So many of us do a Google search for a term, sentence or word, and then scroll through dozens (if not hundreds!) or search results. We’ll effortlessly browse through any number of web sites to find just what we need – from the comfort of our (mobile) homes, offices and hotel rooms. But how many of us stop to think: Who are the people that make such ease and comfort possible?
More than just pretty web pages!
The answer: It’s web design companies!
According to an industry report published by research firm IBIS World, the 75,531 businesses in the web design industry, across the U.S., employ over 144,549 professionals. In 2019 alone, the industry generated over $38 billion in revenue. So, what does that mean in “real” terms:
More jobs
More taxes
More growth to the nation’s economy
More addition to the country’s GDP numbers
That’s a lot of “mores” coming from an industry that works largely behind the scenes! As an industry, web designing service providers do more – much more – than just create beautiful web pages. A look at just a tiny fraction of what they do gives an insight to how invaluable they truly are to individuals, businesses and community institutions:
Graphic design
Interface design
User experience design
Search engine optimization
Content development
Coding
…and a lot more
The impact of web design companies is especially important for businesses and communities in smaller population centers like Reno, NV. As Reno emerged from its image as a center for the entertainment and gaming industry, it quietly acquired the skills and expertise to deliver high-tech services to businesses locally and afar.
Putting Reno on the world stage
It might sound like an “over statement”, but it really is the truth – local web design companies in Reno do a lot to shine a global spotlight on the city. And the reason is simple math: A small number of highly talented individuals get more recognition than a vast pool of resources that drown in an even bigger ocean of talent.
In larger population centers, there are hundreds of web design companies that compete for business from thousands of businesses and community organizations. The much larger economies of their regions hardly feel the impact of what they do. But in less populated centers (compared to, say, the Big Apple or the Sunshine State) like the Biggest Little City in the World, the efforts of web design companies:
Puts Reno businesses on the global map
Enables the city’s businesses to create supply chains spanning the nation and even internationally by facilitating eCommerce
Allows Reno residents and communities access to products and services nationwide and even globally
Empowers Reno businesses and communities with the ability to conduct transactions 24×7, on-the-go by supporting mobile web service providers
Even the slightest achievement on the part of Reno’s web designing companies, goes a long way to adding to the competitiveness of local businesses. And to make their impact felt, Reno web designers must be good – perhaps even better than their peers in large cities – at what they do. And they are!
Reno web design companies are second to none when it comes to providing local businesses with solutions based on leading-edge web technologies either. Whether it’s an Magento-based eStore, a dynamic Drupal website designed for heavy traffic, a personalized WordPress website, a high-performance Shopify store front or a SharePoint-based ecosystem – you’ll find the expertise at a local Reno web design company.
Make the most of your website
Reno Web Designer’s Webby Award-winning founder and “designer-in-chief”, Sandy Rowley, brings the power of high-quality web sites and puts it in the hands of businesses and communities across Reno – and even beyond. Whether it’s a personal website, a corporate online presence, or an online global B-2-B portal that you’re looking for, Sandy can help you with your vision.
You can call or text Sandy Rowley @ 775-870-0488 to learn how your business or community organization can reap the benefits of high-quality web design services, provided right here in Reno.
When you start looking into getting a new website, you may find yourself a bit overwhelmed with all the new and unfamiliar terminology. Isn’t it all just web design? But then what is UX design? What about UI design? Are they similar? And what are the differences between them?
The truth is that they can seem very alike, especially when you don’t know a lot about the technical side of putting a website together. UX design and UI design indeed pertain to the same area of design – but they are two very different halves of the same final product.
In the simplest terms, UX design is responsible for “user experience”, while UI design is responsible for “user interface”. That is to say, the former has everything to do with the way a user experiences your site and the latter is related to what a user sees, how the site is presented, and how the user interacts with it.
When creating a website, you need to learn about each of them and be aware of the differences. That will ensure you receive a final product that is of the highest quality, from every point of view. Both user experience and user interface are important aspects of the website, so let’s learn a bit about each and the differences between them.
