO information (keywords, meta descriptions) and taglines if necessary. This can help to reflect the new domain name. This step is crucial when the website has previously been translated into a different language. 

5. Check For Broken Links, 404 Errors, or Bugs On The New Site

Before the website transfer is complete, the last step should be to check for any broken links or 404 errors on the transferred site. This may require a manual review of all pages and images, but it's worth checking to avoid user frustrations down the line.

Other things that you can do to check the links are:

  • Search in your browser to see if links on other sites are linking back to you.
  • Check for 404 errors by checking through website analytics data.
  • Consider having a professional SEO audit done before moving your site to be a comprehensive review of the website content, links, and other SEO aspects.

The final thing worth mentioning is bugs – these should be fixed before proceeding with any changes in a site location or design.

The Right Way Of Choosing A Logo

So, you’ve decided to start your own business and now need a logo. Congratulations! But where do you begin? With so many options, it can be challenging to know which is the best fit for your company. Fortunately, many web design companies offer services, including logo design for business. You may visit this site for more information.

Also, we have created this post to walk you through the five easy steps of selecting the perfect logo for your new business.

Step One: What’s Your Business

What type of business are you starting? Consider everything from the industry to the tone of voice you want to have. As a rule, logos should match with what your company is and who it’s trying to reach. If you have an auto repair shop, for example, you will want something clean and simple that focuses on the sleek finish of a car. On the other hand, if you have an art gallery, your logo can be more elaborate and creative to attract customers with special interests in art styles or mediums.

Step Two: What Colors To Use

Consider what colors work well. Remember that not all companies are limited by only two basic options like black and white. Some may use red or brown to evoke a certain feeling in customers. 

Therefore, to choose the right colors for your business logo, consider what you’re trying to convey. For example, if your business is about romance and love, then reds and purples are a good choice because they carry those feelings in their design.

Step Three: How To Make It Look Memorable

A logo should be memorable and recognizable, so don’t choose an option that will fade into the background too quickly. You can accomplish this by selecting unique shapes, fonts, or colors, so it stands out from the rest of them you see on your daily commute!

Other steps you may take to ensure that your website stands out are:

  • Making sure you have enough space in the logo for a tagline or other text
  • Choosing a design that is different from the typical logo
  • Choosing colors that are not lazy or common

Step Four: Static Or Animated

The next step is to consider whether or not you want a static design or if you need one capable of animation!

If you're confused about which logo fits you, remember that a static logo is the best option for more established companies. In contrast, a logo with animation is perfect if you're starting your business.

But what exactly is an animated logo?

An animated logo is a design where the color, shape, or size of an object changes in response to user interaction. The idea is that when someone interacts with it, the colors change, and this quick flash will inform them that a successful exchange took place.

Step Five: Is It Versatile Enough

Now that you have your perfect design, it’s time to talk about how the logo will be used. Think about the versatility it may offer. For example, is it going to be on product packaging or digital screens? The choice is limitless, so make sure to take time to design your logo.

Conclusion

Choosing the suitable logo for your new business is crucial to establishing a positive first impression. You want people who see it to feel excited about what you have to offer, not confused or turned off by outdated design elements. 

To help make this process easier, we’ve outlined these five easy steps that will lead you in the direction of finding the perfect logo for your needs. Implement these today and watch as customers flock to your store!

Stop Missing Out On Traffic Through Digital Accessibility

The internet is an excellent tool for businesses and individuals to reach new audiences. But, unfortunately, many people cannot take advantage of the vast resources available online due to digital accessibility constraints. Digital Accessibility refers to the ability of an individual with disabilities or impairments (blindness, deafness, physical impairment) to use and enjoy all aspects of electronic media on computers or any other devices that can access the internet. 

This blog post discusses three ways you can make your site accessible so that everyone has equal opportunities!

For The Blind Or Visually Impaired

There are many ways to improve digital access to the blind or visually impaired. Here are some of them.

  • The first is to make sure your site uses text formatting for headlines, paragraphs, sub-headings, and bullet points or numbers instead of relying on image placement.
  • If you are visually impaired, there is an option for you in most browsers to access the web without relying on graphics. You can install screen reader voice software that reads the text aloud and allows you to navigate your computer with a keyboard or touchscreen device like an iPad if you cannot see what’s on your monitor. You can start your computer with VoiceOver activated, which will get these jobs done for you.
  • You can adjust the font size on your screen to make it larger so that you can see what is written without having to squint or strain your eyes. In addition, you can get a program, such as Jaws for Windows, which displays the contents of any window in large print so it would be easy to read from your computer monitor and provides a full navigation menu with keyboard shortcuts. You may also use word processors, which allow this to be set as a default.
  • You can use a screen reader to have your computer read back what’s on the screen. Also,  refreshable braille displays are an option if you have low vision, and magnification software can help make the text on the screen more prominent and easier to read.
  • If you're suffering from color blindness, you can also install software called Enchroma that helps people see colors more clearly by filtering out specific wavelengths. Again, it is not perfect for everyone, but it does provide an option for those who need assistance in identifying colors.

For People With Physical Impairments

The changes in how web pages are organized and structured have made websites more accessible to physically impaired people. Physical impairment includes people with limited or no use of their hands and fingers and motor impairments that stop them from using a mouse.

  • For Limited Hand Use:

You don’t need a mouse to use the web, so if you have limited hand use or are unable to move your hands at all, there is an option for you too! You can install voice recognition software called Jing to allow you to use your computer with just a few keys and commands. This makes it easier for you to surf the web without using a mouse or keyboard.

  • For Motor Disabilities: 

If you have motor disabilities that prevent you from using your hands (such as cerebral palsy), many free and paid programs are available on Macs and PCs. One such program is VoiceOver for Apple. This program allows you to hear a description of what’s happening on your screen and then use the arrow keys to navigate.

For The Deaf

If you're a deaf person wanting to access the internet, you may have a few more issues to contend with. These issues include using sign language, which can be very difficult or even impossible for your browser to identify the words you’re signing and reading them aloud in real-time.

There are some things that deaf people have an easier time accessing online: images, sound clips, etc., but you may also use sign language or type out what you want in a text message. This strategy can help not only deaf people but also those who are hard of hearing.

Conclusion

Web accessibility is essential, not just for those who need it. There are many ways to integrate web accessibility into your website design to have more traffic and a better user experience. 

How To Move A Website? A Checklist For Beginners

It's essential to have a plan in place before starting moving your site. Therefore, a checklist can be used to make sure you don't forget anything while doing so. If you need the help of an efficient and reliable web design agency, you can click here so you can get started.

But before we go into the details, what could be the possible reasons you would want to move your website? The following are the most common reasons for doing so, but there could be others:

  • You want to change hosting providers.
  • Your web host has shut down their business, so you need a new one
  • The design of your site is outdated, and it's time to update it.
  • And others!

What To Include In Your Checklist

If you’ve decided to move your site, here are some that you shouldn't miss.

Getting A New Domain Name

A new domain name is crucial when transferring your website, representing your business when you launch it. Therefore, it is essential to do this before the process gets completed. This step would also prevent the old domain name from showing up and confuse visitors coming to your site.

If you're curious about the new domain’s cost, some domains can be registered for less than $100 per year or higher, depending on their features. Setting one up will only take about 15 minutes of your time on any given day (depending on how long it takes to set up each subdomain).

Let Your Current Host Know When You'll Move The Site

If you're planning to transfer your site, it's essential to let your current host know about this. This tip is crucial because you might not want the site and its content to be “shut off” in the middle of the process. This result may cost you valuable time and money. Also, this process often takes an entire day or two depending on the services being used. Thus, it's essential to give your hosting provider notice as much time as possible.

You'll also want to think about how this can be done. As a general rule, you can do so by simply leaving them a message. However, this may be interpreted differently if not given enough context or direction. 

For example, if your site’s content was stored in one spot on their server, one message might work. But if kept in multiple places across their server, you'll want to specify that the content is “spread out” and will need more than one event or process to move your files altogether. 

Creating An Up And Running Duplicate Of Your Old Website

‘Why is it necessary to back up my website content?’, you may ask. 

The truth is moving your website can be difficult and time-consuming, especially if the new platform has different specifications than the old one. This concept applies when you move from a hosted service to another domain name or server.

Though this may be daunting, this process is not wasted time – it's a necessary step in moving your sites as it saves you time and effort in creating new content and getting back your rank in SERPs. Therefore, creating an up and running duplicate of your old one to serve as a backup might be helpful in your case.

To do this, you will need to create a copy of your current website. This step can be done using specific features of your platform or manually downloading all files from your server. You may then put them on another server, do the steps required and change your URL.

Some also suggest practicing this even if you are moving between two similar servers (e.g., both hosted by the same company). It may also probably best to make a backup of your website unless there is an “incident.” This incident may refer to a technical issue, security breach, or other unforeseen events. 

Check If All Links Are Working, Content Is Still Relevant; Images Are There

It's also important to check if all connections are working, content is still relevant, images, etc., before moving your website. This step can sometimes be tricky, especially with the site not being available for a while.

You might also want to make sure any plugins you are using work with the new hosting provider. It's also good to test your website before launching it to make sure it doesn't have any errors or other problems.

Maximize Your Website With These Plugins

Your website is the most important asset you have. It's your digital storefront, and it needs to be as good as possible to convert visitors into customers. If you need help in building your site, you may click here to get started.

With this fact, you may want to improve your site's performance for the best. One of the top ways to do this is by adding plugins. Plugins are third-party software that can do several things, giving you powerful new features to solve bugs and compatibility issues with browsers. They're simple for users (download them like any other file) but complex in their functionality.

Plugins To Have In Your Website Today

Plugins are small pieces of software that can be installed onto a website to add specific features or functionality. They can work independently from the website's core code, allowing them to provide quicker and more efficient services.

You could install many plugins on your site to help improve conversion rates, but not all of them are created equally. We'll discuss the seven must-haves for your website today to take care of everything from SEO optimization to customer engagement.

  • SEO Plugins

This is one of the essential plugins you should have on your website. It allows you to fine-tune all optimization aspects for search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. In effect, when search engines crawl through your site looking for content, it will be more easily found by them.

There are many SEO plugins available. It's up to you to choose what works best for your business.

  • Forms Plugins

If you want your website to be more interactive, then this plugin is a must. These plugins will allow you to create forms and surveys with ease, collecting information on product promotion. It includes everything from surveys to contact forms. Also, it makes it easy to customize them on both the front and back end without any coding knowledge required.

This plugin also allows site owners with forms on their websites to easily manage them by creating new ones or modifying existing ones without ever going back and forth to the site.

  • Analytics Plugins

If you want to understand who is visiting your website, then you need this plugin. It will record the number and type of visitors as well as where they're coming from. They will also allow you to track the success of your site by assigning a code that can convert people who visit it. 

These plugins work like social media analytics. When someone clicks through an ad, they'll be given a conversion ID for that to show up in analytics reports.

  • Spam Blocker Plugins

These plugin works automatically in the background, using sophisticated techniques like machine learning to analyze billions of posts per day and catch spam before it gets to your website. Akismet is free and easy to install, so it's a no-brainer to add this to your website.

  • Website Management Suite Plugins

Some domains offer various features, including security and publishing tools that help you manage your website with ease.

Conclusion

Your website is the key to your success, and you must take care of it. We know how hard it can be to find plugins or themes when there are so many out there, but we've done some research for you! Which one do you want to try first?

You Can't See The Future If You're Blind

If you are a business owner, digital accessibility is essential to consider for your website. This article will explore how digital accessibility can affect your bottom line and how it could be the key to success in today's digital world.

What Is Digital Accessibility

Web accessibility is a phrase that describes how the web is presented to people with disabilities. This means that websites should be clear, easy to use, and functional for everyone.

Web accessibility applies to all digital devices like iPads, iPhones, laptops, and desktops. It also helps people with disabilities experience the full range of your content without difficulty or limitations in viewing.

Benefits Of Digital Accessibility

Some of the reasons why digital accessibility matter in your business are:

1. People are more and more connected digitally.

Digital accessibility is the key to success. This statement means you need to be accessible on digital devices for your business to thrive in today's world.

2. Accessible websites can help small businesses grow by making it easier for people to find and contact them online.

When people with disabilities have a digital experience that's accessible, they're more likely to become loyal customers and advocates of your website or product. This is one area that small businesses can't afford to ignore.

In other words, if you don't provide an accessible digital experience for all users as much as possible, it can lead to problems in the long run.

3. Web accessibility often leads to higher search engine rankings, placing the site on top of the search results.

Web accessibility is an excellent tool for search engine optimization. For Google, it's even more important that websites are accessible as they're one of the most common ways people find content online. Thus, prioritizing or ignoring it has a significant impact on your site's traffic levels.

4. Web accessibility is essential for your business because it affects many aspects of the company, such as its reputation and credibility.

People want to work with businesses that are inclusive and acknowledge diversity. It is a great way to increase your customer base, as well, so you can stay ahead of the competition.

5. Web accessibility increases digital inclusion.

Digital inclusion increases digital literacy for all people, regardless of ability or circumstance. For example, if a website has good content that a search engine can read and index, then the site will rank higher on Google than sites with inaccessible features.

6. Web accessibility increases eCommerce sales.

Increased web accessibility means higher conversion rates and increased revenue in the long run, not to mention an increase in customer loyalty when they know that their website can be accessed from any device at any time by anyone with a disability or impairment.

The Importance of Websites Being Accessible on Digital Devices

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines help web content producers create documents that everyone can read, regardless of their ability or device. They are made and maintained jointly by the World Wide Web Consortium (WIC), the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Your site can maintain digital accessibility by ensuring that it complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The guidelines are comprehensive to cover a large number of scenarios, but they are not universally applicable. They include the following:

  1. Text is legible
  2. Links are not too close together that they can be easily pressed in sequence
  3. Images have alternative descriptive text
  4. Tables should not confuse their structure
  5. Make sure the site isn't too heavy and will work on various digital devices, such as tablets or mobile phones.
  6. Using formats like HTML text instead of images so screen readers can read information.
  7. Providing captions for videos and audio files.
  8. Ensure that the site is usable by people with low vision, color blindness, deafness, or motor disabilities.
  9. Providing keyboard navigation and using headings to make it easier for users to navigate through content.

*Note: the WCAG guidelines are not universally applicable to all digital devices, and there is a disparity between accessibility standards. Still, they can be used as a starting point for designing web content that is accessible by everyone.

 

Need A Website? Look At Their Portfolio First

The portfolio section of any top web design agency is an excellent way to get a sense of the quality of work they can produce. However, if you're looking for a new company to design your website, it can be hard to know which is the best. The following steps will help you avoid the red flags and find a great design team.

What is a Web Design Agency Portfolio?

A web design portfolio is a collection of work that a design agency has done. It allows clients to evaluate the quality and quantity of their work and determine if they are deserving of specific projects. 

Therefore, to avoid wasting more time, you should make sure that you know what to look for when evaluating an agency's portfolio. Here are vital points when looking at a web design agency's best portfolios:

  • Relevant projects and case studies featuring their client, business objectives, services rendered
  • Statistics and proof in numbers
  • Clear and concise explanations of their process and the tools they use
  • Impressive design work customized to each client's needs
  • A team explicitly dedicated to web development, content creation, strategy consultation with a social media expert

How To Evaluate Web Design Portfolio

Here are some tips you may try today.

1. Check Out Their Previous Work

When evaluating a portfolio, always start with what they have done in the past. Then proceed to ask questions, like:

How many projects has this company completed?

Asking this question is essential because their portfolio will represent their work and their efficiency in completing projects. Then, you may take time to research each project, pay attention to what was done well, and the disadvantages in that process.

  • What industries did they work in?

A design agency specializing in a specific industry will have had more experience with those types of projects. This can definitely provide the ease you need when coming up with your own website. However, if the company has worked in multiple industries, it may be less knowledgeable on particular types of design work.

  • Is there anything particularly unique about their style?

Evaluating the portfolio's prominent styles will also give you an idea of what to expect from them. Assess if they can provide a clear, concise portfolio. It's also essential to look through every project page carefully, as some companies only show off their highlights. In contrast, others go into detail about what they did.

2. Look Out for Red Flags

Although a portfolio is usually the best indicator of what you can expect from this company, there are some potential red flags to look out for. For example, if they don't make any sense- that's not good-even with a portfolio!

Other red flags include: 

  • If previous work is not easily accessible
  • If there are no testimonials, awards, or any further indication of the company's experience
  • If it appears that most projects were completed for clients in your industry (or an industry related to yours)
  • You cannot find anything about their claimed projects (e.g., the company may claim to have worked with a well-known client, but you can't find any traces of it)

Bottomline

A web design portfolio is used to showcase the web design agency's skills. It is a valuable tool that can help you evaluate an agency before committing to any project with them.

When evaluating portfolios, make sure it serves as a good representation of what they have done in the past and how well they work for clients. Do not be afraid to ask questions about projects if there are things needed to be clarified.

Web Designs That Are Accessible To All

The digital age has ushered in a new era of communication. The internet and social media platforms have become potent tools for sharing people’s opinions, interests, and ideas. It is indeed a time that we can expect that websites are accessible to all.

However, not everyone can participate fully in this revolution. Many people face barriers that prevent them from accessing or using the internet due to physical limitations, such as blindness, or economic constraints, such as lack of broadband connection.

What Is The World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility

The increased use of digital products in today's world has made it easier than ever to access information. But with this convenience come some obstacles for blind, deaf, or hard-of-hearing, those with intellectual disabilities, and other challenges that often prevent them from using the same digital tools as sighted individuals.

The World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative aims to ensure that web content is usable by as many people as possible. They use techniques like making websites universally accessible through adaptive design strategies and providing captions on videos so that deaf users can also participate in the conversation online.

One of the essential ways to design accessibility on the web is through universal design: designing things to be used by everyone, including those who are differently-abled. 

Accessibility And How It Translates To Your Website Design

There are many ways that you can ensure that accessibility is integrated with your web design. These include:

1. Using Captions

Using adaptive design strategies and providing captions on videos so that deaf users can also participate in the conversation online. This assures everyone interested or needs to use your website to do so with ease. It also guarantees that people who develop websites and content cater to these users using text-based applications.

2. Using Alt-Text

Another way to integrate accessibility in web design is to ensure that all images have alternative text (alt-text) tags. This provides a visual representation for people who are unable to see the image, including screen readers.

Images should include alt attributes with descriptive words or phrases in place of an empty feature such as “Image Name.”

3. Use Big Fonts and Color Contrast to Increase Accessibility

Another tip is to design your website to be browser-friendly. This includes ensuring that the page content has a larger font size. It's crucial that digital information appears large and is easy to read. Using a font size of 14 or 18 points and colors with high contrast can help low vision people make out the text on the screen. In addition, the text is clear and concise, links are visibly colored or underlined. All these strategies allow screen readers to differentiate them from the regular text in the site's body.

4. Use Voice Synthesizers

It also assures that the people who develop websites and content cater to these users using text-to-speech software. For example, this voice synthesizer reads aloud web pages or other digital documents.

Conclusion

Web accessibility is essential for people with disabilities and improves the user experience for everyone. There are a few different ways you can incorporate web accessibility into your website design to make sure it's accessible and inclusive. Implement these strategies today so that all of your visitors have an enjoyable browsing experience on your site!

 

Finding The Right Designer For Your Business

Choosing a web design agency isn't an easy task. There are many agencies out there that all have different quality and service levels, so it can be hard to decide which is the best web design agency for you. But don't worry! You'll find everything you need in this blog post.

What Makes a Web Design Agency Great?

Many qualities make a web design agency great. Though there are too many to mention, these qualities are imperative to a good web design agency:

  • Customized Services

The ability to customize the pages of your site (such as blog posts) so they're tailored just for you.

  • Good Customer Service

This is crucial when it comes to any business, but especially web design agencies. A web design agency with great customer service will do anything and everything to make sure you're happy.

  • Flexibility

The ability to accommodate your needs for web design, no matter what they are. This is especially true if you have a business idea that isn't traditional or comes from an unusual industry like food trucks!

  • Quality Services

It's one characteristic that stands out from the rest. A web design agency with quality services will make your website look the way you want it to. They will take their time and do what is suitable for your business instead of just rushing through the project. You're going to be paying for web design work, so they must be quality and customer service-oriented!

  • Technical Skills

Of course, soft skills are essential, but it also matters that they know web design well. It also matters how good they are when building your website or redesigning an existing one. Simply, a good choice web design agency is technically skilled when it comes to web design. 

  • Price

It's essential to get a reasonable price for what you're getting. Still, there are other factors more important than the agency's price. For example, you can't put a price on customer service and quality services.

How To Find a Good Agency?

There are many ways to find an agency that'll work best with you.

To find them, you can use online resources. Some popular sites to find web design companies are Upwork.com, Google+, Dribbble, Behance, and LinkedIn.

You can also ask your friends for recommendations or talk to the customer service staff at your favorite businesses for options.

What Questions Should You Ask Them?

There are a couple of questions that one should ask before hiring a web designer and marketing company.

Some of them are the following:

1. What are the services you provide?

This will give you an idea of what they specialize in and know whether their service is beneficial for your business. For example, you might need help with social media, but you don't want the company to design your website. Thus, you'll need one or two things done by the company instead of everything.

If there's an area of expertise that matters a lot for your business, it would be best to get a web design agency with experience in that area.

2. What is your design process?

You want to be sure that you like how the agency works and is a good fit. Thus, it's worth asking about their process before taking them up on any offer. For example, if someone has an in-depth understanding of your brand but doesn't have a specific plan for the design process, you might want to find someone who does.

3. What is your turnaround time?

Depending on the nature of work, the turnaround time for projects may vary. If the web design agency uses its skills and time depending on its terms, you can expect to wait anywhere from a few weeks to months for your website to get done. 

However, if time is one of the crucial things for development, then you should ask them how long it takes to complete an average website project. This is whether they're designing and building your website from scratch.

4. What kind of web design package do I need?

You need this information so you'll know that you can get the best bang for your buck. Several factors can affect the web design cost, such as hosting, SEO, and other services you might need.

5. What is your experience level?

If you want to validate their skills, ask about their experiences and what they have done with previous clients. If they don't give you any information or are inaccurate, that might be a red flag.

6. How much do they charge?

You will want to know what you are spending your money on. You should also make sure that the web design company is transparent with its pricing, so you won't get any surprises later in the game. Ensure as well that there are no hidden costs such as annual maintenance fees or any.

You Need These Tips (But No One Will Tell You)

Website themes have become a crucial component of website design, but they can also be challenging to handle. A theme is the visual representation of your website that visitors will see when visiting it. This article will cover some considerations when choosing between preeminent techniques for designing and developing website themes by discussing the following:

The Importance Of A Website Theme

Website themes are a crucial component of website design. Users will be able to quickly decide whether or not they're interested in your site by looking at the visual representation presented on it. If you don't have a theme, there will be nothing for visitors to look at.

Other ways that a website theme can benefit your business are:

  •  It provides an excellent first impression

Your website theme is the visitor's first experience with your site, and it will be what they judge you by. If people don't like it, then they won't stay on your site for long or head over to any other pages that you have.

  • No matter how informative your content may be, it is not as appealing if the website theme isn't interesting.

If you have important and unique content, but it's presented on a plain-looking site with an unappealing design, then people will be deterred from reading your blog post or pages.

How To Decide On What Type Of Website Theme

There are many themes to choose from, but you need to be mindful of what you want your website visitors to do. If all that matters is having a site full of information, then how the theme looks doesn’t matter. This isn’t the case in reality, though. Content and theme should be both engaging and appealing to keep your visitors longer.

To know which theme is perfect for your business, ask yourself similar questions like the ones below.

  •  What is the purpose of your website?

If you want to increase the conversion rates on your site, then a design that focuses more on usability might be best. This tip will help determine which themes work for specific purposes and why some types would not be suitable for particular uses. Also, if your website is meant for entertainment purposes, consider a theme with images and videos as the focal point.

  •  What do visitors usually look at?

The content of your website will determine what type of theme it should have to be successful. For example, if your visitors are all for content, then a minimalist theme might be perfect.

Know The Different Types Of Themes

There are many themes that you can choose from. However, here are some of the most common types.

  • Minimalist: 

Minimalist is the simplest type of web design theme, which uses more negative space than most styles. This type of website design typically consists of a white background with black font colors and visible text links to other pages or content. With the minimalist theme, visitors will easily find what they're looking for without navigating everywhere.

  • Elegant: 

This type of website design is perfect for anyone after a more sophisticated and luxurious feel. They're typically designed with an elegant color scheme and high-quality imagery that will make your company stand out in the best way possible.

  • Creative: 

A creative design uses bold colors and eye-catching graphics to catch people's attention. This type of theme usually works well for companies who want to present a youthful and innovative personality.

  • Corporate: 

For business owners looking for more of an elegant, professional feel, this website design is perfect. It typically includes blue text with white backgrounds, which will help them stand out in the crowd.

  • Blog: 

This theme has been one of the most popular website designs for the last decade. They're perfect for online journals and magazines looking to use today's latest technology.

  • Ecommerce: 

For those selling products or services, this type of website design will be a good fit. This theme usually includes an eye-catching banner that highlights what you have to offer and products and services.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a way to bring your website design up to date, implementing one or more of these strategies should help. Consider using them today and see what results they produce!

Design Thinking For Business Websites

Design thinking is a process that has been refined over the years to help solve design problems. Excellent web design agencies utilize it in their projects, too. 

In this blog post, we’ll try to break down what design thinking is, how it improves user experience, and why you should use it on your business website.

What Is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a collaborative design process that understands and empathizes with people’s needs. When designers think about the user experience, they consider everything from finding content on your website or app to taking action after seeing what you need.