What is UX design?
User experience means virtually everything that pertains to the way a user experiences your product (i.e. website). Indeed, UX is not limited to the digital world; in fact, the term was not coined concerning digital products at all. UX design is necessary for any product a company puts out because it’s the part of the process that focuses on the way a user interacts with your product, whatever that may be.
You can work on UX design for a website, a toy, or for a coffee cup – the important part is figuring out how the user is going to make practical use of the product and to make it as intuitive and simple for them as possible.
In the case of building a website, user experience means virtually everything that pertains to the way a user experiences your product (i.e. website). That includes all aspects of the way they interact with your site, from adding a product to their cart, for example, to checking out.
Your user experience on the website is really dictated by a very intentional and well-thought-out design. Have you ever visited a website that is not at all user-oriented, where actions are not intuitive, and that’s difficult to navigate? Have you thought “who the heck designed this?!”. That’s a website that skipped over UX design or just didn’t give it much thought. And you can tell.
It’s a lesson, in a way – when designing a website, think about what you want to convey, but also think about who is going to be using it. There are a few questions you should be asking yourself:
Who is going to use my website?
How are they going to use it?
What are they looking for?
What are the most important actions to perform?
What is UI design?
UI design refers to the design behind the user interface, where the user interface is the point where the user interacts with the digital product (i.e. your website). UI design concerns itself with the way the product looks to the user, and the way it interacts with them.
Whereas the UX designer creates the “skeleton”, or the foundation of the website, the UI designer is in charge of all the details that bring the vision to life.
That means that every single action or point of interaction must be carefully thought out and designed in a way that will be as intuitive and as user-friendly as possible. That includes things like color themes, images, fonts & typography, spacing, buttons the user may interact with, and icons.
That’s because, in essence, it is the UI designer’s responsibility to create an intuitive, attractive, and friendly experience for the users targeted by the digital product – in this case, your website. The goal is for your user to not have to do much thinking, when navigating your website.
You want everything to come naturally and for someone to be able to access your website easily and find what they are looking for. A good UI design essentially guides the user through the website and helps them find what they need, whether that’s information about your company or purchasing your products. The better your UI design is, the easier it will be for someone to navigate your website.
What are the most important differences?
The differences are already obvious and emergent, but the most important is the fact that they are in charge of different aspects of your site. UX is all about the behind-the-scenes, unseen aspects that enable the overall user experience of the website and the feel of it. UI is about function and visual design; the way your website looks.
Equally important is the fact that they work together. They are both essential. UX can be seen as the necessary “internal” makeup of the product, if you will, while UI is the external, visible makeup. Like any other machinery or even the human body. The user will benefit from UX design just as much as they do UI design. They don’t always see the work that goes into the website, but their overall experience is enhanced by both types of design.
The other thing to remember is that to create either type of design, you don’t need to be a master of the other. A designer that does UX doesn’t necessarily need to also do UI, and the other way around. They do need to have an in-depth and global understanding of the way they work together, and their function.
Which one is the most important?
Ha! – that’s a trick question! UI and UX are two halves of the same final product. There cannot be a hierarchy, because they are both equally important. It makes sense, as you cannot have one without the other. Which one can you sacrifice? The basic user functions of your website? The way your site looks?
If you’re having a website made, you need to hire both a UX and a UI designer. Yes, some people who dabble in both, but it’s best to hire a team who will be able to give you the quality you expect. You can hire freelance designers online, or you can find a company that does both. That way, your website will be a cohesive final product and both sides will be catered to equally.
In what way do they work together?
As we mentioned, both UX design and UI design are completely essential to a beautiful and well-functioning website. And trust us, if one half is missing or haphazardly done, you can tell. You can have a website that has low-quality UX, but great UI, and the other way around, and they will result in two different, but equally frustrating experiences: a website that looks good, but works terribly, or one that looks terrible, but works well.
Ideally, you want both to be in top shape because that is going to give you the complete, high-quality website experience you are seeking to create for your users. You see, UX design and UI design must be complementary, above all else. Just like any other great partnership, their strengths work together to create the best possible version of your website: one that looks sleek and is easy to use.
What’s the bottom line?
As you may have been able to figure out by now, UX design and UI design are both integral parts of your website. Far from being optional, UX and UI design are in charge of making your website a complete, functional, attractive experience for your users.
UX design and UI design need to co-exist for your digital product to be visually attractive, as well as intuitive and functional. A website without one or the other offers a frustrating experience where either the visual or functional aspect is lacking.
Social media marketing is an investment no company can do without and it’s especially important for small and medium businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. Social media enables very simple and cost-effective two-way communication.
Using a smart digital marketing strategy, you can increase the audience reach of your posts. However, good design is what makes the audience stick around.
Social media platforms are still a necessary form of promotion and a great way to build your brand identity. With attractive social media ad design, your posts will be remembered, shared and liked.
Where do you start? How can you start redesigning your ad strategy in order to attract new followers and customers? In this article, we’re bringing you the 6 steps you can take to start to improve your SMM results instantly.
Develop a Consistent Style Guide
Every major brand has a style guide. It’s a general brochure or a document that describes all major points and details related to design, such as logo, visual instructions, colors, font, etc.
If you want to run an organized, successful social media campaign, you need to have consistent rules for posting content. The easiest way to achieve this is to develop an all-around design style guide and stick to it.
This will also help newcomers in your team. Instead of having a browse through hundreds of posts and question colleagues about the brand style, they can simply refer to the style guide and know exactly what to do.
Here are some of the most important sections that you should include in your design style guide:
Font (typeface, color, size)
Colors (with RGB code and a palette sample)
Logo (attach a logo in all its possible forms, with explanations when to use which ones)
Social media header images (for Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube)
Profile pictures for social media pages
Photography guide (where to acquire photos and how to attribute sources)
Step-by-step social post (if you make your posts in an online tool or Illustrator, attach a template with step-by-step instructions for a generic SM post)
Write High-Quality Ad Copy
When it comes to social media ads, visuals are extremely important, but that does not mean you should ignore the text.
Words have the power to influence behavior, trigger emotions, motivate and inspire, which makes them the perfect tool for social media ads. When you look at major corporations and brands, you will see that they pay very close attention to what kind of wording they use, especially with marketing-friendly buzzwords.
Here, you can find the best writing websites to help you hire professional writers for your ad copy. It’s always wise to hire or at least consult with a copywriting expert before posting something.
Tailor Your Design to Your Audience
Does your audience respond to your visuals? Do you know what your customers and clients like?
As you probably know, each color, typeface, form and layout has a specific effect and every audience has its own preferences. For example, if you’re running B2B marketing campaigns where you’re targeting top executives, you would use black or blue with a clean and sleek design.
On the other hand, marketing to teenagers is a whole other pair of shoes. In order to reach them and be engaging in their colorful newsfeed, you need to pop. This means colorful visuals, high contrasts and “loud”, impactful fonts.
Test and Experiment
This is one of the most important parts of your social media ad design strategy.
Many designers and marketers believe that perfect content nails it on the first try, and is a result of careful pre-thinking and preparation. Of course, even though every post should be well-thought-out and planned, you can only know so much before actually posting it.
One of the best ways to test your ad design is A/B testing or multivariate testing. Design two different ads and see which one performs better (you can easily track this with Ad Manager).
Consider Rebranding (if necessary)
If your ad content is constantly underperforming on social media, maybe it’s time for a design overhaul.
Of course, this can be a tricky step and it will require alignment and consultation with your entire time, coupled with weeks of hard work.
Also, redesigns changes become harder the more audience you have and the bigger your brand is. Just remember the public outcry every time Facebook had a redesign! However, there’s a very good reason even some of the most popular brands go through design overhauls. If something is not working at its best, it’s better to turn a new leaf and start from scratch than to flog a dead horse.
After it’s all done, refer to chapter 4 again (testing and experimenting). Before launching any kind of design, try finding a focus group which will test how they like the new design compared to the old one.