Design thinking also starts by understanding who should be involved early on in the design process and how those people should work together.

It also starts with empathy—not judging or telling someone what they should want. Thus, designers must identify a user’s needs to understand their world before coming up with solutions that will make them more successful.

The best part about design teaching is teaching us how to create an experience that people will love, need and use.

Why Does It Matter?

Design thinking is a human-centered problem-solving approach—it's about empathizing with customers' needs to create solutions for them. Designers must identify user needs to design the best possible solution (e.g., something they'll use).

When your customers are looking for content on your website, you want them to find it easily—that’s design thinking. In its application to UX in web design and development, the concept can create and offer more intuitive, user-friendly, and easy-to-navigate websites. This approach makes websites and apps cater better to people and their needs. They can also navigate around it quickly without getting lost.

Aside from that, your audience wants content that's fresh and engaging. They want something that can help them solve their problems.  To do that, useful and engaging content should be delivered in a way that can be accessible to all.

Also, you want your customers' time spent on your site or app enjoyable, so design thinking plays an essential role in all of these things. To make this possible, try getting feedback from users early and often during the development phases. You have many different avenues for doing this, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, or even just observing them.

Design is all about solving the problem, and that should apply to user experience design as well. Design thinking can help you solve these issues by listening to your customers and understanding what they want from your website.

Why Use Design Thinking In Your Business Website

When you think about your users' needs and wants, you'll create a design that matches their needs and enhances the user experience.

Design thinking is about going through these steps to uncover all of your customer's wants so you can create a better product for them in the end. It makes it easier to build something they want by listening to what they say, watching how they behave, and understanding why it is important.

Aside from that, design thinking has practical benefits for your business. It can include:

  • Improved website design
  • You can offer a streamlined customer experience so they don't have to go through as many hoops or hurdles to get the product they want.
  • Better traffic, conversion, and revenues

Bottomline

Your website and business can benefit so much from design thinking. Design thinking can make your user experience so much better. It's essential to remember that design is not just about looking at something – it encompasses everything from how easy or difficult things are for customers. 

Design can be used in many different ways throughout a company, but one thing is sure: It matters.

Build A Better Website Today

The website theme of 2021 is all about content. Gone are the days of flashy design and heavy graphics, replaced by clean layouts with easy-on-the-eye fonts to make your site more readable. But, of course, it’s not just about making it easier for people to read.

There's a massive push for businesses to provide quality content on their sites, too, so that customers can find what they're looking for instantly. But don't worry, here are some tips you can implement to do most of the work for you!

Top Tips For Website Themes For 2021

Here are some tips for creating the top website themes of 2021.

1. Use A Simple Color Scheme For Your Website

If you think that you want to be trendy and cool, think again. A minimalist color scheme is the best way to go for your website theme in 2021.

But, of course, you can always add different shades or a gradient later on if you need more variety. To help you get an idea of what colors work well together, here are some colors that people have used in their backgrounds:

These are some of the colors that might be good to use in a website color scheme:

– Cornflower blue

– Black

– Light grey

– Silver

– White

These colors can work well with any other color, but they all have one thing in common: They're subtle and don't take away your visitor’s attention from the content of your website.

2. Try To Use Easy-To-Read And Few Fonts As Possible

There are also many fonts out there that are exclusive to specific themes and website creators, but if you're looking for fonts that work well across the board, then these will be your best bet.

– Lato

– Arial

– Helvetica Neue

– Georgia

Pair these font styles with great content, and you'll have a website with an excellent user experience.

3. Keep The Design Of Your Site Clean And Uncluttered

Nothing is more distracting than a cluttered website that's loaded with flashy animations and content. Don't be afraid to take risks, but make sure your website design reflects the tone you want to convey for visitors to enjoy their time on your site.

Some tips to remember are:

– Keep the design simple

– Use bullets and numbers

– Use white space to break up content and use straightforward typography

– Place content in clear, well-organized sections with headers so visitors can find their way around quickly and easily.

4. Minimize Distractions On The Page

Gone are the days when web pages are filled with flashing banners and pop-ups. Not only are these ads annoying, but they're also distracting from your content. If you want visitors to stay on your site for a while, don't distract them with flashy (and, in most cases) irrelevant advertisements.

5. Make Sure To Use High-Quality Images

There are also certain things to remember when it comes to pictures. Ensure that your images are minimalist, high quality, and not too big. On the other hand, you can try using images as a background on your website, too.

Bottom line

The future of website design is already here. So if you're looking to attract and retain customers today, it pays to know what the trends will be in 2021. Fortunately for you, we have compiled a list of some strategies that are likely to become famous, so you can implement them now while they're still fresh! 

Online Business Success Through E-Commerce SEO

When it comes to e-commerce sites, SEO is a significant factor in increasing traffic and transaction volume. This article discusses how to improve your e-commerce SEO traffic, transactions, and revenue. It also covers various strategies that you can use to achieve these goals, such as keyword research and backlink building. You may also read this quick e-commerce guide to get you started on the right path to E-Commerce SEO success.

What is E-Commerce SEO

E-commerce SEO is optimizing your products and services for Amazon, Alibaba, and other e-commerce sites. To improve visibility in the organic results on those platforms, you may include using keywords, tags, and meta descriptions and adding backlinks from sites with high domain authority.

Benefits of E-Commerce SEO

E-commerce SEO has many benefits, including higher traffic, transactions, and revenues. It also improves customer conversion rates and the number of returning visitors.

1. Increasing Traffic

E-commerce SEO can help you rank higher in search results which will then lead to more traffic. This is why your website copy, images, and meta descriptions need to contain keywords related to what people are searching for.

The trickier part, however, is getting in the top three search results. This is where e-commerce SEO comes into play.

2. Increasing E-Commerce SEO Transactions

When you optimize your offerings for e-commerce sites, can it increase organic traffic better transactions? Here are some steps to consider.

  • Keywords and keyword research. 

Using the right keywords will help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). You should aim to get into the top three search result positions for better click-through rates.

  • Provide an accessible and navigable website. 

This will encourage customers to stay on your site and purchase more items instead of clicking out and going elsewhere.

  • Optimize for mobile devices. 

Mobile search engine traffic is increasing every day, so you must optimize your website for these smaller screens and responsive design.

  • Add videos to increase customer conversion rates. 

Include stories about your products and services, instructional videos (i.e., how to apply makeup), or other helpful video content on your website for customer engagement.

  • Ensure elimination or management of abandonment rates with an efficient checkout process. 

Take advantage of every opportunity to decrease the number of abandoned carts by providing essential items. These include size selections in a drop-down menu instead of requiring users to go through multiple steps to find their needs. You may also opt to provide a shipping calculator that provides accurate rates at the time of checkout.

When searchers click on a result that takes them directly from Google, they should be greeted with a compelling page that has the products they're looking for. This will lead to more transactions and higher conversion rates.

3. Increasing E-Commerce SEO Revenue

More traffic and more transactions lead to an increase in revenue from your e-commerce business. With these benefits of e-commerce SEO, it's easy to see why you should take it seriously.

Some ways to increase revenues are to focus on higher-priced items, offer special discounts, and use advertising campaigns.

Also, another key is to ensure that your site has as much relevant content for its visitors to stay longer and purchase more from you.

If you're a niche retailer, create a specific and targeted URL for your site to increase the return of investment (ROI) of an eCommerce SEO campaign.

Takeaways

The benefits of E-Commerce SEO can't be overlooked. By implementing some of the ways mentioned, you can see increased traffic, transactions, and revenues.

Polish Your Website Like a Pro

The internet is a vast and diverse place, with new niches and subgenres popping up every day. This makes it hard to stay on top of it all! If you're looking for inspiration on the kind of website theme to suit your needs, then read on.

In this blog post, we'll go over some strategies to help make your site shine so bright that people can't resist clicking through to see the goods you're offering.

1. Add A Video Or Slideshow To Your Website

If you can create videos, then why not do so? Videos are inexpensive and a very effective way to showcase your company and the products you offer. Together with using images, they help paint an even more vivid picture of your business. Adding either one or both will make sure that you're creating content and providing something visually stimulating for visitors.

You can also add a video to your website using YouTube as a platform for sharing them. You may also host them on your site with an embedded player that will appear right on the page of content where it's needed.

Adding images is simple, too—many reputable photo-sharing sites are free and easy to use. Images are one of the most popular types of content online, so if you're unsure what to share on your website other than text, images are a great option.

2. Create An Interactive Map Of The Area Around Your Business

It's essential to provide a map of the local area to make sure that your site is easily located by your target audience

To do this, you may

  • Create an interactive map of the area around your business. This can be done using Google Maps and selecting “Create Map” in the upper left corner before adding markers to show nearby points of interest. You will also need to create a custom URL for people to access your map (website link).
  • You may also want to add a link pointing back to your map in the “About” section of your profile.

The interactive map is not only an excellent marketing tool, but it also allows you to show people what's around you and where they can go while they're there. Not only will this make them more likely to visit your store, but it can also highlight your points of interest.

3. Use Social Media To Promote Your Products And Services

You may also use social media for advertising your website. This strategy is sometimes called social media integration and can be a great way to get your website in front of the people who could most use it.

4. Get Professional Photos Taken For Your Website And Other Marketing Materials 

Nothing makes a website look instantly more professional than high-quality photos. Even if you think you'll never need them, it's worth hiring someone to take some just in case.

5. Update Content Regularly 

Content matters to keep people coming back to your website. Thus, a content strategy is crucial if you are trying to draw traffic from search engines like Google. You'll want it to include regular updates on new products, sales, and strategies for how to make the most of what you offer.

You can start this as simple as adding a blog to your website or content to your social media pages.

6. Offer Discounts Or Incentives For People Who Sign Up For Email Notifications

Last on our list of high shine tactics is to make sure you're offering incentives for people who want more information from you. A great way to do this is by discounting or giving away free samples in exchange for an email address.

Conclusion

The web is a competitive market. You've got to do what you can to stay on top of your game to survive and thrive online. These strategies are simple, but they work! If you follow these steps today, the benefits will be clear tomorrow. What other digital marketing strategies have helped you with your website?

The Mobile Web Is Here, Are You Ready?

How do you feel when you visit a website that doesn't look good on your phone? Annoyed, right? Visitors to your site are no different. If they have to squint or zoom in and out repeatedly just to read the text, they will be less likely to convert because it's not convenient for them. This is only one of the many reasons to have a mobile-friendly website

This blog post is about how you can make sure that your website visitors never leave without converting into customers in a few minutes.

Quick Tips

If you think that mobile optimization tricks can take you days and weeks, think again. These quick tips will make your website mobile-friendly in five minutes or less, and they're all easy to do:

  1. Use responsive design so that the site is optimized for any device

Responsive web design is a practice that has been around for a few years. It is the strategy of designing your site to adjust to different screen sizes and resolutions, from desktop monitors to tablets or smartphones.

  1. Add an easy navigation menu

The navigation bar should be visible on any device because this makes navigating through your website more accessible than having hidden links. Ensure to include them at the top of every page so visitors can easily find what they're looking for from any location on your site.

You may also add an icon or symbol which indicates when you need to scroll down the page.

  1. Make your form fillable on mobile devices

Give people an option to type in their information or select a list of things they want to do. If they are done, then tell them to submit it. All documents should be as easy and quick to complete as possible.

  1. Make sure that the font size is large enough to be readable on a mobile device

A large font size is also helpful in optimizing your website for mobile visitors. They are valuable as headlines or navigation bars, and they are usually larger than 14 pixels.

  1. Ensure that links work on mobile devices

If you have a link to another site, make sure it is formatted so that when someone clicks on it using, they will be taken directly there and not to any other page.

  1. Remove distracting elements on mobile devices

You mustn't have any unwanted images, blinking ads, or other distractions taking up space and ruining your UX for users of smaller screen sizes. In addition, it will make it more difficult for them to browse through pages quickly because they constantly have to manage these details and will be less likely to want to return.

  1. Adjust scroll speed

To make your site load faster on mobile devices, you can adjust the speed that people can scroll through pages. This step will make it easier for them to go through the website without feeling like they are forced to do so in an artificial time frame.

Bottomline

One of the most important things to do to stay relevant as a business is to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. If you haven't checked this off your list, we recommend doing it now. You might think that making changes like these is difficult and time-consuming, but they're not! So what’s holding you back from getting started?

E-Commerce SEO Services For Your Unique Needs

An e-commerce business is a complicated thing to run. You have to keep your products up-to-date, manage the supply chain and shipping process, keep customers happy with service, and more. But when you're running an online store, an SEO quick guide and other services can help you rank higher in search results!

E-Commerce SEO Services

Here are some e-commerce services your business can try today.

eCommerce Keyword Research

Keyword research is the first step in an e-commerce SEO service. Your keywords are your pathway to customers, and they need to be carefully chosen for a good return on investment (ROI).

Building Links

Links are also essential for ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs) because they tell e-commerce sites that people care about. There are two types of link-building techniques: internal and external.

Internal link-building techniques improve the ranking for specific keywords on your website. It is a sound practice in SEO that helps e-commerce sites understand which pages are most important on your website. This service makes it easier for searchers to find what they're looking for.

Meanwhile, external link-building techniques are when you attract links from other websites to your site and improve those keywords. With so many sites offering content of similar value, it's not easy to get the attention of high-authority sites. One way that helps is by providing new and valuable resources in your industry through external resources.

Technical Website Analysis

It's also essential to improve your eCommerce website's code in detail, such as image enhancement, load speed, and technical on-page SEO elements. Again, this might require a comprehensive analysis of your eCommerce site to identify opportunities in content, code optimization, rate & conversions, and recommendations on improving these areas.

A technical report may be completed on the site, including a crawl of the home page and additional product pages. This strategy may be done by a team of SEO professionals who have expert knowledge in this area (typically less than five minutes).

Complete eCommerce SEO Audit

A comprehensive audit of the entire website may also be conducted, including content, backlink profile, and other factors. This practice can help to improve website speed and conversion rates. 

In addition, it can include image optimization, technical reports, and comprehensive audits for a complete client's site analysis.

eCommerce Content Strategy

The improvement of existing and new content should be made on an ongoing basis. Tailoring your content to specific user queries is very useful to increase conversion rates.

Also, creating strategic branding campaigns that cater specifically to each customer niche may be significant. Educational institutions, for example, may create entirely new content for increased visibility and shareability.

Conversion Optimization (CRO)

Making changes to your website may boost your eCommerce conversion rate and make it more user-friendly. In addition, there are conversion techniques, modeling tools, and software that include an assessment of your website and content.

In addition, looking at how your site is performing compared to other sites with similar products or services may also help you identify what needs improvement.

SEO Reporting & eCommerce Focused Stats

Every month, a comprehensive monthly report detailing all activities accomplished and SEO metrics may be beneficial to ensure your business growth and profitability. This service is essential to see where your site is ranking and identify the keywords generating sales for you.

3x More Customers And Reach Your Goals Faster With Mobile SEO

Mobile SEO is a hot topic in the world of digital marketing. Smartphones and tablets are quickly becoming the preferred way to connect with customers — one of the many reasons why your website needs to be mobile-friendly.

Companies that have not adapted to this shift will find themselves at a significant disadvantage. As mobile usage continues to climb, businesses need to consider how they can optimize their site for these devices.

In this blog post, we'll discuss what you need to know about Mobile SEO and how it can help your business succeed!

What Is Mobile SEO?

Mobile internet usage has surpassed desktop and tablet, with more than 50% of all online time spent on mobile devices. Mobile SEO is the process of optimizing your content for the Mobile Web because it provides a better user experience on these small screens. Mobile SEO is a broad term that includes many factors to optimize content for mobile devices.

It is a process just as SEO on desktop webpages must succeed in today’s competitive marketplace with all the different devices and screen sizes.

As mentioned, many components go into making an optimized website. This includes content, page layout, and site structure.

Why Is Mobile SEO Important?

Mobile SEO is vital as it is one of the most critical factors for ranking a website and getting found online. People use their phones to see the internet more than they use tablets or desktops. So on your website, you need to make sure that it is easy for people to see it when they are using their phone to buy things from your website.

Mobile SEO also makes it easier for people to find businesses that offer what they need at their fingertips. It is also more affordable than traditional marketing, so it is worthwhile to get your business Mobile-ready.

What To Avoid In Mobile SEO?

There are things that you can do to be Mobile SEO-friendly and things that you should avoid.

First, do not use animation on your website or have too many videos if the content is heavy. Provide a mobile site for users who are accessing it via their phones that has similar content.

It's also important not to try to block Javascript, CSS, and image files. These files are necessary for graphic content. By blocking them, you risk losing mobile traffic looking for the information you have to offer. Work on optimizing them instead.

You may also Fix the 404 error on mobile. This 404 error message prevents users from accessing the content they are looking for and leads to a decrease in ranking on search engines.

Lastly, avoid taking site speed for granted. Mobile users are more likely to abandon sites that take too long to load. Remember that setting up a fast mobile site only takes a few seconds when you’re working with a pro.

Bottomline

Mobile SEO is a wise investment for any company or individual who wants to reach their desired audience on mobile devices. More and more people are browsing from smartphones and tablets.

Video Content Ideas For Your Next Website Design

Videos are a great way to spice up your website or blog. They allow you to add personality, tell stories, and share knowledge that otherwise would not be possible in text form. You may request your web designer to add video integration to your website today.

With videos, you may also create an interactive experience for users on your site by providing them with valuable entertaining and informative content. If you’re looking for resources to integrate videos into your blog posts and websites, this post is for you!

Types Of Video Content Your Audience Are Looking For

Here are video content ideas to include on your website.

1. How-To Videos

These videos teach people tips and tricks they might not have known about before. It could be anything from DIY home improvement tutorials to cooking hacks! Other topics may be on how to save money and how to find the best deals.

To create how-to videos, it's best first to identify what people in your niche need. For example, if you're a fashion blogger, most of the videos on your blog would most likely be on outfit ideas. In that case, it'd be wise to add how-to videos about getting dressed for different occasions or tips on saving money when shopping.

2. Product Demonstration Videos

Sharing how a product works is a great way to help customers understand what they are buying. Like the many video demonstrations of products on YouTube, they are a great way to showcase your product.

You may also create video tutorials that show how customers can use or assemble a product. Don't forget to share what tools, materials, etc., you need the tutorial to know how much time is required.

3) Behind The Scenes

Another video content idea is to show the behind-the-scenes of your company. What's it like on a day at work? How do you make decisions about what products or projects are priorities? If possible, have video visits with experts in their field so customers can get an idea of how they could work for this company someday. You may also show the benefits or awards that your brand has received if any.

Posting this kind of content can help customers feel closer to you and give them a sense of what your company is all about.

4) Webinars

If your website loves to educate your audience, you might want to consider webinars. Webinar videos are often suitable for companies because they tell customers about a product or service in an interactive way. This helps to get more people involved and also benefits the company.

Before creating webinar video content, you may want to consider the following questions.

  • What do I need?
  • Who is my target audience?
  • How do I start creating video content for my webinar?
  •  Why should I use a video webinar to educate customers about product X or service Y?

5) Live Streaming

Want to let your customers know what your business is currently up to? Then, live streaming video content could be the way to go.

Here are some questions you might want to ask if you're exploring this video content idea.

  • What is live streaming video content, and how does it differ from other types of video content?
  • Why should I use live streaming video on my website or blog?
  •  How do I get started with live streaming video content on my website?
  • What are the best apps to use for live streaming video on a computer or mobile device?

Don't forget to integrate an introduction and conclusion that's short, snappy, and engaging (maybe even entertaining!) at the beginning and end of each of your live streaming posts.

Conclusion

Great content is an enduring principle in digital marketing. But what is great content? Great content can be blog posts, images, or videos, too! We hope that your business can attract more audiences by following the tips above and provide the engagement you wanted! 

How to Make Your WordPress Site Mobile Friendly

Mobile-friendly websites are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. One of the reasons is because mobile traffic is growing at an unprecedented rate. Other reasons for a mobile-friendly website include the increasing number of its users and the fact that Google rewards mobile-friendly websites.

With Google penalizing sites for not being mobile-friendly it's more important than ever to optimize your WordPress site for all devices. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms and can be easily customized to reach a mobile audience. It is not just for blogs, but you can also create an e-commerce site or even build your own social networking site like Facebook.

In this blog post, we will discuss how to build a mobile-friendly website with WordPress. We'll walk you through the process of finding a suitable theme and installing it on your site. You'll also learn about some plugins that can help make your WordPress site more user-friendly for visitors browsing from their phone or tablet. 

Mobile-Friendly is an essential trend in web design these days, so let's get started!

How To Optimize Your WP Websites For Mobiles

Here are steps to optimize your WP for mobiles. 

  1. Choose The Right Theme

Choosing the correct WordPress theme is the first decision in creating a mobile-friendly website.

WordPress themes allow you to create a mobile-friendly site. Check your WordPress version and the latest installed theme version. Some articles might include mobile-friendly features and may be able to fix your problem. The theme of your site should be up-to-date to ensure that you clearly define the purpose of your site and entice future visitors.

To do this, first decide if you want a responsive theme or an adaptive theme. A WordPress Mobile Friendly Theme will load automatically with the latest mobile technologies and features, which means that your site is optimized for tablet viewing too!

2. Use Mobile-Friendly Plugins

Some mobile-friendly WordPress themes come with plugins to add to your website or use the theme's built-in functions.

For example, a sidebar widget plugin is suitable for your website. It helps you have both a desktop version and a mobile version.

But it doesn't work on the mobile version, so you need to make sure to use plugins that are friendly for phones or make them better with optimization. You should also check your existing plugins and make sure they are the latest versions. An outdated plugin might not work well on a mobile device.

3. Configure the WordPress site to use Google's AMP framework

Google has been using the page speed of web pages for a long time in their search engine. They introduced Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), which loads web pages faster on mobile devices. It makes a website more friendly to use on a mobile phone.

You can set up AMP on your WordPress website to be easier to use on mobile devices. You can also optimize the website for mobile users by setting a time delay for Defer Parsing of JavaScript.

Accelerated Mobile Pages make it easy for visitors on smartphones to use the site without any hiccups.

4. Ensure You Have A Reliable Web Host

All the optimizations you apply to your site won’t mean anything if you have an unreliable host. Thus, if you want to have a website that is dedicated, you should not use shared hosting. Shared hosting can cause your website to crash if someone with too much traffic visits it.

Also, the practice of page caching can help you make your site load faster for people who visit it. This can help them stay interested in the site.

Conclusion

WordPress is one of the best ways to have a website with mobile optimization. By following the optimization tricks provided above, you can ensure that you make the most of your WP website today.

Repurposing Videos For Wider Audience

“How can I repurpose my video content?” This is a question that many video creators are asking themselves. For one, you can upload your video to YouTube and then embed it on other platforms like Facebook. You may also ask the help of a digital marketing agency to get your videos embedded on your website.

Creating video content is time-consuming and expensive, but it doesn't have to be. In this blog post, we will discuss how you can repurpose your video content to save money and increase the reach of your message!

Ways To Repurpose Videos

Despite the advantages that come from video marketing, it can be a time-consuming and costly endeavor. Fortunately, video creators can repurpose their content to save money, reach a wider audience, and increase ROI.

1. Infographic

There are many ways to transform your videos into infographics. To create a successful infographic, remember to condense the information. Decide which data points, steps of the process, or trends you want to include in your graphic, and then go there.

To further improve your writing skills and make better infographics., sections can be added that cover more about your topic in detail.

2. Highlight Reel Out

A highlight reel out is an entertaining video that promotes the best parts of your business. To make a highlight reel, it is essential to start with footage from some of your most popular and successful videos. Your highlights should include funny or engaging moments in addition to showcasing product features and benefits.

You can repurpose your videos through this strategy. If you have multiple videos about the same topic or product, consider creating a highlight reel out as it's a great way to emphasize the best parts of your video content. Pick out some highlights from each category and create a short “mashup” video.

3. Blog Posts

You might have heard the term “repurposing” before, where a blog post is turned into an animated video. The reverse also works – converting your already-animated blog post into text form.

This strategy can give you more space to talk about all the details of that topic without limited time constraints or comprehensibility. It's also an excellent strategy for SEO, as a blog post can rank higher in Google than other types of content.

4. Email Content

Your video content may also be transformed into email content. Like a blog post, this tactic provides more space to talk about all the details and is also an effective SEO strategy.

However, if you're like most people,  your inbox is overflowing with unread emails from the past few days. You might be thinking that repurposing content to email isn't an efficient use of time.

5. Podcast

Not only are they inspiring, but podcasts have the potential to increase your traffic. They are an excellent way to use audio clips you have already recorded. They take less time, and they are easy for people to listen to. 

The easiest way to turn videos into podcasts is with a video-to-audio converter. You can shorten the length of the video while keeping it in its original format. You may also use voice recording software and then convert it to an mp file so people can listen.

Takeaways

Videos are excellent sources of ideas. They can also be transformed into podcasts and audio clips. Use videos, recordings, or blog posts from the past with new insights. This will help you reach your target audience more conveniently without spending as much time creating content equally appealing for them across all media types.

Website Theme Essentials To Know

A website theme is a design that can be applied to your site to give it an overall look. There are many different types of themes, and each one has its pros and cons. If you need help with a website theme for your brand, click here.

What Is Website Theme

A theme will include background images or color schemes, fonts, logos, and page elements like buttons and icons. For example, a blog might use an image of the blogger as its avatar. At the same time, a corporate site may have more professional-looking text with icons representing critical services.

Themes help you choose how you want visitors to perceive your business before they even get there. Deciding on the correct type of theme for your business will depend on your goals. Here are some factors that should be taken into consideration when choosing:

1. What Colors Do I Want My Website To Have?

Your website theme colors should reflect the colors of your brand. They should be carefully selected to ensure your site matches the visual identity of your business.