Be Unique and Surprise Your Audience
On social media, there are many posts that look alike nowadays. Marketers are using tried-out, famous methods for attracting customers, but the problem is that they are among millions of others who are doing the same thing!
When you’re coming up with a new campaign, try thinking outside of the box. Even though you should track industry advice, you don’t have to follow an exact formula for a successful ad. If you’re completely original and unique, it will speak volumes about the awesomeness of your brand.
An example of unique content would be an uncommon format. These days, we’re seeing a lot of promotional videos combined with emoji-stuffed captions. Yes, that works. But yes, that’s all over the place.
Instead of a video, try posting a gif. GIF animations are among the most beloved format for millennials, who make up the majority of Internet users.
Conclusion
Developing the optimal social media ad design doesn’t have to be a nuisance. With the help of experts from different teams (copywriters, designers, marketers), your next viral post is bound to happen!
The one-page website has created quite a fuss in the world of web design. For some, it may have seemed absurd at first, but this trend has proved to be very effective. One-page websites are functional, simple, and attractive. We also can’t forget that they don’t need the connection of payment gateways or other advanced features and they are relatively cheap. What more can you ask from a website?
The challenging part of one-page websites is that they need to be unique and attention-grabbing. You only have one page to wow the users and retain their attention. If you want to know how to create an awesome one-page website that’ll get you on the map of the Internet and its users, check out these actionable tips.
1. Plan out the Content
Considering that one-page websites shouldn’t overwhelm the users with endless scrolling page, you need to determine the most important information.
Start your process by laying out the website’s elements. Think about which information is of real value for the users. Your initial plans might contain some extra information that you can omit so take a close look at what you need and what you can exclude.
Discuss with your team which content elements are a must and that should be your base. Keep in mind that the page mustn’t be too long because the users will get bored before they check out the whole website.
2. Have a Hierarchical Layout
The content on a one-page website is presented on one scrolling page. Unlike multiple-page websites where information is distributed based on categories, one-page websites have all the information laid out at once.
Because of that, you need to find a way to organize the information effectively. A hierarchical order should follow the relevancy of information. One of the potential ways of distributing the information is:
About section
Your offering (services and products)
CTA
Meet the team
Testimonials
FAQ section
A photo gallery
Contact information
Of course, the order of information should be adapted to your services and your target audience.
Prioritizing the order of the information is one of the key steps and it demands extra attention.
3. Choose a Template
Templates can really simplify the website creation. They will lead you through the creation process and make sure that you don’t omit any important element.
In the template, you’ll already have strips and columns, a header, a rich footer, a social bar, and everything else that you need.
Most templates are fully customizable so you’ll be able to adapt the one you choose to your needs. You will have some basic elements as a basis but you’ll still be able to express your creativity and make the website unique.
4. Divide the Content with Strips
Since you don’t have different pages to organize the content, you can use the strips to achieve the categorization effect.
The strips can be added or removed until you get the desired effect. Organize them in the order that presents your content in the best light.
You can add images or videos to a strip to make the content stand out.
If you work with a template you’ll have pre-designed strips so you’ll only need to customize them and adapt them to your content.
5. Stand out with a Great Design
There is one simple rule you just need to follow: your design needs to rock!
A boring, generic, and repetitive one-page website just doesn’t stand a chance. That means that you need to go all out and create something awesome.
“Unusual and unique design will definitely give you some bonus points with the users. You can experiment with different backgrounds, scrolling effects, impressive text, or anything that comes to your mind. Be daring and explore different possibilities,” advises Julia Harold, the head of the marketing department at WowGrade.
Rather than crowding your website with text, use effective design and visuals to emphasize the most important information. This is the moment when your creativity should take over.
6. Make the Navigation Clear
Website owners who opt for one-page websites often include links to external pages. For example, a singer can have a link to the Spotify profile.
The external links can lead the users to an external payment platform, a YouTube account, or a different website.
This step is completely understandable, but what you need to be careful about is letting the users know that they are being redirected.
The users have the right to know that they’ll be led to an external page. They should also know why that different platform is useful for them. In that way, you’ll avoid confusing and wrong assumptions.
7. Stick to the Point
One-page websites are the perfect choice for those who don’t have a ton of content. That means that you shouldn’t beat around the bush and add a lot of fluff to mask it.
Your aim should be to keep it straightforward and simple. Don’t add unnecessary information just to make the page longer.
Stick to the point and provide users with the most important information, that’s all that you should focus on. No empty words, no inventing, no irrelevant information. All you need is to be direct and keep it as simple as possible.
8. Experiment with Parallax Scrolling
Parallax scrolling is a web design trend that can bring your page to life.
As the user scrolls down your website the layers in the background and foreground will move at different paces. Achieve this parallax effect by adding subtle animations such as reveal, zoom in, and fade in your editor.
By adding this 3D illusion to your website you’ll make it more interesting to the users.
The one-page websites are one dimensional and can seem boring to some. A trick such as this one can retain their attention and encourage them to keep scrolling till the end of the page.
Final Thoughts
With intuitive scrolling, sleek design, and direct content, your one-page website can be a huge hit. The simplicity and high-quality content are the way to reach the users’ hearts. As long as you follow these tips you’ll have clear guidelines that will lead you to the website of your dreams. Just remember that the users should always come first so create each element with a user-centric approach.
Angela Baker is a self-driven specialist who is currently working as a freelance writer at SupremeDissertations and as an editor at PicktheWriter. She is always trying to improve herself and her blogging career. Angela is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth and is convinced that it’s always important to broaden horizons. That’s why Angela develops and improves her skills throughout the writing process to help to inspire people. Also, she writes for LiveInspiredMagazine, rounding out her professional writing career.
Top Banner Sizes: The 21 Most Effective Banners 2019
source: https://www.match2one.com/blog/standard-banner-sizes/
When creating banners for Display Advertising it’s important to consider which sizes to use. Choosing the right size of banner can greatly help you boost your advertising effectiveness.
To help you out we’ve collected data from 4.8 billion ad impressions on millions of sites to bring you the most up to date statistics on banner usage for 2018.
If you want to know which banners are the most commonly used across the web, this guide is for you.
The top Banner Sizes sorted by how frequently they’re used
Common Web Banner Sizes
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has created standardized guidelines on banner sizes, which work across all advertising networks, including the Google Display Network (GDN).
If you want to learn more about the different sizes and how common they are, you will find the 15 most important formats in a handy chart below – together with how common they are, to make it easier for you to plan your campaign.
To get more traffic to your website without spending a lot of money, and that is what any Internet business strives to accomplish. In this article, we will cover the basic knowledge, which will be followed by 4 basic tips to get traffic to your site.
Anonymous to many novice webmasters, there are some ways to attract more visitors to your website that do not require spending a large amount of cash. But consider the fact that it is not so simple and requires much more work on your part.
So, if you prefer to work to get more visits to your website, instead of paying for it, then here are some simple ways to achieve it, get even more tips to improve your website by visiting Glamy SEO service.
Article Directories
Uploading articles to article directories is perhaps one of the most valuable ways to direct more visits to your website. By writing and uploading articles with topics associated with your website, it is almost certain that you will get more visits to your website for an extended period. Further, while your articles are kept in the directories, people can find you and the chances of receiving more visits can be more substantial. Some of the sites, you should look for depending on the language of your blog and the language of the directory, search on Google use the word directory of articles and start with those that have the best ranking in Alexa because they have more visits and those in their categories topics, that are relevant to your website.
Choose article directories that allow you to place at least one link to your website and with a good biography. To use article directories, you must be able to write many original articles in a short time and upload them to as many directories as possible. It is one of the most recommended tactics, but the work involved is quite heavy. And only the long-term effects will be noticed and when you have many articles written in different directories.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization – SEO is a procedure, that you apply on the pages of your website to increase search engine rankings. The positioning in search engines is not difficult to learn and there is much software that helps you make good SEO work.