You may match colors with other branding materials like logos, product packaging, and store design to choose website theme colors. Use a color scheme you are familiar with or one that is popular for businesses in your industry. If possible, you may also choose a palette made up of colors you enjoy.

2. What Is My Website’s Purpose?

Your site's theme should be tailored to meet your business needs and goals. Some areas may need a completely different design than others, depending on whether they are selling products or attracting leads for their services. If it isn't clear what kind of site, you may go reassess your website's purpose.

3. What Features Does The Theme Offer (e.g., WooCommerce integration)?

Depending on the purpose of your website, different features may be necessary. For example, suppose you sell products online and want to offer a WooCommerce integration. In that case, it's worth looking for themes with this feature.

If your website’s purpose is for the blog, you might also include features, such as a header slideshow, blog post slider, or a featured post widget.

Some of the features you might include are contact forms, galleries, testimonials, or other lead generation content for regular websites. A header slideshow with images and text can be found at the top of your website to visually communicate who you are as an organization and why visitors should stay on your site.

You might also use other features for different pages, such as an “About Us” page with information about your company or blog post sliders. These can be used to highlight the most recent posts on your website.

4. Do I Need A Responsive Layout?

Another aspect to consider for your website layout is responsiveness. Responsiveness is a design concept, which means that the structure will change based on the size of your screen or device you're viewing it on.

This factor can be as simple as adjusting margins to make sure text doesn't overlap at different resolutions. It can also require more drastic changes, such as transforming an image into a thumbnail-sized square when viewed on any mobile device.

5. Are Websites Theme Free?

Themes are the way that you can customize your site's design and features to meet your needs. Some themes may be free, while others have paid upgrades available on top of the base price. Remember that depending on what kind of website you have in mind, some popular theme categories may require payment to use.

Takeaways

Website themes are essential for making your site look good and work well for you. There are many different kinds of themes to choose from, so always start with the question, ‘What type of website will suit your business’ essential needs?’

Digital Marketing Strategies To Try Today

Videos are excellent tools to add to your digital marketing strategies. They interestingly provide information and serve as a key for the content shared socially or watched on a mobile device. They can engage audiences with text overlays or video responses from others online. They may also be transformed into a perfect opportunity to showcase your products.

However, it is a common misconception that video marketing is the only way to attract customers. Many other digital strategies can be just as effective, if not more so.

1. Social Media

One of these tools is social media. The world's largest social networking sites have made it easier than ever before for companies to advertise themselves and their products globally.

People get their daily entertainment and information from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Businesses can take advantage of this by developing campaigns that people are interested in. They should make the content, high quality, so they stand out from the rest!

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing is another digital marketing tool that is worth mentioning. It's also a very effective one when used correctly. Email campaigns are an excellent way to promote products, services, and offers by sending messages via email directly to customers. You can also do audience segmentation and then send them messages targeted to their interests.

If you have no clue where to start with email marketing, we recommend using the following email platforms:

  • Mailchimp 

This is a popular choice for small to medium-size businesses because it's user-friendly and affordable.

  • AWeber 

If you're looking for an easy way to create follow-up campaigns, then this might be your best option. It also integrates with  Facebook, so you can link your email marketing campaigns to Facebook's platform.

  • Autopilot 

This is an excellent option for eCommerce stores. It integrates with many shopping carts and lets you send personalized emails to people who buy things.

Don't forget that sometimes the best digital marketing tools are those that don't cost too much! Email marketing is cost-efficient and easy to set up for any business.

3. Influencer Marketing

If you think that email marketing or social media marketing isn't for your business, why not try influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing has the potential to be one of your best digital marketing tools because it's new and trendy. It also can reach out to an audience you might not have been able to tap into before. This is because influencer marketing is social media-based, encouraging people to purchase when they see their favorite bloggers or celebrities promoting a product.

However, it's also important to remember that influencer marketing is a gamble. You can't guarantee that it'll be good, but you might get the right ROI (return on investment) if someone with more influence than you tells people about your product.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Another tool that you might want to try is affiliate marketing.

When you sell something through your affiliate links, it means that you will get a commission. You can find these links on blogs and other places on the internet.

Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to make money. It does not take much work, and you can easily make more by partnering with other people who sell the same things as you do.

5. Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising might sound new to you. If you don't know what it is, it's a type of digital advertising that uses algorithms to buy and sell digital ads automatically. This is usually done through a business website that matches businesses and their advertisements.

Programmatic advertising takes up more than 60% of all online advertising because it offers high-precision targeting options for businesses that have digital ads.

It's a great tool that allows advertisers to buy or sell inventory through auctions that happen in real-time using technology.

Takeaways

Marketing your business through videos is excellent. However, there are other digital strategies that you can use for your business. Programmatic advertising, affiliate marketing, email marketing, and social media are marketing channels you may also want to explore.

Accessibility In Web Design

Accessibility is a hot topic in web design these days. The great news is there are options to help you get an affordable and accessible website for your business. Read more to learn how web agencies can help get this done.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published guidelines for designing websites accessible to those with disabilities. The Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA) specification offers additional guidance on making web content and applications more accessible to people with disabilities. 

What does this mean? It means that your website needs to be made available for screen readers and other devices, like tablets and smartphones. This blog post will walk you through what it takes to create an accessible website!

Website Accessibility For Your Business

In the digital age, being an inclusive organization is necessary for business success. There are estimates that approximately 50% of people have disabilities or impairment in their daily lives. Furthermore, 60 million Americans who are considered disabled can work and contribute to society. Thus, your website needs to be accessible to anyone with a disability and everyone else. 

To start the design process, it's essential to consider how your site can care for the different disabilities. This requires an understanding of what accessibility means for your organization and designing an accessible web experience that meets their needs.

Some disabilities, such as blindness or low vision, may not use standard text-based information. They usually need a visual design that uses large fonts and clear formatting (to make the site more accessible for those with limited sight). Some may also require the use of audio files in addition to written content.

Other disabilities like Parkinson's disease can prevent a person from accessing a website with a mouse or keyboard. Thus, they need to use their voice and other input devices (like touch screens) to interact with the site.

Finally, websites designed for mobile phones can be complex for people who have difficulty swiping across multiple pages at once because of limited motor control. Thus,  providing a website design that caters to this need can also be beneficial.

Benefits of Accessibility In Web Design

Here are some of the benefits that come with web design accessibility.

  1. Increased Usability  

Accessibility is linked to usability. When a website is more accessible to users with disabilities, it's also easier for everyone else. This can hugely positively impact the quality of life for those with disabilities by helping them be included socially.

  • Drives Innovation

Awareness of web design accessibility benefits has led to increased innovation in this field and created newer, better ways of designing websites for people with disabilities. Companies that took strides in meeting these requirements have been rewarded with a competitive advantage.

  • Larger Audience

Accessible web design has been overlooked for many years until recently when companies realized a large part of the population-including those with disabilities-is now online. 

A growing number of people means an increasing number of leads. Failing to tap into this market may be detrimental to the success of any business.

  • Better Branding

Businesses that implement accessibility standards are rewarded with better branding, as well.

A strong brand is built to provide excellent customer service to all customers and potential customers. The more accessible your website, the easier it will be for people who have disabilities to access its content, leading to improved reputation and branding for this type of audience.

Takeaways

Today, everyone is a digital native, no matter their age or capabilities. Thus, companies need to prioritize their website accessibility so that it's available to all.

Get Your Dream Website By Outsourcing It

There should be no reason why your business can’t have a website at this age. Aside from having website builders, many companies choose to outsource their web development and website redesign services instead of hiring in-house designers. It’s because there are quality web design agencies that can give you the website you’ve always wanted.

Everyone talks about how cheap it is to outsource web design and development. Still, there are other reasons to outsource your web design services.

Why Outsourcing Web Design Services Can Be For Your Business

In essence, outsourcing web design is a great way to grow your business without overhead costs. It is also a better way to take the extra work out by the agency and focus on your clients. 

There are also many other benefits to outsourcing your web design services. Mainly, it will allow you to take on more businesses and offer competitive prices. Simultaneously, you may leverage the expertise and resources that your partner agencies can provide. 

There are many reliable and talented people with whom you can outsource your web design. Outsourced agencies do not only provide developers, but can also provide services, such as web hosting, marketing, and customer service. Outsourcing to a professional web design company will offer you the best of both worlds, not to mention a wide range of skills to use. 

What You Should Know Before Outsourcing Your Web Design Projects

If you want to outsource your web or app development projects, you can either hire a freelancer or get a contract with a web development company. Here are some tips to consider before doing such.

1. Get Them To Sign A Nondisclosure Agreement

Before outsourcing a web development project, you should set up a non-disclosure agreement with the web development company of your choice. This will keep all transactions between the two of you confidential and private. Make sure to secure a copy of your contract with the company's web design and development team. 

2. Know That You Still Are Involved In the Process

Another thing you need to know is that if you are outsourcing web development, you need to be very much involved in the development process. It would help if you were clear with your goals, expectations, and target timeline. 

For example, if your goal is to have a responsive website, one of the first things you might want to talk to your outsourced web developer about is making sure your site is responsive on small screens. This is the same approach when dealing with other areas of the project. In this case, there’s a benchmark of what needs to be done, and it will remove the frustration for both of you in the process.

3. Do A Thorough Research Before Selecting The Individual Or The Agency To Hire

Before you do this, you need to know what the outsourcing site for web development projects is. To be intelligent and efficient in looking for a provider's outsourcing of web development services, you should decide what type of outsourcing is needed. Before you select a company to outsource your web development, make sure you evaluate the company's website. If you want to know if the outsourced web designer shares your vision, you can check the previous work they've done to see if it aligns with yours.

Note that an excellent outsourced web development company would be interested in your project specifications to provide you with the best solution. When you outsource your web development project, it can be a way to get a high-quality end product. 

Conclusion

By following these simple recommendations, you'll be able to outsource your best web development services, create unique websites and maximize your business productivity. 

Mobile-Friendly Web Design For Your Business

Did you know that statistics show that the number of mobile-only internet users has increased by 500% in just two years? That is a lot, and it is not likely to slow down any time soon. This might be likely due to the shifting of brick-and-mortar business to the online world. If you’re interested in a mobile-friendly site, learn more about how this can be done. 

As an entrepreneur, this trend is so significant for your business. You need to be aware of it as an entrepreneur because most people are not using their desktop computers anymore when online.

They use smartphones and tablets instead. In fact, more than half of all the web traffic generated last year came from mobile devices.

In this blog post, we will discuss five reasons your website needs to be mobile-friendly and how doing so can help improve your conversion rates!

1. Requires Low Maintenance

Wondering how a responsive website can be low maintenance? Well, for starters, it does not need to have a separate website. It may use the same images, text, and layout used in your existing website. 

2. Saves Your Business Money

The number of mobile internet users has grown exponentially in recent years, and this trend doesn't seem like it's about to stop.

Mobile-friendly websites are optimized for faster loading times. This means your site will be able to load more quickly than a non-mobile website, and it is less likely that users will abandon their search because they have been waiting too long.

When your site is mobile-friendly, you will have more visitors, and they will stay longer. This saves your business money because it prevents the loss of potential customers who are frustrated with a poorly designed website.

3. Increases Ranking

Mobile-friendly websites have a higher ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). This means that your site will be more visible to the people using their mobile devices, and they are more likely to click through. Even if you don't get as many clicks, it will still help with SEO because Google rewards sites for being mobile-friendly.

4. More Satisfied Customers

When you make your website mobile-friendly, visitors will be able to read the content and create transactions with your business through their phones. This means that they are more likely to have a better experience with your company.

It may also lessen the likelihood that they’ll leave disappointed or frustrated because your website may pose issues when viewed on devices other than your laptop or desktop.

5. Increased Revenue

In addition, because of the higher ranking on SERPs, your site is more likely to get a visit. When someone visits your website and sees that you are mobile-friendly, they are more inclined to make a purchase from the convenience of their phone.

Bottomline

Mobile-friendly websites have been proven to have benefits. They increase customer satisfaction rates, boost revenue for the company, and ensure that your site stays in people's minds above all other sites. 

Having a mobile responsive design isn't a mere trend. It's a way to ensure that your business is growing and staying relevant. That being said, it would be wise for you to invest in a responsive design today.

 

Creating A Relationship With Google That Lasts

In the past, Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, was centered around what is now called “black hat” practices. No matter what the content on your website consisted of, you could engage in these practices (keyword stuffing, paying for thousands of backlinks to your site, etc.) and Google would shoot your website to the top of the charts—and usually very quickly even without using their Google Ad feature. Almost overnight, your site would appear out of nowhere in a number one or number two spot of the SERP.

These black hat SEO practices resulted in low-quality websites out-ranking the good sites that users actually wanted to see. Websites at the top of the charts weren’t necessarily the most relevant to your search, but instead, were the most keyword-stuffed, cheaply made, and spammy websites that “tricked” Google into thinking they had quality content. While these websites would often achieve quick results in their SEO campaigns, the user suffered from poor-quality, irrelevant content. 

Google took notice and started developing updates that would counteract this tactic.

Over the years, they’ve changed and tweaked their search algorithm to target and reward the high-quality sites that users clearly wanted to find. The websites that will answer the questions they have, and provide the user with the relevant information they actually wanted.

Google As More Than A Search Engine

Nowadays, Google is smarter and much more discerning about what is displayed in their SERPs. For a website to achieve a high rank, it has to prove itself as a legitimate site that Google can trust—one with quality information, updated content, professional images, and a great overall user experience.

While some people are still in the mindset that an SEO campaign should be a quick process that leads to almost instant results, the truth is that nowadays, slow and steady truly do win the race. Think of it as building a relationship with Google.

Since you now have to earn Google’s trust, SEO campaigns often take much longer than they used to. SEO professionals are using all available channels to show Google that their site is a quality one.

For example, if Google sees that your site is listed on local directory sites, Google Places, GMB listings, and social media sites, it will start to develop trust for your business. Now take that, and add an active Facebook profile that interacts with customers, lots of online reviews, frequent blog posts, and regular updates, and you’re now a respectable company with a strong web presence.

Takeaway

Building a relationship with Google is just like how you build your relationships with your clients. You need to take the right steps nice and easy until you’re confident enough to say that you’ve won their trust and you're worthy to take the top spot on their rank.

So when you begin your SEO campaign, remember you’re building a relationship. It takes time, patience, perseverance, dedication, and a little bit of luck. But in the end, the results you’ll see will be well worth the wait.

If You Aren’t Using Google Ads, You’re Missing Out

Sometimes, tactics that are considered old-school achieve that status because they have a proven track record and not necessarily because they’re outdated. Think of all the internet marketing trends that have come and gone just in the past decade.

Google Ads are highly regarded because they allow your clients the ability to expand their reach without taking up a huge portion of their budget. If you are on the fence about using Google Ads or don’t really know much about it, keep reading to find out why we're so bullish on this marketing option.

Google Ads Work Fast

The topmost benefit of Google Ads is that it works faster than SEO. Both SEO and Google Ads are search engine marketing strategies to generate more traffic and leads. But, a well-optimized Ad campaign can work much faster for a business to get the much-coveted first spot in SERPs.

Here are some reasons why it’s faster:

  • You can focus on multiple keywords at a time.
  • You can turn the campaign on or off whenever you want to.
  • Ads that appear on the top of the page get immediate visibility.

Of course, this does not mean that you should ignore organic sources, as they have more long-term benefits. But with Ads, there is a higher chance of driving more traffic and leads instantly. Additionally, the platform is more transparent, and you know exactly what is happening with the ads in terms of metrics.

On the other hand, search engine optimization, though very beneficial, is a long-term process. Ranking for any keyword requires heaps of perseverance and a lot of well-written articles and backlinks. And even then, it takes a while for them to gain the necessary authority.

Simply put. Google ads give you instant visibility at an instant cost, whereas SEO would give you long term success, depending on the effort you put into the quality of your content.

Gmail Integration

One of the most used marketing strategies in every business is email marketing, which is why Gmail ads can be helpful as well. In September 2015, Google integrated native Gmail ads with Google Ads and made it available to all advertisers, which means you can reach more prospects through their Gmail inbox.

Usually, Gmail ads appear on the promotion tab, but sometimes you can see it on the social tab, too. These ads run on both desktops and mobiles. Since Gmail ads generally cost much less than search ads, if you have a small budget, then you can try Gmail ads as an alternative.

Easy Monitoring

It is very difficult to measure the outcome of traditional advertisements like newspapers, radio, broadcast television, cable television, outdoor billboards, brochures, etc. Also, they are much more expensive than Google Ads. You can’t control your own budget and how much you spend on a given campaign, you can only estimate. Additionally, you wouldn’t know the source of the leads coming from these media, unless your customer chooses to divulge it. As a result, it would be very difficult to calculate ROI from traditional media.

Ready To Get Started with Google Ads?

Google ads are one of the best and modern tactics there is in the market today. It allows you to build your brand faster, allows email-integration, and it’s easy to monitor even for new users. With all these advantages, why not try Google Ads today and see how it does wonders to your business!

 

Make Your Startup Business Website Unforgettable 

A great website is powerful. Besides giving you an online presence, it additionally permits you to effectively focus on the other areas of your sales and marketing efforts.  Web designers say that there are two primary keys to achieve this:

1) Each part of your site should be arranged to reflect your business goals; and,

2) You need to utilize website composition standards and components effectively.

 In case you're a business owner or an amateur website specialist, knowing about inventive and compelling website composition procedures will kick your career and business off in the right way.

 How To Design Your Startup Business

 Anyone can create a fantastic startup website by following these tips.

 1. Get To Know Your Business

It's an unquestionable requirement to have a profound comprehension of your business before making your site. This incorporates diving deep into your central goal, vision, and fundamental beliefs. 

It can also be a great start to think about your website's objectives. Is it going to be a blog, an individual site, or you're working on it for different purposes? A detailed understanding of this area would permit you to develop the proper plan procedures, standards, and components to use. 

By starting your website creation off this tip, you're assured that you'll meet your branding goals and business objectives. 

 2. Be Picky of Your Website Elements

Making a website can be diverse for every individual or association. Whatever way it is, the vital standard to follow is the utilization and the presence of components in creating it.

There are many elements to consider while making your site. They typically include pictures, typography, and tones. They can likewise incorporate widgets, plug-ins, and other valuable features for your viewers. 

Simplicity is also one of the perspectives to utilize when designing your site's components. Not only do they provide clarity, but they also afford your users with familiarization. By doing so, you can successfully build on their loyalty.

 3. Think Like Your Website Visitor And Audience

When you think like a website visitor audience, wonderful things  can happen. There are many ways to go around this goal. 

The first is to provide a layout that effectively works with how your users view your website. Realizing how the eyes take in visuals is incredibly useful in planning your format. Utilizing this as a guideline, a web designer would keep the main highlights of your business, like its logo, contact number, and other comparable data, on the upper left of the page. Different subtleties that are intriguing all alone, for example, pictures, can be put on the lower right half of the page. 

Another way is to think about your site's accessibility when viewed using mobile phones. Today, the abundance of smartphones and other devices requires that your site be unrestricted to desktop screens anymore. There are two basic approaches to handle this: go responsive or choose adaptive web design. Even though they have different features, the two of them permit your guests to effortlessly explore your site on their mobile phones.

Bottomline Is Always The User Experience  

User experience (UX) alludes to the general insight of your site guest or client. By prioritizing this when designing websites, you're guaranteed that all your plans and endeavors provide your guests an extraordinary experience.

Keeping user experience guides you on what is most important to them. Ultimately, this leads to customers that are happy to do business with you.

How To Get Listed In Google’s Local Pack

As SEO specialists in Oregon, we keep a close eye on any tweaks and upgrades in the way Google displays the search results. For example, back in 2015, Google introduced a significant shift to how it shows top local search results. Prior to this update, the search giant grouped the top seven results for a local search into their own section at the top of the SERP (search engine result page) called the “7-Pack.”

The new update, however, reduced those seven results to only three and restructured the panel format as well. Aside from creating Google Ad campaigns, this is one of the most sought-after ways to get ranked on Google.

What’s The Google Local 3-Pack?

The Google Local 3-Pack is the method used by Google to display the top three search results that are relevant to the location where the user submitted the query. For example, if a user went online looking for “water damage repair near me,” and they’re located in Phoenix, AZ, the Local 3-Pack would only display the top 3 water damage repair services in Phoenix. At a glance, the user will get to see the name, address, and phone number or (NAP) as well as open or closed status (and closing time, if applicable), number of reviews, and overall ratings for each of the three restaurants that Google has deemed to be most relevant to the search query.

How To Get On The Local 3-Pack

We’ll start by saying that you cannot exclusively optimize for the Google Local 3-Pack because the search results tend to vary depending on where the user is located. That being said, you can optimize your web presence in such a way as to increase your odds of turning up in the Local 3-Pack when it comes up to a search query that is applicable to your local business.

Google My Business (GMB) Listing

Somewhere around 25% of the weight of your local 3-Pack ranking signals belongs to Google My Business — far more than any other signal category. That is why GMB management should be an integral component of your brand’s local search engine optimization game plan.

With Google My Business Listing, you can ensure that your audience and customers can reach you through the information provided on your GMB page. Adding your business or claiming it is easy. All you need are your most updated business information, follow the provided, steps, get verified, and you can let everyone know that you’re ready to do business with them.

Real Reviews

Did you know that reviews make up about 15% of the weighting in Google’s evaluation of your local business listing for the local 3-Pack? Well, now you know where to invest most of your time and effort. But how do you get quality reviews on your listing? Here’s what you can do:

  • Monitor online reviews across the brand within a single dashboard. Real-time listening and engagement can contribute to the growth and protection of the brand while at the same time, highlighting areas for improvement in specific locations.
  • Be respectful and honest when responding to your reviews. Blaming your customer or belittling a bad reviewer (even if their review is completely off base) can do more harm than good.

Get Quality Local Links

Being active on local listing sites could very well be the single most important factor for performing successfully in the local search and thus, appearing on the Google local 3-Pack.

Is It The Perfect Time To Launch Your Website?

The success of an e-commerce site depends on how well it meets the needs of customers and clients who are looking for products to buy online. You might refer to an E-Commerce SEO guide to make this possible.

You may also be surprised at how much work goes into a successful e-commerce website. However, that shouldn’t stop you from launching one. Get started now and make sure to consider the following factors.

1) Target Audience

Knowing your target audience is essential for any business. Your site will be more successful if it is catered to the people you want as customers. Thus, it’s necessary to know what they like and make sure they can find what they're looking for on your website. Also, you may try targeting a niche customer base. Although smaller, doing so has many benefits, such as increased conversion rates. 

Thus before launching your site, take some time to think about who could potentially become your audience. You can do this by asking yourself some questions, like:

  • Who is your target audience?
  • What do they want from your store?
  • Do they have any preferences in terms of payment or shipping methods?

2) Your Brand

Your brand should be reflected in your e-commerce site. To come up with your site, think deeply about what your brand stands for. Then, try to include these ideas in your web design. For example, if you are an environmentally friendly company, you may want to emphasize this on your website using green colors or recycling symbols.

You can also ask yourself these questions.

  • Does your brand align with what you offer on the site?
  • What does your logo say? 
  • What colors are used on the site, and why do those particular shades represent what they do? 

3) Site Design

Once you have figured out the purpose of your site, it's time to think about how visitors will be interacting with it. Aspects like navigability and user-friendliness should be considered.

Other questions to consider are:

  • Is there a way for people to contact you through email or phone numbers easily accessible?
  • Where should you locate your ‘Add To Cart' option?

4) Site Performance

How does it look and feel to use the site? This question is the best way to assess your site performance.

Thus, your website should provide a seamless experience for visitors. Look at the way your site loads and interacts with visitors. Your website should be optimized for speed to maximize customer experience. They should also be mobile-friendly to shop on their phone or tablet and easy navigation so that people don't get lost while shopping.

Your site should also be monitored to check for any broken links or errors. In this case, you can always make your customers and clients happy.

5) Shipping and Payment Policies

Also, if you want customers to feel comfortable shopping with you, make sure everything they need can be found on your website. This includes payment methods to customer service information.

You might now be aware of it, but your shipping policy is also a factor to consider for your website. Your shipping policy should include the different delivery methods, how long it will take to deliver an order, and your estimated shipping costs. For  example: “Orders within Canada typically arrive within two business days after processing.” 

By doing so, expectations are made clear with your customers.

Bottomline

Launching an e-commerce site is not as easy as it may seem, and you need to think about many different factors. You can start by including the elements mentioned above. Then you can consistently implement new features or upgrade once your site is making a lot of money.

How SEO Generates More Business

Are you using SEO? If not, are you sure it is not something you should look into? Have you had bad experiences in the past that resulted in you not getting the results you expected? All of these issues can be solved by hiring the ideal DEO service.

Many brands and businesses know (or think they know) that they need SEO for their digital marketing purposes, and the benefits they will get from that SEO work being implemented on their behalf. SEO will certainly improve a website’s overall searchability and visibility, but what other real value does it offer? Why is SEO so important?

Today, we’re going to share some of the reasons we’ve picked up over years of working with many businesses on their SEO. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to gauge if your site needs an SEO to revamp and how doing so can bring business to your site.

SEO Builds Trust & Credibility

The goal of any experienced SEO is to establish a strong foundation for a beautiful website with a clean and intuitive user experience. SEO should produce a site that is easily discoverable in SERPs thanks to the trust and credibility of the brand and its digital properties.

SEO Makes For A Better User Experience

Everyone wants better organic rankings and maximum visibility. However, few realize that optimal user experience is a big part of getting there. Google has learned how to interpret a favorable or unfavorable user experience, and a positive user experience has become a pivotal element to a website’s success.