Sandy Rowley an SEO Expert conducted various testing methods in design, advertising techniques, and layouts in order to increase the rank of the website.
The first thing you should do is to determine the meta tags (HTML tags that define the keywords of your website and determine the theme of your site), although today some webmaster take away the importance, this factor should not yet be ignored. Here are a few factors to prepare your meta tags:
a) Your domain should have keywords for your niche market
b) The title tag of each page should include the keyword.
c) Your keywords should be in the first paragraph of your page.
d) The image on the label that says “alt” should include the keyword.
e) The directories and file names of each page of your site should have your keywords.
Blogs
Create a blog that has links back (backlinks) to your website. Blogs like Blogger.com are quickly indexed by Google and other search engines.
Updating your blog, every time when you are putting new content, search engines will immediately use spiders to review it.
Putting your keywords in the content of your pages will help you increase search engine rankings.
Putting a link in your blog that directs your visitors to your website to be indexed and register your update more often.
Blogging is less painful and adds a lot of your web pages to your site in search engines.
Many places allow you to have unlimited blog accounts, some are free like Blogger.com, another popular blog application is WordPress.com.
Fora
Writing or posting in forums relevant to your topic will allow you to put links, towards your products and services in the signing of your posts, so that you have more visitors from the forum members and search engines, who follow your links.
Make sure the signature you post on the forums is memorable to magnetize readers and click on your related link to go to your website.
These 4 marketing tactics are simple and cheap to increase the traffic of more visitors to your blog. By implementing the mentioned strategies used regularly will ensure traffic flow.
Even the best products and services won’t reach their full potential without recognition. If you want to improve your e-commerce store, what you need to focus on is getting more leads. One of the ways that will help you achieve that goal is to employ an effective web design strategy.
Online advertisements simply aren’t enough for reaching the maximum potential. Your website design needs to be optimized for sales if you want to progress in the business. Check out the following design tips that will bring your e-commerce website more leads.
What Would the Users Like?
This is the question that you need to repeatedly ask yourself throughout the design process.
Users are the ones that you want to compel and whose attention you want to attract. Therefore, it is quite clear that their preferences should come first.
Find out more about what they like by checking the competition and the comments users leave, by asking questions on Quora, or by setting polls and surveys on social media.
The internet gives you a ton of opportunity to inquire about your target audience and make your decisions accordingly.
Start Your Own Blog
Just consider that companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website. You can experience that same improvement through this strategy.
Make the blog a part of your website. Let it be noticeable and easily manageable.
The reason why blogging is effective is that you’ll attract people through interesting topics but once they finish reading they will check out your website.
The key part is that you create content that is closely related to what you sell. For example, if you sell exercising equipment create content that revolves around a healthy lifestyle. That is the only way that the readers will stick around and browse through the website.
Simplicity All the Way
Crowded website design will distract the user from what’s really important – purchasing products. If you overwhelm them with numerous colors, fonts, images, or options they will give up.
That is why keeping it simple is the best choice. Incorporate your brand’s colors and logos and let the design revolve around that.
This strategy will work best since the leads will be able to manage through your website easily and get from your blog to your product catalog in no time.
“Simple web design is highly advisable for an e-commerce website. Those who love to live with the policy “the more the merrier” will need to adapt their preferences. The users need to be directed towards sharing your website and making purchases and that is the guideline that every web designer should follow,” says Thomas Byers, a web designer at Best Essay Education.
Use Images with ALT Tags
Attractive visuals are currently trending. Consequently, your website design needs to cater to the needs of users and feature beautiful imagery.
What can help you get more leads is if you use ALT tags. In that way, users can encounter your images in their Google search.
For example, let’s say that the user is searching for an anti-aging day cream with SPF 30 and she is browsing through Google Images. If your image contains the ALT tag, it will come up in the user’s search and lead her to your website.
Edit the Content to Perfection
Every aspect of your website, from the home page to product description needs to be written perfectly. That means, that there are no grammar or spelling mistakes.
Your website can be aesthetically appealing but mistakes in writing will distract the users. What is worse, such mistakes will present your business as unprofessional and careless.
If you do your own writing, get someone to proofread it for you. Or, if someone else is creating content for your website, you can check if everything is correct.
For some professional help for writing and editing, you can turn to the following services:
Trust My Paper – Experts in writing and editing that work for this company will live up to your expectations for sure.
Grammarly – Do a quick check through this online proofreading app to make sure that your content is ready for publishing.
Readable – With this service, you’ll be able to see how comprehensible your content is and make some changes accordingly.
Make It Mobile-Friendly
Mobile phones have become something like our assistants. There has been an 80% increase in mobile searches for the “best” products and services. This shows that more and more people are turning to their smartphones or tablets when searching for products.
Optimize your website and make it mobile-friendly to attract those shoppers who prefer to shop from their phones.
Mobiles have become one of the main lead generators so you better make the most of it by using a responsive design.
Intertwine the Website with Social Media
Social media buttons must be an element in your website design. They will allow the customers to share your posts, products, and whatever they find interesting.
Research shows that 81% of American adults have a social media profile. The reality is that a large part of marketing is focused on social media platforms. This isn’t a surprising fact since people spend most of their time scrolling through Instagram or Facebook.
However, this works in your benefit. If you create quality content and provide your users with high-quality products or services, they will be eager to share their findings with their followers. That is why you should make social media buttons available and visible.
Some Final Thoughts
These are a few primary elements of your web design that you should focus on if you want to drive more leads. This simple yet effective strategic moves can turn your e-commerce site from average into highly successful. Nowadays, it all comes down to investing your time, money, and effort into hacks such as optimization, user-oriented design, and social media availability. Keep up with the world of business and get your e-commerce website the attention it deserves.
BIO:
Nicole D.Garrison is a content strategist, writer, and contributor at Studicus and a number of platforms for marketing specialists. She is a dedicated and experienced author who pays particular attention to quality research. At her free time, Nicole is a passionate runner and a curious beekeeper. Moreover, she runs her own blog LiveInspiredMagazine.
Redesigning your website can be an overwhelming task. You might not know exactly what you want to do with your redesign or even what is important in web design. I put together 5 tips to help you redesign your website and hopefully take some stress out of the process for you.
Think about user experience
When creating or redesigning a website, user experience needs to be the focus. There is no reason to have a website if your visitors are having a poor experience on your site.
The goal of a website is to bring users to your site to either learn more about your company or take an action on your site, such as making a purchase or signing up for an account. A good way to determine if your site is providing a good user experience is by putting yourself in the users’ shoes.
Go through the process of landing on the website and navigating around to see if there is anything on your site that could be adjusted. It can be even more helpful to ask people around you to do this, since you are familiar with your site and know how to navigate it. It is important that users are not getting distracted, because that can quickly turn a valuable website visitor into a bounce that moves on to another website.
Another reason to optimize the user experience on your site is because it is a ranking factor for search engine optimization. Search engines can easily tell if users are having a good or bad experience with your site. Once search engines find a pattern, this can affect where your pages rank in the search results.
Less is more
When redesigning your website, it doesn’t mean that you should try to go over the top with your design. Having a simple web design is the best way to build a user-friendly website.
When you have a clean and simple web design layout, it allows your users to access everything they need to access and easily navigate your site. When there is too much going on, this will create distractions for your visitors that will result in less conversions.
When you look at some of the more popular websites, you can see that they have a visually pleasing design, while keeping it straight to the point.
Observe how users interact with your website
Observing how users interact with your website is a great way to be sure that your redesign is effective and successful. This goes hand in hand with creating a good user experience.
I would recommend having as many people as you can test out your website to see how they interact with the website and also find out if there are any problems they experienced with your site. It is always a good idea to be testing your site to determine if there are any changes that could be made to provide a better experience for your users.
If you are getting consistent website visitors and have a Google Analytics account, you can also see how real website visitors are interacting with your site. This is going to be the most valuable data you can find, because you are able to see exactly how these users behave on your site by how they interact with different pages.