Customers know what they want. If they can’t find it, there’s going to be a problem. And your site performance will take a massive hit.

SEO Impacts Your Users’ Buying Cycle

Customers are getting smarter. That’s one of the biggest advantages of the internet from a buyer’s perspective.

Using SEO tactics to relay your messaging for good deals, groundbreaking products and/or services, and the importance and dependability of what you offer customers will be a game changer. It will also undoubtedly impact the buying cycle in a positive way if implemented correctly.

Aside from this, your SEO tactics can be great tools to keep your customers engaged. You’ll end up with customers who don’t just buy your products but are also clamoring for the type of content you’re offering.

Brands must be visible in the places people need them for a worthy connection to be made. Local SEO enhances that visibility and lets potential customers find the answers, and the businesses providing those answers.

SEO Is Relatively Cheap

Sure, it costs a bit of money. But the value you’ll reap will pay dividends in the long run? But SEO is relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things, and the payoff will most likely be considered in terms of a brand’s benefit and bottom line.

This isn’t a marketing cost; this is a true business investment. Good SEO implementation will hold water for years to come. And, like most things in life, will only be better with the more attention and exposure it gets.

Website For Growing Your B2B Company

If you are in the market for a new website or want to redesign your current website, you may wonder how to select a web design agency. If you're a B2B enterprise, your criteria might differ from what the general public is looking for.

Whether you're building your first website or redesigning an old website, a good web design agency can provide the perfect online presence to complement your brand. Choosing a web design agency is essential because it can maximize the power of the Internet to promote your business growth in terms of revenue and brand awareness.

The right B2B web design agency should offer support for your website project and work with all aspects of your company's business. But with many web design companies out there, how do you choose the right one for your web design project? 

Tips In Choosing A B2B Web Design Agency

Before looking for one, make sure that you already know what you want to achieve with your website. Once done, you can go over the tips provided in this list to find the perfect web design agency for your B2B company.

1. Check Their Portfolio

It's always important to inspect the company's portfolio and check out its past projects. This will allow you to get an idea of what you can find on its website and the quality of its work. Don't forget to visit their website, social media channels, and other online resources, as these can be excellent sources of their portfolio. Also, make sure you select a web design company that creates a visually appealing website to drive customers away. 

2. Go For An Agency That Has Relevant Experience 

The first thing you should do is do careful research to get a sense of whether or not your potential web design agency is a B2B expert. Make it a habit that when you search for a B2B web designer, look if it's good at SEO, research its experience with social media and other marketing tools. Once you get a web design agency working for you, ask them what recommendations they would give you to make the site even better.

3. Ask For Feedback From Previous Clients

In addition to the portfolio, it's best to read the reviews of the web design agencies you are considering for your new website. If you know other entrepreneurs who have worked with B2B web design agencies in the past, they can also send you reviews of their experience. These steps can give you enough ways to check if the B2B web design agency you are looking to hire can meet your expectations. 

Key Takeaways

If you end up finding one that suits your needs and budget, working with a B2B web design agency can do wonders for your business. They can help you find the best client company for you and grow your business in immense proportions.

Whether you are looking to build your website for the first time or revamping an existing site, consider the mentioned factors when choosing a web design agency.

Who Really Needs Small Business SEO?

This is a very relevant question. Well technically, any business can benefit from any form of SEO. However, if you’re looking for a specific company geared only towards small business, you might have the wrong idea. An SEO agency that focuses on small businesses needs to take note of a few things that separate their strategies from conventional SEO.

Here’s why – you want the highest quality work being done at the best price, and not every SEO method works at every scale. So the real question isn’t “Do you need a small business SEO service?” The real question is “Can you find good SEO on a small business’ budget?”

Questions To Ask Yourself

Any modern business needs good SEO. Figuring out who needs small business SEO services is a different task though. Usually, the need for these services depends on the business’s ability to do the work themselves. SEO is not rocket science, however, if you want it done well the first time it may be a task worth hiring experts for.

Here are some good questions to ask yourself in order to figure out if you need small business SEO services:

  • Am I currently visible for the types of search results that will bring me some new customers?
  • Do I have a mobile optimized, modern website?
  • Do I have accounts on the major social media platforms (ie. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, etc.)
  • Do I have internal staff that could perform adequate SEO on my site?
  • Do I have time to focus on a project of this size?

    Once you’ve gathered the answers to these posted questions, you can now come up with a more informed decision if SEO services are for your startup. It might not be an easy process as it’ll require you to reflect and go deep in your business’ condition, but knowing the answers to these questions will benefit you in the long haul.

Best Practices Checklist

To get the ball rolling for you – here is a list of ten basic best practices any good SEO service should implement to get a new client on track with great, foundational SEO. These are core things you can do immediately to really help with your organic search rankings in Google, Bing, Yahoo and any other search engine you could possibly imagine.

  •  Redirect or remove any broken pages from the site.
  • Submit your site maps to Google
  • Submit your site maps to Bing / Yahoo!
  • Verify your site with Google
  • Verify your linked social media pages.
  • Make sure your site is mobile optimized / responsive:
  • Your site should be secure (HTTPS):
  • You should have social profiles set up and linked to your website.
  • Write a keyword optimized title tag that is 70 characters or less.
  • Write a keyword optimized meta description that is 160 characters or less (down from 320)

Depending on the size of your business it might even be worth learning SEO and doing it on your own. To get you where you need to be, Sharp Tack Media has got your back. We’ve got years of industry experience in dealing with small business SEO.

But if you’re willing to spend the time to do it yourself, having zero knowledge of SEO to begin with will be a major issue and you will probably have to invest a lot of time. If you are one of those DIY types, contact us today and get the SEO service you deserve.

What Is UX?

The term “UX” has been a buzzword in the digital world for some time. But what does it mean, and why is user experience necessary? 

Defined, UX is an approach that allows users to navigate a website or app smoothly, providing a better experience with the brand. It also refers to how a consumer feels when interacting with a digital offering, be it a website, an app, or a game. 

Because its function focused on the “user experience,” it can therefore be used in many different contexts such as advertising, marketing, and business. 

Importance Of UX In Your Business Website

Here are some reasons why you should incorporate UX into your website.

1. Increase Profitability

Ensuring that your site provides a good user experience keeps website visitors focused and can earn you more money. Investments in UX design increase the number of visitors to the website and contribute to rising conversion rates. By investing in an exemplary user interface (UX), you can improve the way you find your potential customers. You can also effectively connect with them when they are there and eventually turn them into clients. 

Marketing tactics can also be influenced by your UX, so it's essential to understand what makes a great UX design.

2. Provide Better Client Interaction 

By making it easier to find the most important and relevant information on your website, you can create a better user experience. If you're worried that you don't have the expertise, the good news is, you don't have to be a professional UX designer to create an enjoyable and highly interactive website. There are many different ways to engage users with your website better!

One is by adopting a storytelling approach on your website. It doesn't improve UX per se, but it allows your audience to pay attention to the story and the information you want to send. You can also consider the importance of visual design to keep visitors on your site and learn more about your product.

3. Increase Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty

UX matters to your business because it considers a wide range of perceptions, behaviors, actions, and satisfaction. These include the user's perception of product, service, experience, content, design, user experience, and more. Moreover, UX practices determine how users navigate the site and connect to the company's products and services. 

Also, a meaningful user experience allows you to define the customer journey that is most conducive to your company's success, such as satisfaction and loyalty.

How To Get A UX-Focused Website Your Customers Love

It doesn't have to be a tedious task to put UX into practice and apply it to your website. It's because many website building platforms integrate a certain amount of UX into their tools if you're using them. If you have the budget, hiring a UX expert can always be your go-to option. Many offer proven and fantastic ways to come up with web designs that fit what you want.

You can also brush up on the basics of UX, usability, and usability testing. Many resources include how designers measure UX by creating and updating a website for optimal user experience and satisfaction. You can also use a checklist for website usability testing to define what improvements your website needs.

If you're handling your UX design, it is your responsibility to speak up for your audience to ensure that your website offers what they want. By understanding your customers, your website can be easily tailored for their needs. 

Finally, once you understand the importance of UX, you can use different tools to monitor and analyze it. Use these tools to ensure ease of use in all your web resources. Eventually, you'll get the website you've always dreamt of. 

Design Your Website With This Key UX Principle

Although “UX” (user experience design) is a popular search term, not everyone understands what it means, why UX design matters, and what a UX designer does. The Internet is full of UX, user experiences, and design, but not always in the right way. 

UX Design is a creative and ever-changing field that welcomes fresh ideas and new practitioners. There are some basic UX design principles that every new designer should understand. 

Through empathy, understanding users' pain points, and feedback from your team and users, UX design principles should be guidelines that are constantly defined and applied by designers. To keep your product on track, we have the ultimate key that we recommend for you to guide your design. Find out what it is and how you can apply it on your websites.

Top Key Principle You Should Follow: Focus On The User

There are many principles to follow when it comes to designing your website. There's hierarchy, simplicity, and accessibility, among many others. 

The bottom line, however, of all these principles is to focus on your user. By knowing that your user is king when creating a design for your website, the following steps will naturally follow.

1. Focus On Simplicity And Learnability

An important UX design principle is creating easy-to-learn designs and making it easier for users to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. User experience design principles dictate that you simplify the task in front of you, not the core actions the user is trying to perform.

2. Run Tests To Ensure That Your Site Delivers Its Promises 

If you want to embed usability into the heart and soul of your product, it is crucial to take a user-centric approach to product design, underscored by a solid usability testing process to see what works and what doesn't. 

3. Provide Easy To Follow Designs For Clarity

When applying design principles, you should exercise discretion to anticipate the user's needs, for example, to assess how you'll guide their eyes with symmetry and asymmetry in your website design. 

4. Mind The Technical Aspect Of Your Websites

When you consider UX design principles and create your UX design, think about what is technically possible. When creating an interface or UX design, you should focus on different solutions and designing an interface that delivers a pleasant user experience. It can include navigability, ease of use, and other aspects beneficial to the users.

Takeaways

These points emphasize that a user-centered website will focus on the aspects of design, usability, and technicalities that a quality designer should know when building websites. 

This fundamental principle of user interaction design will always play a central role in designing future systems, and UX designers must keep them in mind. This principle has passed the test of time and serves as the foundation from where all UX principles should follow. It will likely guide you and your design team through creating websites that users love. Embody this principle, and you are on your way to becoming a great UX designer or design team. 

The Beginner’s Guide To Understanding Backlinks

If you are a complete beginner to search engine optimization, then you’ve probably heard that the number one way to rank your website is by getting more backlinks to your site. However, it sounds so much easier than it is. For example, did you know that poor quality links can get you penalized and even de-indexed from Google and other search engines? Your best bet is to hire a dedicated SEO service to handle things for you.

Did you also know that Google uses hundreds of different signals to determine the quality, legitimacy, and authority of each link pointing back to your site? On another point, did you know that there are several types of links you can use?

What Are Backlinks?

In SEO, a backlink refers to an inbound hyperlink from one web page to another web page. In other words, site “X” is linking to site “Y” in the form of a clickable string of text, a URL, or an image. When clicked on, it opens the embedded URL within the hyperlink that it is pointed to.

Types of Links

After looking at different aspects of link building, let us discuss the types of backlinks you can use.

Self-created Links

These are also referred to as non-editorial links. These are created via forum signatures, guest book signings,  user profiles and blog comments. These can be perceived as having the lowest value, but can still have an overall impact. However, too many of these links may make search engines identify your site as spammy.

Editorial Links

These are also referred to as natural links. These are given naturally by other pages and sites that would like to link to your site because of its content. All you need to have good quality content on your site and create awareness about it.

Manual links

Building these links is also referred to as outreach building. To create them, you need to email bloggers and request for links, submit your site to different directories, or even pay for listings.

You will need to create a value proposition to explain to them why creating the link is in their best interest. You can also fill out forms for submissions to a website reward program, or even convince an academic professional that your content is worth including in the syllabus.

Professional Link-building Strategies

Let us look at some link building strategies that you can use for your strategy.

Get Users To Link To Your Site

If you have regular partners or even loyal customers, you can send them partnership badges. These are graphic icons that link back to your site. You can compare this to having customers wearing your business’ t-shirts, or having your bumper stickers.

Get Close To Authoritative Sites

Partnering with authoritative domains in a relevant niche is a very effective link building strategy. After identifying one, do some research about them, for instance, interviews done by the press, an online presence, and if possible, get the sources of their backlinks.

Takeaway

There are many who have attested to the effectiveness of backlinking in the success of their SEO strategies. By knowing what types of links you can use for your website and utilizing the appropriate strategy to get them done, you’ll be able to succeed in this task, whether you’re a beginner or an expert.

 

What You Should Look For In SEO Services

When you engage an SEO company to create, revamp and/or optimize a website for you, you should be aware of their track records, portfolio and attitude. 

Some agencies will focus on things like backlinks, while others are social media experts. Full disclosure yes, backlinks are highly important for your business, but those aren’t the things we’ll be focusing on today.

Just the absolute minimum of what a good SEO agency should be handling for your business. Here are a few things you should look for in searching for an SEO service company.

A Detailed Site Audit

A good SEO company should be asking questions about your site like: 

  • Does it have the right messaging that we are trying to relay to our customers?
  • Does it look like a trustworthy site, does it have a call to action in the right places?

These design issues can make or break a business, so it is important that we find them out immediately.

A great digital marketing agency should also pay extra care in learning about you as a business owner, and what differentiates you and your business from the competition. This is often called a unique selling position, and your SEO service makes sure to implement whatever makes you the best at what you do and your best qualities are portrayed on your website.

Outline a Clear and Concise Strategy 

Any “expert” SEO company who cannot share with you their strategy for your business in a few simple, concise points so that a kindergartner could understand it, should probably not be put in charge of your SEO strategy.

You want to make sure that you take the time to understand how the SEO strategies the agency you choose present strategies go with your overall business goals and marketing goals.

Indexing Schedule

Ask to be told when your site is indexed by the search engines. Understand that this could take up to three to four months (although a site — rarely — can be indexed within just a few days).

Indexing is the only way your site will be actually shown on search engines. You may incur additional losses because your SEO service failed to take this into account or did not disclose this information to you.

Ask For Reports

Require that the SEO company provide you with a monthly report regarding anything they’ve done to or for your site. This report should include a listing of any on-site SEO performed, as well as a list of search engines and web directories to which your site has been submitted. You also should ask for a monthly progress report on how your site’s rankings are faring/improving.

4) Finally, and most importantly, your SEO company should create a site or revamp your current one to ensure it’s friendly to the search engines. On-site SEO tasks can and should include: writing informative, engaging keyword-optimized content; creating relevant title and meta tags; and peppering each page with relevant HTML code.

Takeaways

There are many companies and agencies that promise excellent SEO services. Before jumping into getting their services, double check if their services come with site audits, detailed SEO strategy, indexing reports, and if they’re willing to give you timely reports, too. In this way, you can feel secure that your SEO needs are taken well care of by a competent agency.

 

Win Customers Through Stand Out UX Designs

There are many factors to consider when you want to create an outstanding UX design. While web design trends come and go, certain UX design principles seem to have proved their importance over the years.

What Is UX Design  

UX or User Experience is a fundamental principle when it comes to web design. It refers to the general feeling that your website provides its users. There are many considerations to create a standout UX: your website's design, content, and technical aspects. 

When talking about UX design, it may also involve colors, typography, animations, and many more. It's your goal as a designer to ensure that all these elements would work together.  

Factors That Make Stellar UX Design

If you’re an aspiring designer on your way to create your very first website, make sure not to miss these out.

1. The Arrangement Of Your Elements

There are numerous components and elements that you can put on your site. Even though you may contend that every one of them has helpful highlights and designs, the level of their significance may differ for the clients. Subsequently, this is the place where the arrangement of your elements or their hierarchy comes in as a significant factor. There are two systems that you should know as a website specialist. There's the content hierarchy and visual hierarchy. 

Content hierarchy alludes to how website specialists sort out substance and data in your website architecture. This is the motivation behind why homepages are designed the way they are. For the most part, they have tabs that contain the fundamental segments or main menu. After clicking or hovering on a command, you're directed to the submenu or subcategories.

2. How Functional Are Their Features

Another way to come up with a brilliant UX configuration is by providing ease of use. Convenience in UX configuration is accomplished by guaranteeing that each of the site’s features has a purpose and role.

To make your website as functional for guests as possible, every component – whether it's content, a symbol, or gadget – should be built according to your user's needs.  

3. Capability To Elicit Response From Users

Input is a vital component of intuitiveness. This implies that when somebody taps on something in your website, a reaction is expected by your users. These reactions can be heard as signals and give the clients the best way to explore your site.

There are numerous ways that your website may respond to the commands given by its users. They may be by vibrating, changing its tones, illuminating, and so much more.

4. Ability to Offer Clarity

Think about Google. If you think about their original logo and how it looks today, nothing’s changed. Yet, they succeeded in becoming the world’s leading website.

Their success lies in clarity or straightforwardness. Straightforwardness permits effectiveness. All you need is to type in your inquiry in the search box, hit enter, and your results promptly appear. 

5.  Aesthetic Appeal To Viewers And Visitors 

Your website’s appeal depends on your website composition. It's an aftereffect of effectively utilizing colors, shapes, typography, and pictures. It's how you set up these components, so they'll get your target audience interested.

To do this, you must try your best to understand your prospective clients first. Questions like, ‘What do people at their age want?', ‘What are the current trends they're following?' all matter. In this case, it’ll be easier for them to connect with your brand.

Takeaways  

Making a UX-centered website is not easy. It needs years of practice, training, and experience for web designers to have a clearer view of where their site is going.

Now that you realize the key factors that make a decent UX configuration, it's an ideal opportunity to apply what you've discovered. Get started and win the hearts of many site guests and clients.

Why SEO Is Important In Blogging

What is SEO and do you need it? Believe it or not, Search Engine Optimization is more important and necessary than ever in 2020. If you have a website and want it to work in your favor when it comes to brand exposure and lead generation, you’ll need to understand the actual purpose of SEO and all of the potentials it can bring out to your website. There are a few SEO key features that you should pass on to your blogs.

SEO depends on many factors that increase your business’ domain authority and website quality by making it easy-to-navigate, faster, and most importantly, user-friendly. These days, SEO is more important than ever because the market is so competitive with businesses across all industries and scopes developing digital marketing strategies to streamline their online presence for increased online purchases.

Craft An Attention-Grabbing Headline

The title or headline of your blog is more important than you think. Many bloggers consider it to be the first step. However, when you think about it, it’s easier to come up with a great headline only if you have a clear idea about your subject matter and intention. Creating a thumb-stopping, the catchy headline is important for driving click-throughs and web traffic as part of your overall SEO strategy.

Strategize Before Writing

When you spend just a little bit of time thinking about blog topics to focus on and researching the questions your audience needs answers to, you’ll not only create more relevant and engaging content but also save time when it comes to the actual writing process.

Start off by reading and researching blogs and articles related to your industry, niche, and/or competitors. Make notes on what tactics and approaches work and which don’t. If possible, study the analytics of previous content your business has published that increased web traffic and engagement.

Then, decide on topics you want to cover on your blog and set publishing deadlines in your calendar. Maintaining a consistent stream of content will boost your business's SEO strategy and overall domain authority if kept up over time.

That’s why you’ll want your marketing team to create a publishing schedule at the beginning of each month–to plan your blog content accordingly. When it comes to sitting down and writing content, make sure that the subject matter has been analyzed and keywords researched thoroughly.

Plan Your Post Schedule

Outlining your blog post’s structure is the second step. When you have a structure in place, you will be able to develop strategic call-to-actions and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). The organization is key for on-page SEO as well as increasing lead conversions–or even just moving potential customers through the sales funnel at the early stages.

When you split your blog post into multiple sections, the writing itself also becomes more manageable and efficient for you and/or your marketing team. Be sure to include many sub-sections, so readers aren’t intimidated by a massive block of text.

Final Thoughts

You might be a great content writer, but having the ability to use SEO in your writing will make you unstoppable. Imagine the possibilities if you can utilize this advantage in your business blogs! Jumpstart this journey by starting with a clear strategy, using an attention-grabbing headline, and planning your posting schedule.

 

SEO Services For Your Small Business

You might have no brand authority or strong presence as a startup business. But that doesn’t mean that it’s going to stay forever, right?  With more SEO services available for your startup website, growing your business and achieving your targeted sales is now possible.

To help you get started with finding the right SEO services for your start-up business, you might want to know what’s SEO first.

What Is SEO?

The overall objective behind SEO is to guarantee that your content can be found via web search tools. To make this conceivable, you need to enhance your site's content, plan, and design too.

Also, SEO incorporates not just one, but multiple methodologies to help search engines comprehend and coordinate your substance better. This could mean SEO prioritizing cordial and helpful content to your intended interest group. It additionally incorporates advancing features, labels, and connections with the goal that they can be effectively positioned via search engines, like Google and Bing.

Eventually, however, there are numerous methodologies carried out under SEO. All are focused to emphatically influence the positioning of your site in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). By attaining this objective, you'll be able to get the growth you wanted.

SEO Services You Can Get As a Startup

SEO efforts are great, whether you’re a newly built business or one that’s established for years.  There are many services that you can choose from, but here are the top five services to consider.

1. Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy 

As a startup business, one of your main objectives might be to establish your credibility first as someone worthy of trust to do business with. Thus, before thinking of growing your presence to the nearby localities, you might want to be your neighborhood’s choice when they think about your services.

This is what Local SEO is for. By optimizing your website to be seen first by those within a few miles away from your location, you’ll have higher chances of getting picked over your rivals. You can also encourage more foot traffic to your business.

2. Google My Business Setup and Optimization 

Everybody goes to Google for answers to all sorts of questions, including your business phone number and address, too. By availing of this SEO service, you’ll be able to have more clients get acquainted with your business. 

Google My Business requires the use of your information, including your contact number, location, and your category. Many SEO agencies are offering to streamline your GMB listing with your website so that your target audience would know that you’re ready to do business with them. 

3. Pay Per Click and Paid Search 

As a startup, you might at times get impatient to see how your business performs to its targeted audience and clients. If you have the extra cash to invest in Pay Per Click (PPC) and Paid Search advertising, then this might work for you.

Many say that this type of SEO service is massively powerful because it allows almost half of the individuals who’ve clicked on your advertisement to call your business in a couple of minutes. For best results, integrate this strategy with other SEO tips, too. 

4. Reputation  Management 

93% of procurement choices came after individuals have perused audits from the web and practically 50% of customers search for a 4-star rating before purchasing an item or service. These realities underline the significance of having a positive reputation for your organization. 

Many SEO agencies give fantastic reputation management services to a wide assortment of organizations. So, the next time you google your own business, you're most likely to be pleased with what you see. 

5. Custom Web Design 

As a startup, you don’t want to be taunted as a copycat. You want your website to stand out from the rest and be the disruptive startup business you’ve always wanted to be.

A custom web design is an SEO strategy that isn’t only used to show your brand identity but ensures that your site is optimized, secured, and even responsive. These areas in designing your website can guarantee that you’ll increase its visibility out there.

Conclusion

Being a startup doesn’t mean that you should be left behind in the curve. There are many SEO services to help you reach your goal. They include local SEO, GMB listings, custom web design, paid to advertise, and reputation management. This list isn’t exhaustive, and there are more SEO services to explore. 

What Exactly Are Enterprise SEO Services?

To some, the definition of enterprise SEO services may be unclear. If you’re a marketer at a Fortune 500 company, chances are you’re dealing with a massive marketing strategy with a lot of moving parts.

What you need most is a strategic partner that does effective enterprise SEO and gets results. You need to be able to easily present those results on a regular basis in a way that makes sense for meetings and in conjunction with other aspects of your marketing strategy.

We don’t have any fancy proprietary tools, we don’t charge absurd rates, we just deliver real results. Our primary goal is to make our clients' lives easier. This is the inherent value SEO service entails.

What Is Enterprises SEO?

While enterprise SEO is technically any SEO work that is done on a site with more than 1,000 pages, a quick search in google will reveal that there are several different schools of thought. There are some SEO companies that rely solely on proprietary software, others have entire offshore teams doing digital labor across thousands of pages and some companies simply do high-quality SEO work at a large scale for larger companies or sometimes, larger websites.

Offshore Teams

This used to be a standard among SEO firms but is a bit less popular nowadays. The reason being is that Google’s algorithms have become more human. When you hire an offshore team for SEO you typically get what you pay for.

It’s much cheaper but the work is usually shoddy and written in broken English. In modern SEO you need to speak smoothly in your writing just like a human would. Google can see when you are attempting to game their algorithms and a lot of times offshoring important copywriting tasks can hurt your search rankings more than help them.

Proprietary Software

The upside of using a service of this nature is that they are typically faster and cheaper. The software will likely perform audits that show areas within your site or among Google’s search engine result pages (aka SERPs) that you can tweak.

The downside is that most of the time these companies don’t actually implement the changes for you. You have to look at the data that their software compiles and then hire a firm to make adjustments to your website, pay your existing techs, etc. While you’re saving time with the actual audits, you still have to pay another service to take these changes into effect, adding further costs.

Work At Scale

The third and final school of thought we will cover for enterprise SEO services is local agencies that work at scale. We write frequently about the subject of enterprise SEO services as these are something a lot of our clients utilize. For more detailed information read our original Enterprise SEO guide here.

Our dedicated team can show you countless examples of the companies for which we’ve gotten stellar results. We have been tried and tested, and we have proven our ability to keep up with the SEO industry and stay on top of changes.

You won’t find any SEO expert waiting to be hired by a private company that has a track record like ours. If you want the best enterprise SEO services available, you simply cannot do better.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a large company, Enterprise SEO may be for you. Though the concept may be different to many, the only thing to remember is it can take the form of proprietary software, an entire offshore team doing digital labor across thousands of pages, or a high-quality SEO work at a large scale for larger companies or sometimes, larger websites. Knowing these points will help you decide if it’s the correct investment for you.

So…You Want to Start a Blog

Imagine your site being live on the internet without a reliable web host. What would you do to get one? These days, there are many options for placing your website on the World Wide Web (WWW). One of these is called shared hosting- where different websites share server space and bandwidth resources. Shared website hosting may be cheaper than other types of hosts. This makes them perfect if you're tight on budget but still want some professional service to ensure stability and reliability. This will also prevent downtime or slow loading speeds from happening with your site's visitors/customers who come through their doors!

In this blog post, we'll overview what has shared website services and what they provide online.

What is Shared Website Hosting

Hosting a blog or website may be an intimidating task but don't worry! It's not as tricky and complicated as it seems. Web hosting is just like real estate, except for the digital setup. There are 3 types of web hosting services: dedicated hosting web service, VPS (virtual private server) hosting service, and shared web hosting, which might best suit your needs depending on what type of site you want to create.

As opposed to devoted or VPS hosting services, shared web facilitating implies purchasing a digital space for your website that you can share with other people.

Why Shared Website Hosting Might Be For You

Here are a few things that you can consider to get shared web hosting services.

1. Great Option For Small Business And Personal Blogs

Shared website hosting is the perfect choice for small businesses or people who want to create their own personal blogs. These websites don't receive a lot of traffic, which means you won’t have issues with your webpage's uptime and site speed. Additionally, though you're technically sharing space with other sites, each client gets all kinds of assets- including enrollment and email accounts from support administrations to drives.

Shared web hosting services can also extend security to your website. Many shared web hosting services include SSL certifications as a part of their package.

2. Ideal For Budget-Conscious Clients 

Shared hosting is a great way to start your internet business without breaking the bank. Unlike dedicated plans, you won't be on the hook for potentially thousands of dollars in fees upfront. Instead, you'll only pay as much each month as other sites are using.

Also, with shared web facilitating, you can make your site work without spending a ton of cash. This is especially useful if you're still in the process of trying things out for your business – like deciding what kind to start with or how much investment would be necessary. If it turns out well, at least then you'll have enough money saved up for a dedicated site.

Growing Your Website In Multiple Proportions

Other facilitating plans can dominate if your site grows out of the assets given in a shared web hosting service. You could always upgrade to dedicated web hosting whenever you need it or go all-in with other unlimited plans offered at low monthly fees!

Building Your Marketing Assets For Your Business

Marketing assets have changed drastically even in just the last 10years. When new businesses were looking for marketing options, they had a very limited number of marketing assets. They had a logo, a business card, and a brochure.

Early marketing teams used these three simple assets to grow a business with zero clients into a successful business. With just a few key strategies, you can elevate your digital marketing by employing just a few assets.

In today’s business environment your list of marketing assets is in continual flux and the number of assets you need to be successful in growing, not shrinking. I am going to outline the marketing assets that you need to be successful.

Not every business needs every one of these assets, but if you are not using one of these assets you should have business reasons for not doing so. Each of these assets can work with another asset to improve your business.

PDF Brochures

A PDF brochure can be easily downloaded on any device. After optimizing for mobile devices, your content can be easily viewed by anyone. Be sure to include information about what you offer and incorporate natural language that goes over why you are the best company to turn to in your industry.

Videos

Gone are the days of “how-to” articles. Videos are on the rise because people can see and hear the solutions they are looking for rather than having to read and digest the solution. Videos allow you to add any amount of personality you please, so go ahead and be yourself! You are likely to get more views when you aren’t trying to be too professional or like someone else.

Blogs

Do you want more clients without spending a ton of money? Turn to create blogs. An active blog will attract users who are already looking for what you offer. It also lets search engines know you are an authority in your industry.

Google My Business Listing

Business owners should verify their business on Google to provide more credibility to their website and to ensure their audience is receiving the most up to date information. A Google My Business account allows businesses to verify their location, hours, website, contact information, logo, and more.

Google Analytics

The most underrated marketing tool for non-digital marketers. Your website analytics give you insights far beyond how many visitors your website gets. You can dig into a geographic location, mobile vs. desktop, rank your pages by value, track conversions and so much more.

Citations: In SEO citations are places your businesses are cited or listed in a directory or news site. The citation may or may not have a link. Citations sites can also fall into other categories. For instance, we consider YELP a citation site and a social link.

There are tools to help you build and manage your citations. At Sharp Tack Media, we use multiple methods to make sure that your citations are both high-quality and authoritative.

Takeaways

There are many options to grow your business. They can be through PDF brochures, videos, blogs, Google My Business, and even Google Analytics. These options aren’t still exhaustive as there are still many marketing assets waiting for you to be discovered.

 

Trendy Website This 2021

The future is here, and it's not just about flying cars. Web design has become so much more than a way to get information from one place to another.  It's become an art form that can be used for branding, marketing, and advertising purposes. With that in mind, we've put together some web design secrets for 2021.

Why Do Web Design Trends Keep On Changing?

You might think, what do design trends have to do with web design? Design trends are what drive the industry. Trends show us where we're going, and they indicate a time for a change; this is crucial as new technologies emerge that can be used in designing websites.

2021 Trends Web Designers Should Follow

With the rise of various other types of technology, we believe that in 2021 web designers will have to be aware of the following trends:

1.  VR and AR (virtual reality augmented reality) on mobile devices.

Considering an increasing number of people who own a smartphone or tablet, both VR and AR should be used to their best effect on these devices.

Virtual reality (VR) should not be confused with augmented reality (AR) (VR). Users are immersed in a virtual environment using a device such as a headset in VR. They are fully submerged in a fabricated universe, shifting their limbs and engaging with it as they would in real life. They can see things that are entirely different from reality. Many well-known web browsers are already on board and supporting the VR experience as a whole. The entire VR experience will be accessible to the average customer shortly, allowing users to experience it with only a click of a button and no need for downloads. 

Meanwhile, Augmented Reality (AR) allows users to see the natural world around them using the camera app. However, they can also see computer-generated images layered over the top of their actual surroundings in augmented reality. In essence, augmented reality (AR) connects the worlds of reality and virtual reality.

2. Voice control as a means of interaction

More and more people use voice assistants for various tasks. With the emergence of such technologies, designers can better use them by designing websites compatible with voice commands. For example, users who have Alexa or Google Home can activate the voice assistant and navigate web pages or complete tasks.

3. Microinteractions on devices with high-resolution displays

These are small, interactive features that add personality to a website and make navigation more engaging. They are designed to revolve around a single use case and accomplish a single goal. The loading icon on your favorite e-commerce website and the little bell in your Facebook app that indicates you have new updates are two examples.

Designers should be aware of this trend, so they know how to implement these micro-interactions in their design process.

4. It will be all about mobile-first design

As the number of people using their phones as their primary device continues to grow exponentially, websites have begun redesigning themselves with smaller screens in mind. This ensures that users always have access to your site no matter what device they are on!   

5.  You will need animations

Animation is all the rage right now because it's a great way to get your message across in fewer words. If you really want to catch people's attention, make sure you're incorporating animation into your design!

6. Always go back to the basics

Despite the changing trends, some essential design tips still need to be followed. Tips like keeping important information near the top of the page and using simple language when possible so everyone can understand what is being said still work. Also, focusing on keywords and creating great content are still best practices.

7. Use colors in moderation and organize by importance

To create a more engaging experience, use colors sparingly and categorize them by priority.

8. Never sacrifice usability for aesthetics

Don't make things look pretty if it's going to cost your business or readers in the end! Ensure that everything is easy to find on a website and has neat labels so people can navigate easily.

How To Create Facebook Ad Heads That Work

If you’re like one of the other 2.5 billion people who use it every day, you’ve probably spent at least some time on Facebook recently. And if you’re like most people, you’ve probably come across a Facebook ad or two. Or fifty. A lot of companies have been using Facebook for their digital marketing efforts.

Among those – which ads did you actually click on?

If you said “none,” then congratulations. You have a lot more willpower than the majority of users. However, I’m going to guess you’ve at least clicked on a couple, whether it was because you saw something genuinely intriguing or out of idle curiosity. 

With a user base that large, Facebook ads are practically a necessity for businesses investing in their digital marketing. But that also means there are a lot of people advertising on the platform – over three million, to be precise. 

So let’s go back to the previous question – “Which ads did you click on?” From visuals to descriptions, Facebook advertising has a lot of moving parts that can be used to get someone’s attention and get their attention. But no part of an ad is more important than the headline. 

Motivate Your Audience

If you want people to click, you need to give them a reason to click. People aren’t going to take a break from their mindless scrolling if you don’t give them a little bit of a push. Some good examples are sales, price slashes, bundle deals, special limited-time offers.

Remove Clutter

Keep your headlines short and simple. Stats show that five to seven words are optimal. Pack a strong message into just a few words and you’ll be well on your way to crafting a headline that would make your users take a second look.

Other Things To Consider

It would be impossible to go over every single thing you can do to optimize your Facebook advertising efforts in just a blog post. But here are a few more things you can try:

  • Ask a question. “Looking to save a few bucks on Christmas gifts?” (Many people sure are!)
  • Start with a number. “10 Things Every Writer Should Know”. (Here’s a quick tip – stats show 10 is the best number to use).
  • Use emotional words. “10 Startling Facts About Dolphins”. (I need to know those startling facts now.)
  • Give a command. “Click Here For Great Deals”. (Just be sure the other elements of your ad give people a reason to do what you tell them.)
  • Make people curious. “Learn the Secrets of Social Media Marketing”. (Hmmm. I just need to know those secrets.

    Final ThoughtsFacebook is one of the most powerful tools there is in today’s digital marketing world. Its user friendly interface and the abundance of its features and tools allow many businesses to find a venue for their products and services. Many influencers also use this platform to showcase their skills and materials.

There are a lot of things to think about if you want your Facebook advertising to succeed. However, a great headline is the perfect starting point. Contact us now if you want the best services around. 

UX: The Key to Quality SEO

Think you don't need UX? Think again.

It's a shame that many people still believe that SEO and UX are at odds with one another. In reality, they go hand in hand. User experience is vital for quality SEO because it ensures your website visitors will enjoy their time on the site, which will lead to more conversions. This blog post discusses how user experience can be used as a critical component of a successful SEO strategy.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is short for search engine optimization, which is the art and science of getting your website ranked higher on a search engine's results page. To put it in simple terms, quality SEO is about making sure that when someone types something into Google or any other search engine, they're likely to find your site at the top of the list.

There are many techniques one can include in an SEO strategy. One such approach is to use keywords and phrases on your site. Keywords are words or phrases that people might type into a search engine, so they would be relevant to what you're trying to rank for with your SEO strategy.

There are also many benefits of having strong quality SEO:

  1. It leads more people who are looking for the same thing to your site.
  2. It helps you get more inbound links from other websites and blogs that link back to your content because of the quality SEO on your website.
  3. When people see a higher ranking for their queries (the keywords they typed into the search engine), they're likely to assume that what they found is trustworthy.

However, some factors can negatively affect your site's SEO. One is its bounce rates. If people are going to your website and bouncing off right away because they didn't find what they were looking for, then that's a problem. Another one is not spending enough time regularly updating your site's content (not just articles or blog posts but more images and videos).

User Experience (UX) And How It Eliminates Bounce Rates

One reason why bounce rates occur is the lack of good UX in web design. This is when the website design doesn't provide enough information about what to do next. For example, a button that reads “Click here” might be too vague for people who are unfamiliar or not knowledgeable with web products.

The best way to address UX issues and eliminate bounce rates on your site is by incorporating feedback from users into your product development process. Another way is to ensure that the designs are not cluttered and allow for a clear navigation path.

Other ways to control and effectively lessen bounce rates include making the website mobile-friendly and providing interactive design features that engage users. It can also include technical SEO aspects such as loading speed, site security, and meta tag optimization.

Final Thoughts

UX and SEO are related to each other. If you want to increase traffic and have a successful site, you must focus on UX. It is one key to ensuring a high-quality SEO strategy because it eliminates bounce rates on your site. 

Make Money Through These Popular Blog Niches

Do you want to make money from your blog? Or if you have one, how much can you make from blogging? In this post, we will discuss four insanely profitable and successful blogs that you can start today. 

Profitable blogs are usually in the niche of lifestyle, fashion, food, or DIY. These blogs are all making between $5-$10k per month, and they have been successful for years!

1. Lifestyle Blogs

Lifestyle remains to be one of the most profitable blogging niches out there. Some popular topics that lifestyle blogs cover are focused on personal style, life hacks, and other tips to help readers live their best lives.

For one, life hacks are great topics for a lifestyle blog. They can be on a wide variety of issues, such as how to pack a suitcase or the best way to filter water. The possibilities are endless for this type of blog, and it can be just about anything that will help readers with their day-to-day life.

If you’re into writing a personal lifestyle blog though, one should remember never to pressure themselves to be perfect. This attitude can lead to feelings of inadequacy and unhappiness with the final product. Rather than focusing on perfection, bloggers should focus on being more authentic while still striving for high-quality content that is well researched and engaging.

2.  Food Blogs

The food niche is another profitable blogging topic that offers plenty of room for exploration. Some popular topics on these blogs include healthy recipes, restaurant reviews, or holiday cooking ideas. This type of blogs have a massive following on social media sites, like Instagram and Pinterest. 

People love to search for topics under the food niche for many reasons. Some audiences like blogs that are more recipe-focused, while others focus on restaurants. There are also those who love reviews of any cuisine, from Thai to French and everything in between!

There are certain things to remember if you want to start a food blog. These include:

  • To write a food blog, one must know how, like, or learn cooking. If you are not interested in food, this is NOT the blog for you!
  • If you are interested in learning how to start a food blog, then the first step is deciding what kind of dishes you want to cook and write about. The second step would be choosing an appropriate domain name for your new website. The third step? Creating content that appeals to your target audience.
  • The most crucial aspect of food blogging is all about your voice and how it comes across on paper (or screen). Thus, your writing or voice should sound natural and conversational. Also, when writing about food, keep in mind that there are many different kinds of people who will be reading your blog.

3. DIY Blogs

Do-It-Yourself or DIY blogs are usually about how-to guides to help their readers. They are greatly popular with many readers because they offer expert advice on beauty, fashion, and crafts. DIY niche blogs are also for those who love to make things by hand or do it themselves. Many readers enjoy these types of blog posts because they get to do projects on their own. 

To start with a DIY blog, remember that you don't need to know how to do everything. You can simply research and post your findings for others who are looking for the same thing as you. You also need to know that you should plan to post at least once a week, as with any blog.

Over the years, DIY blogging has become one of the most popular ways people make money online from their home-based business. So make sure that it's done right!

Conclusion

Every niche is different, so it's essential to identify what the target audience for each would like most. Doing this will help when deciding which types of posts to write about and how often they should. Who knows, businesses and individuals interested in affiliate marketing might get enticed to invest with your blogs.

So there it is. Happy blogging and making money!

Why Blogging Helps Your Site’s SEO Performance

One of the most obvious ways a blog can help your small business is by selling sales calls, blogs and articles. You can use your blog to sell your product in a variety of ways, from a sales pitch to a marketing campaign to a product review. However, you can’t sell using your blog if your blog isn’t seen, right? Well, you’re in luck. Blogs help SEO. Blogs massively help your site be seen as it’s a great way for search engines to see what your site’s all about, leading them to more easily recommend your site to search queries.

Blogging helps boost SEO quality by positioning your website as a relevant answer to your customers' questions. Blog posts that specifically use a variety of on-page SEO tactics can give you more options to rank in search engines and get customers to visit and stay on your site. 

Focus On 1-2 Long-Tail Keywords

Optimizing your blog posts for keywords isn’t about incorporating as many keywords into your posts as possible. It used to be but today it’s just known as “keyword stuffing.” Nowadays, this actually hurts your SEO because search engines consider this keyword stuffing (i.e., including keywords as much as possible with the sole purpose of ranking highly in organic search).

It also doesn't make for a good reader experience — a ranking factor that search engines now prioritize to ensure you're answering the intent of your users. Therefore, you should use keywords in your content in a way that doesn't feel robotic or forced.

A good rule of thumb is to focus on one or two long-tail keywords per blog post. While you can use more than one keyword in a single post, keep the focus of the post narrow enough to allow you to spend time optimizing for just one or two keywords.

Mobile-First/Responsive Design

Did you know more people use a search engine from their mobile phones than from a computer? It’s true. Data shows that more and more people are searching for things on their phones rather than on a PC.

And for all those valuable search queries being done on mobile, Google displays the mobile-friendly results first. This is yet another example of Google heavily favoring mobile-friendly websites — which has been true ever since the company updated its Penguin algorithm back in April 2015.

So, how do you make your blog mobile-friendly? By using responsive design. Websites that are responsive to mobile allow blog pages to have just one URL instead of two — one for desktop and one for mobile, respectively. This helps your post's SEO because any inbound links that come back to your site won't be divided between the separate URLs.

As a result, you'll centralize the SEO power you gain from these links, helping Google more easily recognize your post's value and rank it as high as possible. And at the end of the day, that’s the thing that SEO was made for. 

Key Takeaways

Blogs are effective marketing tools to grow your business. Despite great content, they should be optimized, too. One can do this by focusing on the use of long-tail keywords and prioritizing a mobile-first design. Once you’ve accomplished these steps, you can simply wait for them to do the work for you. 

2021 Trends To Keep Your Site Updated

Many things can affect the way websites look and function in the future, so it is hard to say what will happen. However, a few trends have been popping up more lately with good reason- they work well! In this article, you'll learn about some of those emerging web designs this 2021 as well as how they might change your website's UX.

1. Use Gentle Colors

Colors are essential to attract users to stay on your website. It's because colors have a significant impact on users' emotions and feelings. This 2021, you can use gentle colors to appeal to people's sensitivity to make them feel more relaxed when visiting your website.

So what colors are trendy this year for your website? Some say that the colors coming into trend are baby blue, light pink, and powdery yellow. On the other hand, many designers say that teal will be one of the most popular ones. It's a soothing color with enough energy for people to want to stay on your site longer.

2. Less Intrusive Design

Minimalism isn't just a principle in arts. You can use it in designing your website, too. This means that you don't need to have a lot of buttons or links on your website. Instead, you can use more subtle ways- such as color and design to convey what actions are available for the user.

This trend might also have something to do with avoiding overwhelming users. Nowadays, websites seem to be more focused on simplicity. This means that you'll see a lot of white space to confuse users with too much information or clutter. It's about making your website look clean and simple by removing what may seem unnecessary to have clarity and ease for its users.

3. Graphics and Animation

There are many kinds of graphics that are hot this year. One of them is the paper cut effect. It's always clear and elegant, so it can be good to add a few more graphics to your site with this style.

Some web designers are also using icons to convey what actions can be done. Icons are great because they don't need words, which means that you'll save space on your site while being able to guide the user's navigation and experience better than before.

4. Increased Interaction

2021 is all about increasing user interaction. This means that you will need to make your website more interactive so people can have a better experience while browsing.

This also includes increased functionality. Although this trend isn't new, the increased focus on functionality has never been crucial for marketers and designers alike. It's essential to add or improve functionalities to stay in demand with users' needs.

5. Scroll Effects

There are many trending scroll effects this 2021. One example is a website that scrolls vertically and horizontally.

Another type of scroll effect would be one that presents the content in different ways to make it more interactive for user experience. One good example is websites with sliding carousels or scrolling pictures, often used on homepages to showcase new products and services without overwhelming visitors.

Parallax scrolling is still a big trend this year. This technique allows designers to create the illusion of depth on a website by adding motion and animation.

6. Mobile Optimization

One more trend expected to prevail in 2021 is mobile optimization, allowing designers to make websites compatible with all screen sizes (including tablets). This way, it'll be easier for visitors from any device to find out about your products and services.

Final Thoughts

Getting your site updated is a crucial step in keeping your business successful this 2021. By following the tips outlined in this article, you'll be able to take advantage of the latest web design trends and generate more revenue for your business.

The Benefits Of Blogging For Your Site’s SEO

Blogging got its start as online diaries posted, mainly by individuals, during the internet’s infancy. Blogging was a simple, easy, and fun way for people to express themselves on the web. Blogging has become a business and there are several ways blogging can improve your website's SEO and help your business make more money.

Since then, blogging has transformed into a powerful digital marketing technique used by a myriad of individuals, organizations, and businesses. While blogging is still simple, easy, and fun, the majority of bloggers today say their primary reason for blogging is making money.

Strive To Drive Organic Traffic

People online are looking for information. Search engines exist to highlight web pages with content relevant to the information for which people are searching. Hence, posting new web pages to your website containing content about popular and relevant subjects attracts people to search for such content on your website. The more traffic your website attracts, the more relevant search engines consider your website.

Blog content you offer can vary from company news to general interest articles, troubleshooting guides, or detailed explanations of services or products. Learn what information visitors are looking for that your website lacks and provide it. If an answer can't be found on your site, web visitors will look elsewhere and take their business with them.

Build Domain Authority

Every blog post is a representation of your brand. Thus, publishing quality content can help you establish trust and reputation on the market. Consumers, as well as other companies and organizations, show trust in your company by visiting your website frequently and publishing content that links to your website. Both traffic and links (or “backlinks”) are important metrics used by search engines to determine the rank of your web pages in search results. Each blog post you publish is a potential new touchpoint for your customers, fans, industry peers, and search engines. It could be shared on social media. Another web page might link to a statistic or graphic. It might be included in an email list or added to the resource or links section of another website.

Keep Your Content Fresh

Blogging keeps your website’s content fresh. Modifying content on a website is one way to tell search engines that your website (and your business) is not static, but is, instead, active, growing and producing content that contributes to a robust online community. Thus, websites that publish new content on a regular basis will have an SEO edge over ones that do not.

Optimize Keywords

Additionally, each blog article you post to your website is an opportunity to include keywords people commonly use to search for businesses similar to your own. For each post that includes a particular keyword or keywords, your website now has a web page promoting that keyword as a search term. Think of a blog post as a mini advertisement for your business. Publish a series of blogs around a keyword(s) and you will increase your site's search rank for that topic.

Final Thoughts

The ways to improve your SEO strategy are plenty. Some of them require complex and technical skills, while some strategies can be simple, even you can start doing it on your own. A good example of the latter is blogging.

Building your web site's visibility online through blogging should become a vital part of companies' Internet marketing strategy. You’d be remiss in leaving it out of your business marketing plan.

Top Agency For Your Web Design Needs

The internet is full of web design agencies, but how do you know which one to choose? Choosing the wrong company can result in a frustrating process and an expensive website. Luckily, there are digital marketing agencies that can help you with your web design needs. You can check one of them for more details.

To make sure that you are choosing the right company, read this blog post! We will discuss what makes these top companies better than their competitors.

1. Impeccable User Experience and Increased Conversion

One of the top priorities for a web design company is to ensure that its user experience is impeccable. The site should be easy to navigate and look professional, among other things.

To achieve this, they have specialists on staff. They can offer services such as usability testing, which evaluates how users interact with websites. The site should also be visually appealing so that people want to stay there for more extended periods.

A user-focused web design agency also combines data, technology, and creativity.  This characteristic leads to an increased conversion rate and higher revenue.

In addition, these companies want you to have an enjoyable time on it so they can convert more customers into leads or sales. They will also work with you until you're able to accomplish your goals with the site.

To be a top web design company, they must have expert knowledge of other marketing facets like search engine optimization (SEO) and social media advertising.

2. Creativity

For a wide variety of startups and leading brands, a top design agency often produces engaging visual environments, brand identities, and interactive websites. 

Furthermore, these companies often use creativity as a way to stand out from the competition. They do this by using bright colors on their sites or uploading videos with eye-catching visuals for an even more dynamic experience.

They're also very adept at creating campaigns that captivate their audience.

These agencies are also well versed in the latest trends and best practices. Thus, they can advise you on site optimization for increased conversion rates or improved rankings due to search engine visibility.

3. Innovative

Heard about VR and 3D in web design? These are only two of the most current trends in the industry. Anyone wanting to be ahead of the competition should be aware of what's coming next, or they risk being left behind.

Some top web design agencies even specialize in particular niches like e-commerce, shopping carts, mobile sites, and more. It helps you find your perfect match for a successful project, regardless of how big or small it is.

They're also known for creating highly interactive websites specially designed to be user-friendly and easy for you or your customers to navigate. You'll also want a web design agency that's updated with the latest SEO trends. They can advise you on how your site could be optimized for increased conversion rates or improved rankings due to search engine visibility.

4. Open To Challenges

Some might not like the idea of working with a startup company, but a top web design agency knows that they're not the only ones with a long-term vision.

They know that by taking on these challenges, they'll be able to build some incredible ideas for their clients and make an even greater name for themselves in today's industry.

Takeaways

An individual or an organization's perception of what makes a top agency may vary. However, certain qualities, such as impeccable user experience, creativity, innovation, and openness to challenges, make one stand from the rest.

Why YouTube Helps Your Digital Marketing Efforts

We all know that Google is the king of search engines. While some may still use Yahoo or Bing to browse online, most consumers go straight to the big kahuna, Google. But there’s another search engine that’s sometimes underestimated, and it’s the second-largest in the world.

You may not recognize it but it’s actually YouTube. With over a billion users, hundreds of millions of hours of video are streamed every single day. Digital marketing using videos can be one of the most effective marketing strategies you can use.

Marketing plans from days past relied heavily on billboards, radio, magazine ads, and TV commercials. While these still have their place in marketing, you can’t ignore the internet. Internet advertising offers a much more targeted approach to consumers.

And today, with consumers being somewhat overexposed to the media, you shouldn’t just shoot out ads blindly—you need to meet your customers where they’re at. And where are they? Well, for starters, YouTube.

Why Video Marketing?

Video advertising on YouTube is more effective than television advertising because the target audience is generally more engaged. Millennials are more than twice more likely to focus on videos on their smartphone than watching ads on their TVs.

The possibilities are endless. Our smartphones go everywhere with us (even to the bathroom). They’re at home on the couch with us at night. They’re on vacation with us, helping us navigate the busy streets of a new city.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

At peak selling hours, you could be spending loads of cash to get in front of the wrong audience. One of the largest search engines in the world is also the largest “cable network,” so to speak. With most content uploading ability available for free, you can get in front of a much larger audience for much less advertising cost. Even better, that audience is more engaged.

How many of us have complained about a spouse / significant other / roommate watching YouTube videos on their phone while we’re trying to watch something on TV? The fact is that an overwhelming majority of people use multiple screens at once. And with what we know about engagement, they’re typically more tuned into the small screen in their hand than the TV you’re trying so desperately to watch.

So for businesses to only sink ad dollars into TV commercials is not the best practice. If your target consumer is on two screens, you need to be on two, too.

We live in an age of instant on-screen gratification. When you don’t know the answer to a question, a quick internet search will give you an immediate answer. When you’re quoting a funny video clip, and your buddy’s never seen it, you can find it in a few seconds and share.

That trend spills over in the way younger viewers prefer to view video content. I’ve had lots of friends and family members cancel their cable subscriptions in favor of instant streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, etc.

What Can You Do?

There’s only one thing you can do; Get out there. Make meaningful content available. Know your audience, and give them what they are looking for. Your videos don’t have to be fancy or cost you a fortune to create. A phone camera could do the trick if used correctly!.

Video Integration In Web Design

Video is a prevalent medium that people use to consume content these days. They are seen to be more engaging and allow audiences to have that incredible feeling of involvement with their viewing material. If you’re in Portland, you may click here for a leading web design agency to help start integrating videos in your web design today.

But aside from this, videos can be used in web design for many different purposes. They can be used for product demonstrations, tutorials, or even explaining how your business works!

Why Include Videos In Your Next Website

Utilizing videos in web design is one of the hottest trends in web design. As a matter of fact, 2021 has been predicted to be the year of video marketing.

It has also been seen to increase conversion rates by 80% in some cases. Its other benefits include:

1. Video helps build trust and credibility 

If you want to make your company seem more trustworthy and credible, you should consider adding video to your website. It's a great way to show that the company is serious about providing quality services or products.

Also, videos help educate your audience. They’re excellent at teaching people how to do something or provide instructions for new processes they may not be familiar with. 

2. Video content can be personalized for increased engagement

Video marketing allows viewers to interact with videos in different ways. They can ask questions, leave comments on the content section, and, of course, watch the videos. This makes video content much more personal and interactive than other forms of content marketing, such as an article or a blog post.

3. A more engaging experience leads to higher conversion rates

The use of video helps you overcome the problem of visitors not spending enough time on your website because they are distracted by other media or tasks. Remember that visitors are more likely to stay and browse when there's a video playing in view! Plus, people like watching videos instead of reading, so you're sure to have higher engagement rates with viewers.

4. Video can be used to create additional revenue sources

Video is one of those things that's hard to pass up – it captivates viewers' attention like no other form of media. With a fully engaged audience, you might want to consider placing ads on your video. With a variety of ad formats to choose from, you're sure to find one that's right for you!

5. Video is excellent for social media marketing

The use of videos on social media has grown dramatically in recent years. It doesn't seem this trend will slow down anytime soon. Social networks like Facebook are now allowing the use of pre-recorded videos on their platforms.

6. Video is also great for SEO

Adding videos also enhances the usability and accessibility of your site. When used correctly, videos can help explain how one can interact with a place, what features are available, or provide an explanation for some aspect of it that would otherwise not make sense on its own (like embedding code).

There are many ways to optimize videos for search engines.  You can include relevant keywords in the video's title, tags, and description. You may also optimize your videos with appropriate keyword-rich text to improve their ranking on Google SERPs.

7. Videos allow you to tell a story

Video can be used in several ways, but one of the most popular and arguably effective is video storytelling. Telling stories through videos has become another method for engaging with audiences while using multimedia formats such as images, sound effects, professional music composition, and animation, just to name a few.

Takeaways

Many promising benefits come with the use of video in your web design. People like watching videos instead of reading, so you're sure to have higher engagement rates with viewers. Videos can also be used to create additional revenue sources and are great for social media marketing.

Thus, it's time to start using video in your web design strategy today!

SEO Website Tips To Improve Your Site’s Rankings

Search engine optimization continues to change at a blazing rate. However, there are a few SEO website design best practices that will stand the test of time and continue to remain at the top of the list. 

That’s why we’ve gathered some SEO web design strategies that will always remain important to both the users and the search engines, yet, they are also the most under-utilized techniques for webmasters. We’ve taken out the work of experimenting with different approaches to see what works because we’ve already done the work.

You’re here to reap the rewards and get your site to rank. Ignoring these best practices can be a very costly mistake.

Improve Your Site’s Performance

Have you ever waited so long for a web page to load that you just decided to exit or press the back button? Well, your users are no different.

In 2011, Google made page load times a major on-page ranking factor, and it is increasingly becoming more important as users are demanding a faster online experience. Even a difference of just one second can turn off users to your site.

Implementing website optimization best practices not only helps with your ranks, but it also decreases page load times, and ultimately boosting conversion rates. Utilizing everything from optimizing images to leveraging browser caching and even a CDN (content delivery network) should all be part of the overall on-page SEO strategy.

Invest In AMPs

As it turns out, a mobile website may not be enough. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an initiative to improve the mobile web and enhance the performance and efficiency of which content is distributed. This can be viewed as the next evolution of mobile-friendly sites.

Media consumption is at its peak, and with users regularly accessing content wherever they find it, Google recognizes that delivering content via AMPs is imperative for maximizing user engagement. Overall, AMP is fast, flexible and beautiful. We have already seen Google give preference in the mobile results to sites that have adopted Accelerated Mobile Pages, so why not take advantage of this technology?

Create User and Search Engine-Friendly URLs

The URL, one of the more prominent on-page signals that Google uses, must be structured in the most SEO-friendly way possible. Not only do search engines use it as a major on-page relevancy signal, but users also read, bookmark, share and type URLs in browsers.

Include the main keyword of the page in the URL or at least a short phrase that will give users an idea of what your page is about. Avoid lengthy URLs and always use hyphens to separate your words to make it easier to read.

Don’t miss the golden age of online search. The opportunity to deliver a great first impression that engages users while maximizing the impact of your SEO is at its pinnacle state. You just can’t afford to miss out on all of these amazing tips.

Doing E-Commerce SEO The Right Way

E-Commerce SEO is an essential part of online marketing. If you want to rank well on Google, you need to make sure your site contains the right keywords and content. The good thing is, many web design agencies can help you. You can check online resources for more information about this. 

This article will show you how to do E-Commerce SEO so that people can find your products when they search for them online!

E-Commerce And SEO

While an SEO strategy's ultimate aim is to maximize exposure, it takes on a different form of e-commerce. To understand this, one should know first the definition of e-commerce and SEO.

E-commerce  (electronic commerce) uses electronic devices and the Internet to conduct business, make purchases, advertise or sell products.

On the other hand, SEO is improving rankings in SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages) by encouraging valuable traffic to a website.

Thus, E-Commerce SEO is the process of influencing Google's ranking algorithm to rank your e-commerce higher for specific keywords. According to search engine algorithms, the aim is to maximize exposure while balancing valuable content and product promotion. This is done via keyword research to allow web pages with appropriate keywords to have higher rankings on SERPs.

Basics of E-Commerce SEO

Now that you've explored all of the fundamentals, you're able to delve further into the proper approach to e-commerce SEO.

1. Optimize Everything

The first step is to optimize your e-commerce site to increase its visibility, which can be done in various ways. One can add meta tags, content, and alt text for images. You may also use the right keywords and include relevant links throughout your website for better search engine rankings.

2. Use The Right Keywords

With the number of people conducting searches on the internet, it's essential to use keywords to produce results for your site. You should choose words people are likely to type in a search engine bar and any other relevant terms that may be appropriate. Remember not to go overboard with this – you want high rankings without sacrificing quality content or usability of the website itself.

For e-commerce SEO, long-tailed keywords are a good idea. It's hard to rank for a one-word phrase, but having a wider variety of keywords produces better results. You'll have a broader competition for these, but the payoff will be worth it.

Thus instead of using the description ‘kids puzzle,' why not use “wooden kids puzzle” instead? It can get you ranked for all the right reasons.

3. Navigability

Another critical consideration for E-commerce SEO is navigability.

Fewer clicks = more conversions, right? The key to this has concise and straightforward navigation that allows potential customers to find what they're looking for as quickly as possible – without being too distracting or confusing in the process. It's a delicate balance, but one you'll get better at with each page redesign.

Bottomline

E-commerce SEO might look like your regular SEO, but they're actually quite different. Make sure you're not optimizing for the wrong thing!

The goal of E-commerce SEO is to make your website optimized and navigable so that customers will stick around and convert more often than they would otherwise.

How Blogs Make A Site Trustworthy

If you follow successful online businesses, you are probably aware that most, if not all, have some sort of engaging and flourishing blog. There is little that can rival the cost-benefit of using your blog to connect with customers, and you'll love the way that your blog is integrated into your users’ overall browsing experience.

Blogging also provides a safe space for people to voice their opinions and engage in meaningful discussions with like-minded people. These interactions are powerful trust-building tools that your site will benefit from not only from your users but from search engines such as Google, too. 

We like to look at our blog as a versatile tool, and in addition to the awesome customer-facing aspect, we especially love the way it contributes to our digital marketing bottom line. Follow these simple and straightforward tips and watch your SEO results improve.

Utilize Snippets

We are firm believers in using our content across multiple platforms and utilize our blog content to populate our Social Media. When you are looking to drive traffic to your site, an image and snippet from your blog post is the right way to go. Users love to see snippets of their favorite blogs on social media.

Freshness Is Key

Don't look at your blog as a static entity like your other pages. This part of your online presence requires current and relevant content that is updated on a regular basis. Fresh content, or the lack thereof, can have a massive effect on your rankings. Avoid making a blog and then abandoning it.

Links Are Everything

Linking to reputable sites is a great way to increase your audience and also expand your audience. This industry study shows how positive outgoing links can affect SEO. Now, think about the impact when another site is using you as a reputable source. Guest posting and collaboration are a great way to increase your scope of reach while also giving your SEO a boost.

Look At The Google Stats That Matter

Did you know that each and every blog post that you publish counts as an additional site page to Google? Amazing, right? Use this knowledge to boost your online presence by publishing blog content that matters. Your Google Index only needs a minimum of 300 words and some good quality content to benefit your overall ranking.

The days of stuffing keywords are long gone, and keyword phrases are much more effective. Consider the question that your customer may have and create a post that provides that information. In the end, providing quality content that provides value to your readers is the best way to win the SEO game. 

Aside from the evident SEO benefits that a good blog provides, your visitors will trust you more when they see your effort and commitment emanate through your blog. 

Increasing The Time Users Spend On Your Site

One way of improving your ranking in Google is to increase the amount of time users spend on your site. This is because one of the categories of Google Analytics is a metric called average session duration which measures how long a visitor spends on your website on average. The duration can be measured in minutes or in seconds. Generally, a trustworthy website will have longer retention times.

This matters because the more time your visitors spend browsing your website, the more engaged they are with the content, and the larger the chance they’ll make a purchase.

Increasing User Retention Time On Your Website

The very first thing you need to consider for possible visitors to spend more time on your site is to add value to your content. You need to have engaging, original, fresh, and relevant content that catches the viewer’s attention.

If you add value to your website, people are more likely to visit because the content is different and innovative. Devoted visitors are your compensation for having valuable content added to your pages.

To increase user time on your website, here are a few tips to consider:

Create user-friendly pages. One of the best ways to obtain loyal visitors is to make your website user friendly. Creating one which directly targets what the user wants is something that should be considered when going through the process of website design.

As with the whole journey, the user experience should also be a top consideration. Create something that is appealing by adding visuals and stimulating materials and accent to your site, provide the appropriate messages, and catch the user’s attention with the right writing style and proper design.

Create a blog/forum section. Forums and blog posts allow your users to interact with your business and with other users. This also provides points of interest that will keep your visitors glued to your website. Make your blog posts and forums relevant to the focus of your website and provide regular and interesting topics which they can go through from time to time.

Always have a call to action present. Although this is intended more towards marketing strategies, having a call to action on your website provides your visitors with the next step they need to take in order to obtain what they want. Simple elements like a nice button that leads to the next link, or an image they can click that takes them to the next step are important to keep your visitors from leaving your site.

Keep it simple. One of the best ways to lose your visitors is to provide them with a complicated design that makes them confused. Providing simple designs and the appropriate content will ensure that your visitors do not get information overload. Also, Google goes for relevant content with one of its ranking factors.

Add interesting visual elements to your website. Adding a video or image related to your website’s contents is one way to increase traffic on your website. Not only will your users spend more time going through the video but related videos and images on your site adds value to your site and is another way of making your content engaging.

Building Your Website’s Trust Flow

If you want your website to rank higher on results pages, it’s important to know how to increase your website's trust flow. Trust flow is a metric based on the quality of the links to and from your website. Citation flow is a measure of the number of backlinks pointing to your site.

Google and other search engines use these metrics to predict how a website might rank in the search engines. However, trust flow is proving to be a more relevant metric according to recent data. Website trust is something that doesn’t appear in a day. It’s something that you must continuously gain over a long period of time, so it’s better you start sooner rather than later.

As buyers of products, you only need to look at your own browsing and buying behaviors to identify the factors that diminish trust. When your trust needs are not met, your once customers often look elsewhere for other suppliers.

In traditional trust-building between businesses, the focus is generally to generate trust via offline face-to-face conversations. But trust can also be earned online where it is often sought before a buying cycle starts, and it's now more important than ever to earn that trust on websites in such challenging and competitive environments.

Imagine a website about golf clubs and other golf equipment, but that website has a lot of links from websites focused on weight-loss products. How trustworthy would you consider that site to be? Sites with a lot of unrelated backlinks are viewed more negatively by users and, more importantly, search engines. Here are a few ways you can build trust with your users using your website.

Improving backlink quality. A few high-quality links can do more to enhance the trust flow of your website than numerous poor-quality links. Focus on building links from authoritative sources within your niche. Links from .edu, .org and .gov websites are also quite powerful.

Guest posting is one way to acquire high-quality backlinks. You could guest post on an authoritative site, or invite someone to guest post on your website. The higher the quality of the other site, the more you’ll see your trust flow increase. You may think that sites such as Wikipedia aren’t trustworthy, but they actually are. Getting your site featured in a citation on Wikipedia can do absolutely wonders for your site’s trust flow and traffic.

Make use of social media. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have high trust and high authority. Create a profile and link to your website. Add a link to your website back to your social media profiles. Be active on social media.

Avoid the mistake of ignoring your website’s inner pages. A natural linking profile will include links to multiple pages on your website, not just the front page. Make sure that your site’s links run deep into your site’s structure.

SEO For Online Business Visibility

SEO, also known as SEO website, refers to the optimization strategies implemented on your website that can affect the ranking of search engine results pages. Its overarching goal is to ensure that your content can be found by search engines. They optimize your websites’ content and group thematically relevant keywords to target. 

If you want to be an SEO pro, the first step is to know what it is, its essentials, and master the basics. Once you have a clear understanding of SEO, you can take the necessary steps to further your own journey.

SEO Basics You Need To Know

 Here are a few SEO basics you need to know.

  1. SEO is are the process of optimizing the elements of your website. An important thing to know is that optimization is about the content and the design of the website itself. It can include images, typography, and even your site’s responsiveness.

  2. SEO is composed of a multitude of components. It includes all the approaches that help search engines understand and organize your content better. It can consist of providing content that is friendly and useful to your target audience. It can also include optimizing headlines, tags, and links to be easily found and ranked by the search engine.

  3. There are also several SEO services that your business can benefit from. Remember that you can optimize your SEO efforts efficiently to local, regional, national, and even international search engines.

  4. You must understand Google and search engine algorithms. Essentially, algorithms are the search engine’s philosophy and values when looking at and ranking websites. Their priority lies in finding the most relevant and valuable answers to their users’ queries.

  5. SEO methods allow search engines to find out what interests online visitors and how they can use it for their users.

  6. For your business, understanding search engine optimization (SEO) can help assess what aspects of your website are being searched for, which pages you are embedding, and which part of the website you can improve. You can use the data monitored and gathered to change and improve your existing SEO strategy.

  7. It’s essential to be on guard on SEO trends because SEO is an ever-changing environment. What’s working today may not work in three to four years.

  8. If you don't want to spend money on advertising in search engines, but want to increase traffic to your website, then you may have realized that SEO is the right way. It’s a cost-efficiency growth tool for any business.

  9. There are SEO principles that are here to stay. One is excellent content.

  10. SEO is always all about customers and users.

Key Takeaways

Knowing the essential SEO tips for beginners is already a great start, but it may take some time for your SEO efforts to pay off. Although there is no real shortcut to getting this goal, it is possible to see SEO when you do the work – which boosts results. 

Grow Your Business In Your Community Through Local SEO

Are you a small business that is struggling to gain traction in your local area? If so, then this blog post is for you. Local SEO can be challenging to get right, and the wrong decisions can cost your business dearly. In this guide, we will go over all of the basics of implementing a successful local SEO campaign on your website. We will cover everything from creating citations and social media profiles to generating content about town events!

Why Have A Local Marketing Strategy

Digital marketing that is hyper-focused on a specific region is known as local digital marketing. Local digital marketing is an excellent way to drive traffic to your business.

To illustrate, more than 28 million people are living in the United States that will purchase a new home this year alone, and 94% of those buyers start their search online. One out of every four searches on Google contains local intent keywords such as “best real estate near me” or “top real estate firm in Oregon.” This means you miss out on a huge opportunity if your business doesn't have a local digital marketing presence in place.

A successful SEO strategy for small businesses identifies and ranks highly in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. This makes them successful in driving more traffic from users searching locally.

What Is Local SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to making it easy for customers to find content on search engines like Google. Meanwhile, local SEO targets locally based customers by ranking highly for relevant keywords specific to your location and niche market.

For example, suppose a business in Chicago offers services to the public. In that case, they should have an online marketing strategy that focuses on attracting customers from their local area. Successful campaigns involve identifying these key phrases or search terms.

Local Vs. Organic SEO

Though it might be confusing, it's essential to know that local SEO is different from organic SEO.

Organic SEO refers to the process of developing a website and online presence to rank highly for general keywords. This can be done by building high-quality content that appeals to your target audience and attracting links from other credible websites on topics related to yours.

But local search engine optimization is different because it's all about targeting specific locations.

Other Important Things You Need To Know About Local SEO

  • How To Know Your Audience

To know the audience of your local SEO campaigns, you need to understand your city's geography. For example, if people in your area are looking for a pizza restaurant near them, then optimizing for that type of business would be more effective than ranking nationally or internationally.

It's also important to know what other services and products they're interested in so you can optimize your benefits.

  • Improving Content in Your Local SEO Strategy

Like other types of content, optimization is necessary if you want to have a local SEO strategy.

The good news is that there are a lot of free tools to help with your optimization. One device, notably the Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress, offers many features like keyword suggestions and Google My Business settings.

It's essential to have keywords throughout your website's body content so search engine crawlers can find what you're talking about.

  • Improving Website For Your Local SEO

Another thing you need to know is implementing a local SEO requires website improvement.

To increase the chances of getting a higher ranking in Google, you need to make sure your site is search engine friendly. One way for this to happen is by following some basic rules like adding keywords and using structured data markup. A professional website designer can help when it comes time for redesigning your site or creating one from scratch.

Takeaways

Many benefits come with local SEO, particularly if you're a small business. However, it takes time and effort to ensure you're following the correct practices for success.

Latest Copywriting Trends To Watch Out For Your Business

To remain competitive in this growing industry, it is crucial to keep up with the latest copywriting practices and continue writing relevant texts promptly. This puts you in the lead and gives you a better performance on the material you write. 

This article will teach you more about the trends in content marketing that will dominate the industry in 2021. If you know these latest trends in writing, you will be superior to other authors, and your website can be better than the rest.

Why Marketers Need To Follow Copywriting Trends

Marketers need to keep pace with digital marketing trends to achieve their business goals and build customer relationships. Therefore, they must adapt to the latest trends and remain relevant to their niche or sector. 

Marketers also need to learn about marketing strategies and current trends to ensure that their efforts remain up-to-date in the dynamic digital age. This is important to keep their audience engaged while addressing their appropriate needs. 

Copywriting Trends to Watch Out For This 2021

1. Use of Emoji’s And Slang

If your target audience is Generation Z, a crucial copywriting trend to bear in mind is to use more emojis and slang in your copy. The use of slang and emojis in online marketing appears to be sweeping Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter feeds. It's also worth noting that emojis and slang have long been used in online ads by some products on social media.

2. Use of SEO

Despite the changes in trends, a solid SEO strategy should undoubtedly remain an essential element of your overall marketing strategy, even in copywriting. The ever-evolving nature of SEO means that digital marketers need to keep at the forefront every year. 

When integrating SEO in your copy, make sure that you start with the headline. Use numbers and keywords to your advantage to ensure that not only they’re catchy, they are friendly to search engines, too. 

3. Incorporate It in Email Writing 

As we delve deeper into 2021, e-commerce and e-mail marketing will become more mature to reconcile the boom. This provides a broader venue to exhibit your copywriting skills.

4. Strengthen Its Bond With Video Marketing

You also need to strongly incorporate your copywriting skills with video marketing. To start, know that several markets and niches are trendy with video marketing, so find them out and plan accordingly. In doing so, you can effectively integrate your copywriting and create an increase that will undoubtedly create a buzz in the coming years.

A word of advice, though: Remember to keep your business goals in mind when deciding how to respond to digital video advertising trends. Always focus on delivering solutions to your audience's needs.

5. Wed Copywriting To Paid Advertising Automation

The machine that charges advertisers every time their ad is clicked is known as PPC automation. PPC automation enables advertisers to use machine learning to manage their Google ad campaigns instead of wasting hours updating reach, timing and targeting. You can use third-party software to work hard for you by automating some of the systems and steps.

Although automation is not new in PPC advertising, it is one of the biggest trends in this type of advertising. By ensuring that you use copywriting practices and tips with paid advertising, you can stay top of your game, and you get to be in trend, too. 

Final Thoughts

Keeping up with digital marketing trends is critical to growing your business and ensuring you achieve your goals. The trends mentioned above in digital marketing are crucial as we enter the changing world of 2021, where digitalization is an economic driver. To continue to be successful, ensure that you adopt the given practices to change your business model and your current digital strategy. 

How about you? What’s the trend you like most this year? 

Mastering Social Media As A Small Business 

Are you struggling to find the perfect social media marketing strategy for your business? You're not alone! Social media is still relatively new, and there are a lot of different approaches that work. In this guide, we will explore four tried-and-true methods for building your brand on social media. Whether you've been using these techniques already or want to learn more about how they can help grow your business, this post has something in it for everyone.

1. Know Your Business

Knowing your business goals and mission is essential when creating a brand. It's because these goals and mission help you determine the type of branding your business needs.

Your brand's values are going to influence what social media platforms make sense for your company. For example, if you're an environmentally conscious organization trying to get more people involved in recycling, it might be a good idea to connect with them on Facebook or Twitter.

2. Understand Your Target Audience

A good understanding of your audience is also crucial when building a brand through social media. You can do this by considering your audience's likes and dislikes, their age group, how they use social media platforms. For example, if you're creating a Facebook page for a company targeting young adults between 18-25 years old who are using Instagram as one of their favorite channels to follow brands on, then it might be a good idea to include pictures with the hashtag in it.

So, how exactly can you know your audience on a deeper level? There are many ways to do this. One way is to research the demographic of your target audience. The best place for this information can be found on social media channels like Facebook or Twitter, where they provide you with a breakdown of their user demographics in the settings section. It can also help when considering which platforms are most appropriate for your brand.

Furthermore, you can also get closer to your target audience by finding out their feelings and motivations. You can do this by conducting a campaign with an incentive, usually in the form of a reward or prize for completing a survey.

3. Create Great Content

Content is king, and that remains true even today. Without fresh, high-quality content on your social media channels, they will inevitably suffer. You can have the best design and strategy in the world–but without a steady stream of new posts to share with followers, you're not likely to be successful.

So how can you make great content? There are many ways to go around this. One is to write a blog post and then share it on your social media channels. You can also create share-worthy content through videos. Video content is a great way to go because it's visual and has high engagement potential.

The most important thing is that you should create content that your audience would find interesting or relevant, not just what you think they want to see. Additionally, try using images if possible, as posts with photos usually get more attention than those without them.

4. Start A Community

Once you have great content, you can quickly build a community! Having a social media group is the best way to gather people who are passionate about your brand. You can create a closed group on Facebook or an open one and invite like-minded individuals to join it.

Community is the foundation of everything you do online and offline, so get out there and make some connections!

Final Thoughts

Social Media is a great tool to build branding for your small business. It's an easy way to get your name out there and increase visibility while you're sleeping. This blog post was made to be informative so that you can create a successful brand for yourself!

 

An In-Depth Look At Personal Marketing

Personalized marketing is achievable with realistically any marketing budget, and it isn’t exclusive to companies who can pull off complex marketing campaigns with multi-million dollar marketing investments. Once you understand the general premise of personalized marketing and why it works, you’ll be able to implement some practical ideas to create a more personalized experience for your consumers. Alongside having a reliable online marketing service, you ultimately make the final decision in your marketing strategies.

Why Does Personal Marketing Work?

Marketers who shifted their strategies to create an immersive, personalized advertising experience generally get more sales because their clients respond better to their efforts. It’s not only important how you market your products, but it’s also important to who you market your products, too.

Practical Ways To Implement Personal Marketing

There are many ways to start with a personal marketing campaign. The steps don’t need to be complex. They can be as simple as the ones listed below.

Personalized Email Campaigns

Don’t send the same blanket email to every person you’ve ever collected an email address for. Break your email addresses into groups based on key differentiating factors. For example, you may have the following groups: past clients, current clients, potential clients.

You wouldn’t want to send the same message to each of those groups. You may find luck in telling past clients that you have some new, exciting products or services.

Respond To Customer Reviews

When consumers are choosing a product or a service, nearly 80% will turn to reviews. You can make sure your company is accepting reviews on a variety of platforms, such as GMB, Google+, Yelp, Angie’s List, Facebook, and others.

However, it’s just as important to respond to reviews as it is to collect reviews. By creating a unique response to each review, it shows that you’re invested in each consumer’s experience with your company and that you’re forging a healthy relationship.

Implement A Remarketing Campaign

If you’re an Adwords pay-per-click (PPC) user, then you’ll likely be familiar with remarketing. Since you can build an audience based on consumers who have visited your website or engaged with you in the past, remarketing is a great way to remind them that your company is here and that you’re able to cater to their particular needs or wants.

Remarketing can be very complicated if you’re not an avid PPC marketer, so it may be worth working with an established PPC specialist. It’s always a good move to seek advice if you’re not in your element.

Don’t Rely On A Template

There are endless ways to build a Facebook audience if you’re going to be boosting posts or creating ads. In most cases, you won’t want to cast a wide net and market to everyone in a particular region. This approach isn’t personalized or targeted, and you may not see very good results. Create unique audience groups based on different characteristics, and create unique content that matches the unique needs and wants of these groups.

For example, you may wish to target men and women differently based on the products and services you offer. Or, it may be useful for you to target fans of particular sports teams or with specific job titles. With Facebook advertising, it’s possible to create very specific audiences, which is perfect for creating personalized ad content.

Do You Need a Website for your Small Business?

In this day and age, if your small business still exists without a website, that means you have already established an excellent reputation within your area. However, with the rapidly changing era of technology and the internet’s ability to affect buyer's purchasing behavior, a website for small businesses is a big help for continued existence in the next couple of years.

How to Create a Small Business Website

Creating a website might be too expensive for some, especially for small businesses. You have to consider hiring a website designer who may be pretty pricey. But, thanks to the internet, user-friendly and affordable website building platforms are now available online. These building platforms are perfect for small businesses who still want to achieve a professional-looking website for their businesses.

Before creating a small business website, you must identify what your goals are. This will help implement tools, design, and elements possible for your website. After you place your objectives that you want your website to achieve, here are steps to help you create your small business website.

1. Identify what website building platform to use.

A website builder is equipped with everything you need. This includes web hosting services, accepting payments, and more. Here’s a list of popular and user-friendly website builders available online to help you decide.

WordPress

This website builder is easy to use and practical so that you can create a design for a small business website in no time. If you want to build a no-frills webpage, there is no better website builder for small businesses than WordPress

GoDaddy

GoDaddy Website Builder makes it easy for business owners to get their small business website up and running quickly without programming or adding HTML or custom CSS. This drag-and-drop builder helps you build your website without any programming experience.

Squarespace

Squarespace has beautifully designed templates. If you want your small business website to have a natural visual appeal, this website may help to inspire your customers.

A good website builder for small businesses can help you create a website that reflects your brand. Whether you design your own or hire a small corporate website design company, the goal is to create a unique and engaging website that increases revenue and brand awareness.

2. Choose your Website Name or Domain Name

Choosing your domain name is also a critical part. You must ensure that your domain name is aligned with your business's name. This will help your customer find your website easily.

3. Determine your Website Design

This includes choosing what template or themes you will use for your website. Remember that your design must still represent your business, so choose wisely.

4. Adding your Website's Content

You must ensure that your website's content will showcase your business, from the homepage to your portfolio page. You can also include blog posts on your website as part of your marketing strategy.

5. Make your Website Visible to the Public

Website builders have the feature of keeping your website private while you are still building it. It won't go live until you're ready to publish it.

Once you've built your website, you might also want to consider optimizing it for SERPs. SERP optimization allows you to appear on top of the result page every time a user searches for a specific keyword. Website Builders make it possible for website owners to install SEO plugins to optimize their websites at ease.

Build Online or Remain Traditional?

An online brand presence will help small businesses to reach a wider audience. A wider audience means more potential customers and a higher conversion rate. Creating a website isn't just for big companies. We already have website builder platforms, which are user-friendly and way more affordable than outsourcing web developers. So, there's no reason for your small business to be left behind in this rapidly growing technology.

AI for Your Small Business

Autoresponder refers to a computer program that answers emails automatically. This is usually the generated reply system of a company or business. It may be simple or complex. This is an excellent help for automated campaigns and provides one-to-one communication with the clients. 

Several autoresponder emails may be sent to clients who already used the program or application. This process only sends emails to those who are already on the list or subscribed to the list. This autoresponder has many features included that a creator may customize like:

  1. Manage when the autoresponder sends messages. 
  2. Assign the cycle into different days. 
  3. Add contacts to the cycle.
  4. Schedule time of email.
  5. Prevent messages from being sent on specific days.
  6. Preview, edit, and duplicate messages.

Benefits Of Having An Autoresponder

These are some benefits of using autoresponders for your business.

1. Establish Long Term Relationships With Its Subscribers 

Having an autoresponder makes the user committed to a program. This usually happens in a month. Emails are also being sent when an application offers new programs.

2. Repetitive Sales 

Customers who are satisfied with a product will also use the emails repetitively, resulting in many sales. Meaning, repetitive sales lead to repetitive income.

3. Turn Visitors Into Subscribers 

Visitors will only view the web page or business once, but using an autoresponder is likely to turn these visitors into subscribers to help the company grow.

4. Gives Customers Direct Instructions 

Autoresponders use emails to give direct instructions to websites or blogs. These are links included in the message or emails. It is easier for the customers to direct on their tasks using an autoresponder.

Steps To Create An Autoresponder

  1. Create a new button
  2. Name the button according to the purpose (For example, Holiday Special)
  3. Enter the message you want to send to the subscribers
  4. Set a schedule or try it manually Scheduled A response that has a given time to on or off Manual A message that is open the whole time as long as the response of the user is active
  5. Save your autoresponder

When To Use Autoresponders? 

Autoresponders may be used for the following.

  1. Use When You Are Unavailable 

Many people are busy with their schedules, and many of them can’t answer emails, calls, and messages immediately. Using an autoresponder will make the messenger feel secured that the receiver has received the letter but isn’t available at the moment. This also helps a user appeal politely and well-mannered. 

  1. Use To Give Reminders 

Autoresponders are a great way to vocalize announcements. These are used for reminders like re-engagement campaigns or invitation emails. By clicking these emails or the links inside them, a user is directed to the business websites or blogs.

  1. Use To Wrap Up Messages 

This is used to summarize the messages of the business. This message is purely transactional. This provides an automated script to trigger a user’s behavior to purchase or to call to action.

Conclusion

An autoresponder has many uses when it comes to the industry. This is best used by professionals who have a tight schedule. It is essential to have automated messages to answer questions immediately or indicate that a person is unavailable. 

The Importance Of Having Attainable Milestones

Knowing what you want for your business seems simple, but believe it or not, setting goals is the hardest step in the process of digital marketing. Portland has many digital marketing agencies willing to tell you they’ll get you the best results, but they’re not willing to teach you the process.

One of our goals here at Sharp Tack Media is to educate the businesses who work with us. We want to help businesses and grow with them. Setting goals is a very important first step in creating a digital marketing campaign. Here are a few reasons why:

Goal Setting

Goal setting is critical to the digital marketing process. Without a goal, there is no direction for your campaign. How can you develop and execute strategies and tactics without the driving force of a goal? You can’t.

It’s like holding ice cream in your bare hands without a cone – it will be a failure. Luckily, we are smart people, and we know you are, too. Smart people plan campaigns with smart goals for digital marketing.

Smart Goals For Online Marketing

Smart goals are awesome. They keep us focused and give us a push if we’re dragging behind. We know goals themselves are important, but smart goals are slightly different than your average goal.

Goals are grounded in reality. Sure, you can say you want to get 5,000 page views in a month, but if you’re only averaging 1,000 a month, chances are that 5,000 is out of reach. Goals for digital marketing help you validate your goals, and they turn the goal-setting process into something more efficient and productive.

Setting Your Goals

  1. Write down everything you want your business to achieve. Writing all of your ideas down, no matter how general or complex, will help you focus on what matters most.
  2. Choose just one of the ideas you have; you’ll focus on just this one for this particular campaign.
  3. Summarize your goal. Expand upon what you want while keeping in mind your main goals.
  4. Dream big, but not too big. This may be the hardest step in the goal-setting process. Define a goal that feels just slightly out of your comfort zone. It will push you to work harder, and the feeling of a completed goal is pretty awesome.
  5. Make sure you know how to track your goal. As with our example above, if you use Google Analytics, it will be simple to see how many page views you’re getting.
  6. Select a deadline. An open-ended goal has no drive or sense of urgency. Choose a time period in which you think it will take to reach your goal. This will help with planning your marketing efforts as well.
  7. Commit a certain amount of time every week to completing your goals. Planning is key to a successful digital marketing campaign. Take it from us, procrastination does not look good.
  8. Write down any challenges you may face. If you know what they are, you won’t be surprised by them halfway through your campaign. Additionally, you can start planning ways to work around them. Having a plan B or plan C is that extra little step, which will make reaching your marketing goals easier.
  9. Ensure your goal has all of the components of your plan. Write down your optimized goal where you and your employees can see it. This way, there is no question about what you’re working toward, and you and your employees can document the progress.

Conclusion

By coming up with a smart way of setting up your business goals, seeing the results you want is possible. Consider following the steps we provided and start your success today.

Surprise Your Audience’ Inbox Through These Email Marketing Trends

With 2021 upon us, why not share some predictions about email marketing trends that will surely pop up in your inbox this year? 

This blog provides an excellent overview of the e-mail market's primary trends for 2021 and what you can take away from them. It's full of excellent points that can be applied to your marketing plan. 

E-mailing Trends To Follow

With this list and forecasts starting in 2021, you can get a head start applying these commitments and extend e-mail marketing trends to your campaigns. 

1. Understand And Communicate With Your Audience

Make sure you use email marketing as a two-way communication channel and refine your marketing strategy. To do this. Try to understand the way people consume emails and what you can do to communicate with your subscribers in a way that it prefers. 

2. Artificial Intelligence in Email Marketing

This trend makes it essential to understand where e-mail marketing is going and anticipate what you need to do for the future – prove your digital marketing strategy.

Another trend in e-mail marketing, which continued from 2020, is automation in various activities. Email Marketing Automation is getting out of hand as companies seek to expand their email efforts. If you haven't already moved your e-mail marketing to an automated platform, you're not catching up with marketing. 

Although e-mail technology is more than a decade old, there's constant progress taking e-mail marketing to the next level, both on the corporate and consumer side. We also expect an increase in emails is responding to consumer behavior as marketers discover new marketing automation and scaling opportunities. Hyper – personalization will dominate the field of marketing and email marketing – until well into 2021. 

The e-mail trends for 2021 reflect these evolving developments, but they are not the only ones. Another trend is data analysis which is also emerging as an essential facet of email marketing. This trend allows big data from emails to be analyzed using artificial intelligence. 

Remember, as email marketers, to keep your strategy updated with technology. If you forget that, you are not marketing your business correctly. Building a solid email marketing strategy and a sound email strategy for your business is key to ensuring your success in 2021. 

3. Video Marketing

Video e-mail is a vital marketing trend we see through 2020, and video will only gain popularity in 2021. You can expect to see many more video-based e-mails as there's a rise in illustration, interactivity, accessibility, etc. 

As we delve deeper into 2021, e-commerce and e-mail marketing will become more mature and mature to reconcile the e-commerce boom. However, in the years ahead, the way we view email will change the way we view it. 

Conclusion

There you have it, three-mail marketing trends to implement in your online and in-store marketing arsenal. Taking advantage of the above trends will increase your e-mail marketing game to boost your profit prospects and sales. 

I hope you find this article enlightening and contribute to your understanding of email marketing trends for 2021 and beyond. 

Winning Customers Through Web Pages

A conversion page is a page that is processed after an action. This is likely to be called a confirmation page. For example, when purchasing online, this pertains to confirm purchases or confirmation of money to be given. In economics, conversion rates are increased if higher than the usual conversion is performed. Studies have shown that a reasonable conversion rate is above 10%. Conversion rates are calculated simply by gathering all the number of conversions divided by the total engagements or the interactions of the page.

Tips For Better Page Conversions

Here are the tips for better page conversions that will significantly increase a conversion rate. 

1. Provide Logos, Reviews, And Testimonies

Logos, reviews, and testimonies attract users to engages in a page. Excellent service offered by the page also dramatically affects the number of interactions on a page. Creating logos also helps a page to be known and remembered. Testimonies and reviews become the basis of other users if the product or service is good. 

2. Optimize A Lead Capture Form

Studies have shown that majority of the population lower conversion rates because of the unnecessary information asked. This means that the more questions asked, the less the likelihood of conversion rates to happen. Collect only vital questions and add additional questions only if necessary. 

3. Make Initial Steps Easy

The majority of the studies show that easy steps make the user more interactive on a landing page. It is also best to provide details for what they can get when they press buttons. For example, the button sign-up is less attractive for the users; they like seeing how they can benefit from the program.

4. Provide A Chat Tool

A chat tool can be in the form of pop-ups. The creator can use this to assist the user and help on navigating the page for easier access. These are usually placed on the lower right quadrant of the screen. Usually, this is ignored, but users find it helpful when they can’t find the tools they are looking for. Also, a person is not always available to provide immediate help to users, so a chat tool may be created based on frequently asked questions that may be readily available to the users. 

5. Add Graphics 

Using graphics makes it easier to understand and can be adequately explained. Graphics attract users and make it more convenient to listen to short videos rather than reading them. These graphics proved a higher increase in conversion rates for different businesses. Users have the different attention span. It is best to create short videos or photos that will explain the company directly. Remember that a landing page only needs concise words.

6. Strengthen The CTA Copy

Usual words for CTA aren’t attractive to the users. Make it appealing and make it stand out among other pages. Instead, using “Sign-up for promos” appealing CTA like “Discounts please!” pushes the users more to engage. Different words are to be used only n headlines or CTA copy. Simple words are best for instructions.

Takeaway

Having a high conversion rate shows the success of the page. This is a vital sign for the business to earn. There are other tips for a better conversion page, but the best advice is to be creative and know your audience. You can produce a conversion page that is beneficial for the users.

Marketing Marketing Tips To Help You

The offseason is in reality, something that all seasonal businesses face every year. For businesses that don’t make adequate preparations in advance, it can be a particularly harsh reality. Pool maintenance businesses have poor client turnout during the fall and winter seasons (and sometimes even in the first half of spring), ice cream shops experience a sharp downturn in sales in the winter, and ski lodges all but close during the lean months. A reliable marketing strategy takes into account all of these downtimes and has enough foresight to plan around them.

This downturn may be unavoidable if you own a seasonal business, but there’s still a lot of good that can come out of it. With sufficient planning and proper execution, you can leverage the offseason to market your business and hit the ground running, potentially increasing your revenue for the next peak season.

Offseason Marketing Is A Must

When you market your business during the offseason, you keep your brand top-of-mind until the peak season starts again. If your offseason marketing campaigns are especially successful, you can count on potential customers considering your business once the offseason does come to an end.

However, creating long-term impressions takes massive amounts of time and effort. This is why taking advantage of your off months is a perfect branding opportunity. Since you are not as busy in the offseason, you can use the time you have to devise marketing campaigns that can boost awareness for your brand, improve your relationships with customers, and of course, increase your revenue.

Offseason Marketing Strategies For Seasonal Businesses

The ability of your business to provide sales conversion shouldn’t be limited to the only time when your products are in season. They should be made available and marketed all year round. Here are tips to get you started on this task.

Offseason Marketing Strategies For Seasonal Businesses

Attract Attention

Your lean period is the perfect chance to grab people’s attention and grow your base of potential customers. Email marketing is the best and most cost-effective tool you can use to achieve this.

If your website contains various signup forms, now is the time to take a second look at them. You’re looking to expand your subscriber list, so optimize your signup forms based on this objective. Make them pop up and include small offers.

Feedback Is Important

In today’s modern online landscape, people tend to go online and read reviews before deciding to purchase a product. In fact, consumers trust online reviews about as much as they do recommendations from friends and family members.

You can ask your customers a wide range of questions. It all depends on what products or services you offer. You can ask your customers what they liked (and didn’t like) about their purchase, what they thought of your checkout process, or if they’re satisfied with the payment methods you offer.

Build Hype For Your Brand

The products or services you provide may be seasonal in nature, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get people excited about them in the offseason. Through fun, attention-grabbing, unique, and high-quality content on your website, social media pages, and newsletter, you can generate hype for your business. This way, you make your audience look forward to the things that will come in the next peak season.

Send your subscribers emails that promote things like early-bird specials, bundle offers and discounts on upcoming products and services. Include social media buttons in these emails to encourage subscribers to share your email content on their social media.

Don’t Start With Email Marketing Without Knowing These

If you're worried that you've made it into the top email marketing breakdowns, don't worry. You can still recover and learn from your mistakes and improve your prospects for better email results. 

In this article, you will learn more about the email marketing mistakes that bloggers, marketers, and even experts make that kill you and how to correct them. 

Big NOs In Email Marketing

If your goal is to increase your online sales and bring more customers to your brick-and-mortar store, you should try to avoid frequent email marketing mistakes. 

By avoiding these email marketing mistakes, you make sure that your efforts will deliver you the best possible results to help your business grow. 

1. No Test Or Review Practices

Before sending your emails out to your clients:

* Check what your campaign looks like on your email client, browser, and mobile device, and make sure you avoid email marketing errors.

* Make sure there are no formatting errors or unprofessional emails – look.

Mistakes happen at best, but mistakes and problems can be annoying and costly. If you find that you have made an email error, such as “A” or “B,” that has not been tested in your email, do not panic. Just have everything in place and avoid all email marketing mistakes to keep things going and growing. 

2. Being Too Afraid To Try Softwares

Another of the easiest ways to avoid email mistakes is to try email marketing solutions. These are software that you can provide and automate your email tactics all at once.

With a simple user interface, good email marketing software should enable you to create highly engaging email newsletters (ideally drag-and-drop editor).

Without a lot of effort, you should be able to send bulk emails that are actually customized and targeted. Marketing automation is another term for this.

3. Being Too Reliant On Softwares

Not trying software can limit your marketing strategy's potential, and so as relying too much on them. This step is a mistake of the email campaign, often made by beginners who believe in “email marketing automation,” which means they start a campaign and forget it forever. 

When it comes to automated email marketing, there are two major drawbacks. The first involves over-generalizing your message to the point that it becomes meaningless to a variety of recipients. 

One way to try to prevent this problem is to learn everything you can about your recipients and then plan the email and potential copies accordingly. Simply adding a recipient's name can make a ton of difference.

The second downside is avoiding being hit by spam filters, which were created to keep dishonest businesses from flooding our inbox folders with messages. If a message is rejected by the receiver, the best course of action is to figure out why it was rejected and then try to improve the message.

4. Poor Use of Email Titles

Emails work like a copy, which means that it also needs an eye-catching headline. Your audience only has s few seconds to be enticed in what you have to say, and failing to do so could mean that you lost another conversion.

By the simple use of catchy headlines, you get more people to open your messages and, more importantly, take action to lead to higher revenue rates. 

Final Thoughts

Do you find these email marketing tips helpful, and do you think they would protect your email campaigns from mistakes? Do you know any top email marketing mistakes you wouldn't have made, and now you'll be able to avoid them with your strategy? To avoid the errors we discussed in this blog; e-commerce companies should follow best email marketing practices. 

 

Essential Lessons When Creating UX Design

As designers, we are always looking for ways to improve our designs and increase our products' usability. This can't be easy at times, as it is not always easy to know what users want or need. To help us with this challenge, we need to run a small usability study on our product prototypes. In this blog post, we'll outline five critical takeaways from conducting usability tests.

1. It Requires Teamwork

Usability Tests require an enormous scope of things to prepare before the actual implementation. They include goal formulation, participant recruitment, materials development and preparation, the test itself, and post-test tasks.

Another component is to set up a user testing lab so your team can work together while running tests on participants. This area should have two computers with internet access logged into the same system and all mockups or prototypes you plan to test.

With all these necessary preparations, having several eyes and hands working on the project is a definite plus.

2. There's Always Something to Learn

One of the essential aspects of testing your design work in an actual environment with users is seeing how they interact. This provides you with invaluable data and offers insight into what needs to be changed or improved before releasing it for public use.

Thus, data must be tracked and recorded not to forget or miss something.

3. Focus On Things That Matter in The Business, Too

The best way for a designer or developer to learn more about their project and find new ways of doing things is by testing with live users in a natural environment.

When conducting usability tests, it's necessary to look at one's improvement as a team, but it's also essential to find the gaps in the test shows and your business goals. It's not enough to fix what the test tells you is broken, but also how it can fit into your company.

4. Practice Honesty

In looking at your usability test results, you must be honest about the good, the bad, and what's not working. The more open you get with your team about these problems, the better they can find solutions for them promptly.

You can also include this when dealing with your teammates in UX Design. It might be difficult to tell someone their idea is wholly off-base or that flaws exist within it, but if something isn't going right then, there needs to be addressed. Providing them with honest feedback offers benefits for the team, such as ensuring they are on the right track.

5. Remember That You Can Always Improve

Any product that undergoes usability tests is a result of years and sometimes decades of effort. Thus, it's essential to keep in mind that you can constantly improve even if they turn out not perfect.

In many ways, this is what design for the internet has been about since its inception: continuously trying new things and seeing how they work out while learning from your mistakes along the way. It can be discouraging when something goes wrong but remember that it's one of the goals of doing usability testing in the first place. 

Key Takeaways

Learning from mistakes is a part of what makes design for the internet so exciting and rewarding. Remember though, there's nothing that says you need to get everything right on your first try. There are always more opportunities down the line to refine your ideas or even start new ones altogether if they turn out not as planned.

 

Incorporating Custom Graphic Design With Web Design

When you look back at the state of the web design landscape just 10 years ago, the hardest discussion you had to convince clients to do was to buy a website. Three years ago, the biggest issue was to consider a redesign for mobile responsive. So what do you imagine is the answer to that question in 2021?

It’s time to consider an additional business landing page. The act of creating a landing page with custom graphics might be the deciding factor in your site’s performance.

What Is A Business Landing Page?

In today’s world, most clients you’ll encounter have a good website (or at least if you’ve built them one before). Now they need help with ads, promotions, email lists, or running social media campaigns. In that line of thinking, a single-page landing page is easy to optimize and ranks well on Google.

The team here at Sharp Tack Media has years of industry knowledge in building landing pages that convert. Because landing pages are designed to convert, one of the key advantages of landing pages is their ability to bring traffic to the next stage of the sales funnel. No other webpage has this kind of targeted approach, which means landing pages can truly be your digital marketing lifesaver.

SEO And Lead Gen Using Landing Pages

Over the years, we have connected with SEO and lead generation companies and have given them advice. Let us give you a little secret. Call it a behind-the-scenes tip, which will help bring the discussion of landing pages to the forefront.

After these high-dollar companies sell you a lead generating package, they immediately go to their office and have their staff create 20 or 30 landing pages that they quickly index and optimize. These landing pages generate leads which they then pass back to you the external client.

So our advice to you today is to consider an additional landing page or two, to help grow your leads for your small business. This can provide a much-needed exposure boost since you don’t have the brand recognition that other, bigger brands may have.

Also, not only do these landing pages give you the exposure you need, but they can also do the conversion for you. If they’re planned and designed well, they can even get you customers to repeat availing your services. You just successfully reached the target of your sales funnel.

So here comes your call to action. If you cannot build these landing pages for yourself, consider hiring a web design company that specialized in building landing pages that convert. This is the type of service that we at Sharp Tack Media have been doing for years and for hundreds of clients.

Whether or not you take us up on this great deal, you should really consider a landing page for your small business. We’ve made big leaps in our process over the years allowing us to hone our technique to a point where we can identify the problems you may have and eliminate them.

Strengthen Customer Ties Through Email Marketing

When a business considers an effective digital marketing plan, email marketing is the second part of its marketing strategy. The website is the first. 

This shows how email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels. It should be at the heart of your brand's most comprehensive marketing strategy by 2021. You can imagine email as an easy way to communicate your brand, website, and customer base, as well as your product and service offerings. 

What Is Email Marketing

Email marketing doesn't have to be difficult, and it remains the best way to reach your audience in a variety of ways, from direct mail to social media to email newsletters. 

If the ultimate goal of email marketing is to grow your business, you need to realize that promotion is not at the core of it. Also, you need to know that no one seems eager to receive more emails, but sending emails need not be complicated or scary. Follow these basic email marketing best practices, and assess if it's for you.

Email Marketing Tips

We've put together some of the best email marketing tips to improve your campaigns' performance. 

1. Create A Plan

Before doing anything, remember that it's essential to create your email marketing strategy. Some of the critical point that you can include are the following:

  • Know your audience. You must be aware of the different types of email audiences and their preferences for email content. 
  • Make sure you figure out how often you will be sending emails. 
  • How many emails you send depends mainly on what you hope to achieve with your email marketing strategy. 
  • Build up your audience for sending emails by creating an email list. 
  • If you still haven't picked the right tools to make email marketing a breeze, make sure you try out an email marketing platform. 

Knowing this information gives you the ability to create your customer list and refocus your audience with a well-designed email marketing campaign. Combining this with your content marketing strategy allows you to make your customers look forward to your offering.

Now that you have this information considered in your plan, you can go through the following email marketing tips to plan your campaign.

2. Hire Or Assign A Team for Your Email Marketing Campaigns

With a dedicated team of email marketing specialists, you can count on them to test your emails, manage your subscribers and help you get the most out of your email marketing campaigns. These people have a wide range of tools, services, and expertise to make the most digital marketing strategy. 

3. Observe Great Email Marketing Practices

If you're wondering how to do email marketing correctly, the best starting point is your email subject line. You always need to select subject lines that give you an overview of your actual email content. 

You should also know how many emails you should be sending, how long each email must be, and so on. 

Also, never forget to write effective email call-to-actions that optimize click-through rates – and conversion rates. 

Conclusion

By implementing these email marketing tips, you are better equipped for success in the long run. Be an excellent example of an e-commerce company to use some of the email marketing tips and strategies. 

 

Marketing Webinars Through FB Ads

Facebook allows you to target your ads to the people you want to talk to in your community. Through its platform called Facebook Ads, it lets you track the conversions of your ads, and it has many of the same features as Google AdWords and traditional ad platforms. With Facebook Ads, you have all your tracking and remarketing data instantly available when you're ready to optimize your ads.

Facebook Ads also allow you to sell your webinars, monitor your data, record your souvenirs, and make plans for your next webinar.

How To Use FB Ads To Encourage Webinar Attendees

If you've already spent thousands of dollars on Facebook ads or are a complete newcomer, you can save yourself money (not to mention a lot of frustration) by implementing a webinar Facebook ad system. Not only will it allow you to organize the details of your online event, but it will also allow you to increase your webinar attendees.

One aspect of this system allows you to get registration for a webinar. To increase your webinar registrations, you can do the steps below.

1. Adopt Retargeting Strategies

You can combine retargeting strategies with your existing marketing strategy by tracking Facebook users who have visited your site before. These include those who have purchased specific items or viewed several pages on your website that may be targeted. 

This way, you're optimizing your marketing budget because you're just reaching people who have already interacted with your brand – those who are on the verge of converting or are likely to return.

2. Upload Email List In Your Facebook

You can also upload your email list to Facebook, and Facebook will find as many people as possible on your list for ads you want to promote. This is an excellent opportunity to use Facebook ads as a long-term strategy – if you run more campaigns, you will find the audience that works best with you. 

3. Run Ads For Your Webinar

If you haven’t started your Facebook ad campaign, go to Facebook Ads Manager or Business Manager to create it. If you are running advertising campaigns to promote your webinars, you can also try setting them up to direct your Messenger landing page. Aside from this, you can allow the budget of your ads to ensure that they are shown to everyone with consideration for specific user segments. 

At this point, you might also have an extensive email list that you can use for promoting. However, you can still try to combine it with paid advertising. Placing your webinar’s ad on Facebook directs traffic to your webinar registration page and gets people to sign up for your event easier. You can also succeed by promoting webinars in industry-specific companies if you have the budget. 

4. Include Webinar Snippets

You can also use Facebook to enhance your webinar marketing efforts by including clips of webinars in your video ads. Adapting content into short video or image ads can be a great way to entice your viewers and to repackage the top content for your best Facebook ad. 

Final Thoughts

Facebook ads are your go-to channel ads and sign-ups when you're developing educational courses for an audience. Whether you're introducing a webinar to a large audience or reaching the right people at the right time, it can be a great tool to connect with your audience.

Why You Benefit From Custom Web Design

Thinking about starting a serious long-term website? Want to upgrade from stock WordPress templates to custom web designs? Then congratulations! Custom web design is a monumental undertaking, but with a multitude of benefits. Not to mention dedicated services know the current SEO best practices.

For starters, custom web design is different from a majority of web design services out there, as it’s performed for a particular customer according to their requirements. This is opposed to using free website builders or free design templates that can give you a standard ready-to-go website.

Having your own website with its own unique theme and page layouts that look exceptional is a website owner’s dream. Some just don’t have the budget and/or coding skills to make a website of their own. Luckily for you, there are a variety of options in choosing a custom web design service.

There is a vast amount of web design firms out there and you can bet that a few are within your local area or at least have experience in your local area. Here’s a helpful list that will help you narrow down your choices.

Determine Your Scale

In other words, do you want to contract the services of a reputable custom web design company with a history of working with A-list clients? Or you don’t mind searching for smaller companies or even freelancers in building your website? It entirely depends on how big your budget is and how much you expect from your final website. Generally speaking, you will usually get better service and a more worthwhile end product if you go with a company that has extensive experience in the type of project you need.

Choose A Service With A Portfolio And Testimonials

Compare-and-contrast analysis can be a great strategy when researching for your desired product and service. There definitely are reputable custom web design companies with an impeccable portfolio. But naturally, they will charge premium rates because they have a reputation that speaks for itself.

If you think you can afford it, then there’s no one stopping you. However, even if your local custom web design company doesn’t have A-list clients, that also shouldn’t stop you. Take the time in examining your local company’s portfolio, and find which company fits your aesthetic taste, coding specifications and your budget.

Testimonials

Let’s say they have top-of-the-line products and services and also had a history with big-name clients, but does any of that tell you of their trustworthiness and dependability in customer support? Aside from comparing service quality between companies, also take into serious consideration their experience in dealing with their clients. Testimonials are a great way of understanding a company’s reputation in client engagement.  

Main Takeaway

Choosing your desired custom web design company all comes down to what you want and how much effort and budget are you willing to put in creating your website. Don’t be afraid to go local since working with a local company allows for in-person meetings and the development of a stronger and cooperative relationship between you and your designer. However, you should also not shy away from hiring a remote company either as video chat, screen sharing and collaborative tools can oftentimes be as productive as in-person meetings.

Regardless of who you choose, remember that you’ll likely be working with them in the long run and over the years, they’ll be in charge of maintaining your website. Ultimately, choosing your custom web design is a big commitment, and it should be treated with the careful consideration it deserves.

Tapping In the World’s Biggest Social Media Network

No business can underestimate the power of Facebook Marketing today. Its billions of social media users are a source of limitless leads and conversion, attracting businesses to advertise on the platform. If you're thinking that starting with your marketing efforts is hard through FB, you'll be surprised to discover how easy it is to advertise with all the campaigns available.

1. Know Your Ad's Goals

The first step in creating and placing an ad on Facebook is determining your primary goal for advertising. Depending on the goals you choose when creating your ad, it will appear on your Facebook page within minutes. Advertising on Facebook is not limited to the platform; you can use your ads for various things, from growing your Facebook audience to promoting your events or activities. 

2. Know your Budget

Once you know your ad's goals, make sure to analyze how much you are willing to pay to market your products and services. Whatever type of marketing platform you use, it's essential to know that this effort can cost a lot. Thus, going over your budget might not be the path you want to follow.

When you advertise your business on Facebook, your ad budget represents the maximum amount you are willing to pay for an ad that shows your target audience's people. Once you set up your ad account in the Facebook Ads Manager, you will be prompted to add a new payment method that you can attach to your Facebook Ads account. Thus, having a clear idea of how much you're willing to spend is crucial for your FB ad marketing success.

3. Provide Metrics

When you advertise on Facebook, your ad placement is automatically set, so the Facebook algorithm can distribute your campaign to the places that generate the best performance. Once these ads are distributed, you can start tracking your Facebook metrics.  

You can also advertise by focusing on optimizing a metric called Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), which focuses on measuring the return on investment of your Facebook ads, as well as other metrics such as click-through rates. 

4. Start Advertising

Once you've set your goals, budget, and metrics, it's now the perfect time to start advertising!

If you don't have a Facebook business page yet, it's crucial to set up one for your business now. You can also create, view, and share Facebook ads on your Facebook Business Page using your Business Manager account in Facebook Ads Manager. You can also create video ads in the Facebook Ad Manager and upload posts that contain images on your Facebook page. 

Get Started Today

There it is! Starting with Facebook advertising doesn't need to be complicated. Knowing your goals, budget, and metrics and creating an ad isn't just doable; it can also be a powerful catalyst for your business growth.

If you're looking for options aside from Facebook Marketing, you may also want to try your hand at advertising on other social media platforms and search engines too. They're all great and have increased the sales of many companies in the market today. 

What SEO Tricks Work For 2021

There is broad agreement that you can help search engines understand your content better through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. There are tons of approaches to get this done and get you ranked on top of SERPs.

Take the time to keep up with changes in search engine optimization and adapt your content to reflect new trends. It can help you stay ahead of the competition.

SEO Tricks You Should Know This 2021

Keeping up with current and future SEO trends and developing an ever-evolving toolkit allows you to improve your content to rank higher in Google search results. To keep your Google ranking this 2021, make sure to follow the tricks below.

1. Ditch The Bad SEO Tactics

If you used to adopt black hat tactics in your SEO strategy, this is probably the year that you should change the habit. This year, SEO tricks without using tactics that can negatively affect your website or business are highly approved by search engines like Google. You should say goodbye to spamming or using misleading advertising.

2. High-Quality Backlinking Still Works

One of the most important but overlooked factors in search engine optimization is SEO, or search engine optimization is getting views and traffic from various sources such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This is possible through high-quality backlinking.

Although there is no real shortcut to getting high-quality backlinks, it is possible to see SEO when you do the work – which boosts results. Internal links are a valuable SEO tool, even if it means branding a new page with a low PageRank. No matter how big or small your websites are, you need an intelligent internal linking process.

3. Great Content Is Still A SEO Key Principle

Remember that one of the best ways to improve your SEO on a website is to increase traffic by improving the quality of your content. No wonder that it’s one of the fundamental principles to great SEO. Create content that engages and excites your customer, and in return, they’ll take care of making your business grow.

4. Focus On Local SEO

SEO ranking factors have changed a lot over the years, but the factors that influence ranking for local SEO are beyond the factors used by Google for standard SEO. Local SEO keyword research processes follow the same principles as keyword research in general.

Local SEO works because when people search, the most relevant and high-quality resources appear on top of search results. These resources are usually those nearest to their location, which makes more conversions possible.

 If you're ready for a growing local search, there are many resources out there to help you achieve regional SEO dominance in 2021 and beyond. 

Key Takeaway

SEO gets your business the visibility it needs. Though it's an ever-changing landscape, some tricks seem to have surpassed the test of time. Some of these tricks are included in the list above. There are still many SEO tricks out there waiting to get discovered this 2021.

How These Techniques Improve Conversion Rates

Travelers are adventure seekers looking for satisfaction and pleasure. A lackluster website may send them on a journey to another travel site. And they may never return to yours. The road to the ultimate escape is strewn with shiny objects to entice travelers. How can you make your website the shiniest one in the crowd? Discover how a smart travel website design,  as well as smart use of custom graphic design, can help improve conversion rates, so nothing distracts your visitors from booking a trip.

Lister To Your Audience’s Wants

An interactive search bar encourages visitors to stay at the site and look around at a variety of possibilities. From choosing trips based on favored location and date to staying within a set budget. Include plenty of options to keep your travelers engaged. Make sure each search result provides what the user wants. Then fearlessly offer additional opportunities to give them more – even if they didn’t realize they even wanted it.

Online travel businesses have a myriad of opportunities to present add-ons and upsells. For example, do travelers want to extend their trip by a couple of days to get an incredible deal? Or would they be interested in extras, such as travel insurance, hotel upgrades, or spa accommodations at a discounted price for booking online? Offering additional services can sweeten the deal to encourage more bookings, as well as increase the average value of each reservation.

Personalize Their Experience

A personalized approach makes it easier to connect with potential customers and retain existing ones. Each traveler creates his or her unique booking, based on their preferences. Some might expect Wi-Fi while others are looking for on-site parking. Incorporate a personalization tool into your travel website design to remember a traveler’s search and booking habits. Relevant recommendations are made during their visit to encourage them to book a trip.

Creating custom graphics will also make their experience more personal. Personalized buttons, icons and illustrations are all great ways to personalize your travelers’ experiences.

Monitor Your Search

Any smart travel website design includes a robust site search feature. Speed and accuracy are crucial to maintaining the attention of fast-paced travelers. Include basic travel search parameters to help visitors find specific options based on location, date, price, popularity, proximity to famous attractions, accommodation availability and the number of travelers. Drop-down menus further refine searches to ensure site users find what they want. Encourage return visits by saving travelers’ past searches and booking history, so it’s easy for them to come back to the site and book a trip. 

Takeaways

A traveler’s spirit lies in adventure and self-reliance. However, they need some guidance and ideas too, particularly on locations where they can set their foot the next time. With an informative and smart travel website design, these wanderers can continuously go on their explorations and discover what the world has to offer.  

Grow Your Business Through FB Community

Is the number of people who see your Facebook page decreasing? Are you looking for new ways to interact with your Facebook fans and customers? Rather than relying solely on a Facebook page, creating a community for your company will help you meet your target audience more consistently.

How To Create A FB Community

Creating a FB community is easy. You can start by following the steps below.

  1. Create an FB Group with the purpose set to “Connect and Share.”
  2. Name the group to represent it. The name to choose should make your group easily identifiable from the rest.
  3. Invite people to join your group.
  4. Add an appropriate image and description.
  5.  Promote.

Now that you know how it’s done, it might also be worthwhile to look at its importance.

Why Have An FB Community

Having an FB Community isn’t just the ‘in’ thing to do. It comes with a lot of benefits, too. Some of these are listed below.

1. Can Be A Venue To Share Common Interests

Humans are social beings, so we tend to seek a community that accepts and supports us. Your start-up can have its brand advocates through your satisfied clients whom you engage with regularly. This could be an FB group where you talk about common interests among members and still make your product a part of the conversation. 

For example, you are selling planners or paper products; you can talk about journaling or time Management. If you just launched your trading app, you could also conduct weekly online video sessions to discuss the market stocks and why they should not buy them. Once you have established a safe space for your members, they will most likely lead the community and invite more people to be a part of it. 

2. Can Get Your Needed Visibility And Authority

You’ll never know when having an existing FB community might come in handy to you. Thus, ensuring that you have the efforts to build one on your own can include.

Make connections to other content creators in your space or niche. They can help create linkages for you and your business through your FB community. There might be some rules to follow initially, such as answering questions so you can gain their trust and interest in you. Reach out to them and genuinely build good relationships that are a win-win situation.

You can also post and repost on your FB community to promote an article. Some of your community members might even voluntarily post their product updates frequently, if not permanently. Doing this can help you increase the shares you gain. Ultimately, it can help with having your business presence out there, but it can also help build your brand authority.

Final Thoughts

Having an FB community is essential for two reasons. First is it helps in keeping your company profitable by increasing your online visibility and authority. Second, it is an excellent venue for people to talk about the things they love and are passionate about. 

If you’re able to strike a balance between marketing and promoting your brand advocacy, you’ll have a community of loyal customers who will buy from you again and again and who will promote your business without being asked.

SEO For Your Small Business

As a small business, you would want to build your presence out there. Digital marketing is an excellent way to make this happen. One strategy under digital marketing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

You can create a comprehensive SEO strategy in many ways. One way to do this is to invest in an all-in-one SEO tool for your business growth.

What Is An All In One SEO Tool

There are a lot of moving parts in SEO. To get your content to rank well and stand out in the cutthroat world of digital marketing, you must make sure that no detail is lacking and that all are working together. 

To do this, you can implement an all-in-one SEO tool suite that covers the majority, if not all, of these moving parts together. Remember, too, that several factors influence which approach is best for your business, such as your business goals.

If you have a limited budget, the best all-in-one SEO tool you can opt for is Google Search Engine Optimizer or Google Analytics. 

Benefits Of An All In One SEO Tool

SEO strategy may appear to be a mammoth task because it entails many components to be successful. This is why an all-in-one SEO tool is essential. There are other advantages it can provide to your content strategy, which are mentioned below.

1. Increases Team Collaboration

Due to the different moving parts of SEO, it's important to emphasize that it requires task delegation. However, the problem with delegating is these mini-teams tend to think that they exist in separate bubbles. They look at issues and opportunities differently and forget that they are still under the same SEO team. 

Using an all-in-one SEO tool allows not just one team but everybody to keep track of strategies—whether it’s coming up with great content or designing the next responsive website project you have. These tools allow the seamless sharing of data from one platform to be another. With everyone getting the chance to access and work on the same task, a team-oriented and collaborative culture is strengthened.

2. Provides SEO Tools In One Place

The features of all-in-one SEO tools usually consist of researching and monitoring. All of these are useful in optimizing content and getting your site on the ranks of SERPs.

These research tools are usually made of keyword analysis, keyword optimization, and other online marketing strategies. It also studies other offerings in the market through competitor analysis, which is remarkably useful if you want to target a specific audience. This all-in-one SEO tool also allows you to monitor your site's rating and its fares to the competitors' websites.

An all-in-one SEO tool also includes many monitoring tools. These tools present data in a fun, easy-to-understand format that everyone in the company can understand. Some of these formats are in graphs and maps. Since you can use them to monitor and evaluate certain aspects of your Search Engine Optimization, you can immediately see the results and keep up with all changes. This allows you to respond quickly and refine your actions at any time. 

 All In One SEO Tool Or Not? 

With all the advantages offered by all-in-one SEO tools, it might be hard not to give such technology a try. It might help you develop an SEO content marketing strategy that you can use to generate leads and make a case for investing in SEO all worth it. Hopefully, if you make it up, you will get a great SEO strategy for your efforts.

How To Make Brand That Make An Impact

Have you ever wondered why certain websites choose a strong use of color versus a lot of neutral space? Or maybe why some use buttons with sharp corners versus rounded ones? Unless you’re a designer, you probably haven’t put much thought into these small details. But these choices make up some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Custom design relies on principles built around what innately looks good to us and what attracts us.

However small you think all of those seemingly insignificant design choices were, they most certainly aren’t. They’re made intentionally and serve a greater purpose: to communicate a brand’s identity to consumers. Here are some of the biggest design choices every brand has to make that we’ve gathered over years of designing brands for small businesses.

Sharp Vs. Round

We’ve seen a rather peculiar cycle in that every few years, we see a switch from sharp, rigid buttons and shapes, to rounded, more organic ones – and back again. While rigid shapes pair well with flat design, round shapes complement a more three-dimensional design language.

Using straight lines and sharp angles in your brand’s identity can help to convey that you mean business. Rounded silhouettes, on the other hand, can give off a friendlier, more appealing vibe. According to UXMovement, rounded silhouettes also tend to be easier on the eyes. The example below shows this phenomenon clearly: Because circles contain less information for our brains to process than other more complex shapes, they are easier to look at – especially at first glance.

Serif Vs. Sans Serif

Serif fonts have officially made a comeback, according to recent trends we’ve been seeing. That doesn’t mean sans serif fonts are out, though – they both have their place. Serif fonts are traditionally used in print, while sans serif fonts are easier to read on a screen. That doesn’t mean serif fonts are off-limits for digital or online businesses, however. Many brands use serif fonts strategically, incorporating them into short, bold headlines.

Commercial VS. Non-Commercial Photos

Imagery and visual elements are one of the most impactful aspects that shape a brand’s identity. The choice between commercial stock photography and a more organic or editorial look can change the entire tone of a brand. If you’re not sure of the difference between the two, commercial stock photography tends to appear more staged and idealistic, usually with smiling faces, while noncommercial imagery usually has an element of authenticity.

When selecting stock photography, it’s crucial that brands find appropriate imagery that lend visual cues to their mission, voice, and tone.

Color Vs. Whitespace

Whitespace refers to any use of negative space (white, black, or colored) that puts emphasis on a single product or selling point. We might be able to credit this trend to Apple, one of the first brands to popularize the minimalist design aesthetic. Whitespace works well for Apple because it highlights the simplicity of their sleek and innovative products in the tech space – but it isn’t for everyone. Take McDonald’s logo, for example. The all-conquering fast-food giant makes smart use of its negative space. From afar, the bright red color simply evokes feelings of hunger, but upon closer inspection, the golden arches make you want to enter into the establishment and purchase something.

Conclusion

Your website speaks your brand personality. By knowing the basics in the effective use of shapes, fonts, photos, and spaces, you can achieve your goal of designing a brand for success.

 

Small Business Growth Through FB Marketing

Every small business should be active on social media. Facebook has many resources that these businesses can and should use, ranging from effective marketing solutions to groups. 

You can engage potential customers and expand your company by having a strong Facebook presence.

Ways To Build Curiosity About Your Business

Here are some ways to build hype for your business.

1. Share Your Story

Best-selling author of the book “This is Marketing” and dubbed as the “Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age,” Seth Godin quoted that “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make but the stories you tell.”

So, if you want people to buy from you, sell them a compelling story first. You can maximize the power of videos to highlight your beginning and why you decided to push through with your idea. This doesn’t have to be centered on yourself. Instead, it has to build the foundation for an authentic relationship with your target segment. 

Using this principle, you can create videos to upload over your FB page to attract your audience.

2. Have One Word That Your Business Can Utilize And Stick To It

Just think about how Volvo established itself as the owner of the word “safety.” Although recent studies have revealed that Volvo is not the safest automobile now, no other car brands can take this word away from it, as the foundation they have built to claim this is solid. Same with other big brands like Apple, Starbucks, and Intel which stands for “Simplicity,” “Moments,” and “Speed,” respectively.

If you dream of making it big like them, prepare one word that is complete enough to describe every aspect of your brand. Once you’re done, make sure that its presence in all your Facebook posts.

3. Give Away Things For Free

Who doesn't want to indulge in freebies? You can give away many things for free, such as accessories and drinkware, for example. These will help with brand awareness and give a good impression of your startup. 

You may also give discounts and free trials for your new products and services. Ensure that these first official meet-ups of your product and customers sound exciting enough to encourage practice.  Posting code that your clients can use to avail as coupons are also something they’ll absolutely love. 

4. Tap Into Influencers

Working with influencers is a great way to reach more people and get your word out about your new social media product. You need to include the use of an influencer in your social media marketing budget, especially if they are popular. 

Ask your influencers to include information about your launch in their posts to increase enthusiasm for your launch further. You can also provide brand ambassadors with content from your company to share on other social networks, increasing confidence about the company. 

One popular way to get influencers to post about your launch on social media is to host an event. Build hype around your event and use it as a way to get a lot of attention to your Facebook page. 

Conclusion

Facebook is an excellent way to market your opportunity because with over a billion users worldwide, your reach is endless, and you’ll be able to speak out. Facebook for your business is primarily about building relationships. If you offer enough value, your audience will learn more about your product or service not only through sales-focused posts but also through social media marketing. 

Keeping Ahead Of The Curve With Keywords

If your keyword research methods haven’t kept up with search engine algorithm changes, which includes the shift in emphasis from query to user, you may be missing out on the potential ROIs for critical keywords in your niche/market. Keyword research has undergone a major overhaul since the early days of the Internet. The golden days of stuffing landing pages with keywords are long gone. Doing so is what’s known as “keyword stuffing.” Today it’s all about the quality of content, not the quantity.

With a bird’s eye look at how keyword research is evolving, we can better prepare you and your clients to make better SEO choices, optimize for algorithm updates, and stay ROI positive.

Keyword Research Is Always Evolving

Way back when, like in the late ‘90s, search engine algorithms were ridiculously simple when compared to today’s standards. They looked for the presence of keywords on a webpage and used those as the primary metric for assessing whether a potential search result was relevant to a particular user query.

But, just as in natural evolution, where the strongest survive by adapting to its environment, websites and keyword researchers were not only quick to adapt to the change introduced by Google. They evolved. In turn, the search engines themselves became more sophisticated in their evaluation and ranking methodology. And now in 2020, even minute changes to a search engine algorithm can wreak havoc on your keyword strategy if you’re not prepared.

Keep Your Keywords Topic-Oriented

In support of reaching potential customers where they are in their buyer’s journey, you also need to utilize topic-oriented keyword research when putting websites together. Marrying content and keywords can give each a little added boost as shorter-tail and long-tail keywords work in tandem in Google’s algorithm.

Ensuring that your keywords stay relevant to your topic will also provide a better experience for your website users and visitors. They won’t feel tricked or fooled when they see that the link they clicked on contains the answers they’re looking for in the first place.

Pair Keyword Research With Content Gap Analysis

When you have a strong topic-oriented framework for site development, it’s possible to strategically apply content gap analysis and pick out areas where content development is needed to maximize keyword usage. While awareness and consideration for the stages of the buyer’s journey may have lower conversion rates, overall, they may have greater benefits because of the potential for relationship building with the customer.

Keyword analysis tools help sort keywords into categories and rank them according to the three major steps in the buyer’s journey. This gives me the ability to map the content according to my keyword research, with ongoing evaluation and analysis for making changes as issues arise.

Always Be Looking Forward

The evolution of keyword research from an action-oriented to a user-oriented process has given anyone the ability to embrace the customer earlier in the buyer’s journey while still effectively navigating ever-changing search engine algorithms with confidence. If it’s been a while since you’ve brushed up on your keyword research, look to any one of our blogs to learn more. Our years of expert experience make us one of the best sources of information around. Book a call today and let’s find out what we can do to your keyword research strategy so you can maximize their use.