Some important metrics to consider are bounce rate, time on site, and the behavior flow. I really like looking at the behavior flow on my Google Analytics account, because this allows you to se a chart of where you users navigate on your website. You can see which pages most visitors navigate to after a specific page, which can help you see how users navigate your site.
Another important metric to look at with Google Analytics is exit pages. This shows you which pages users are leaving your website from. This can mean a few different things and is not always a bad thing.
The first, most obvious thing it could mean is they lost interest with your site and decided to move on. The other thing it could mean is that they found the information they needed, which means you helped them with their problem or question.
It will differ depending on the users and the page as to whether exists are a good thing. If the page is a blog post answering a question, you probably helped those users and answered their questions. If the page is your pricing page, then maybe your prices are scaring off users.
Think about SEO
SEO is the process of making adjustments to your site to rank higher in the organic search results. When redesigning your website, taking SEO into consideration can make a big difference for your site. If you ignore SEO, you are missing out on a lot of potential traffic.
Having a good SEO strategy in place can get you a lot of free traffic that you would otherwise need to pay for. If you are putting together a blog, taking advantage of SEO will help your rank your blog posts and receive a lot of traffic to your site.
For example, on this blog post about chiropractic SEO. If I am able to get that ranked on the first page of Google, any chiropractors trying to improve their SEO will land on my website.
One of the biggest SEO mistakes I have seen with website designs is having most of the content on the website be made up of images. Search engines cannot read images like they can read text, which makes it nearly impossible to rank with little to no text.
If you are a local business, I would recommend looking into local SEO to improve your rankings.
Call-to-actions
Call-to-actions are often overlooked and can make a big difference in your conversions and overall revenue. Users need to have clear call-to-actions to know what they are supposed to do on your website.
Website visitors might not completely know what action they are supposed to take next on your site. If you are providing them value on “how to make money online”, they might not necessarily be looking to buy something, so you need to guide them in the right direction. For example, you could present them with the option to sign up to your newsletter to receive emails from you. You could also be selling an eBook on your website that might benefit them.
You need to be sure to include buttons and links on your site that will take them where you want them to go. Without providing these call-to-actions, users will likely get some value out of your content and then leave. You are leaving a lot on the table in this scenario, because there is a good chance they really enjoyed your content and would love what you have to offer.
It’s important to be smart about your call to actions as well. I wouldn’t recommend throwing call-to-action buttons all over your site but make them clear and easy to find so that users know what you have to offer.
Many website administrators think that localization is similar to translation. In their minds, if they decide to localize their website, then they should just translate it in the target language, and their work is done. The reality is totally different, as localization comes with many more implications. Apart from using natural language, you should also put effort into offering flawless customer experience. Localization will help you understand the local culture and adapt to it. Therefore, you will be able to create and deliver the right message to your target audience. Your prospects will immediately notice if you don’t understand their traditions and you are just looking for profit. So, you will need to make them feel that you have adapted to their local customs, and you have a solution to their needs.
Localization is not an easy process. This is why many website administrators decide not to do it, or they do it wrong. So, if you have plans to localize your website and you don’t know where to start, then you should read this article.
Top Localization Challenges That Website Administrators Face
The website design should be localized
One of the biggest challenges that website administrators face when they try localization is regarding website design. In e-commerce, you will need more than just engaging content. Localization should be applied to both content and website design. Thus, when you start your website localization, you should also think about what you need to change in how your website looks.
You should carefully analyze if the colors and symbols that you use on your website are accepted in the local culture of your new target audience. Also, you should pay attention to how the text looks. German, for example, uses long words. Therefore, if you use drop-down boxes, you should take into consideration how your website would look like when you translate the text in the target language.
The way your menus look like can also be influenced by the language you choose. A website in English looks excellent with vertical menus, arranged on the left side of the page. This happens because English reads from left to right. But, if you want to target the Hebrew audience, then you should be prepared to arrange your texts to be read from right to left. Thus, it doesn’t make any sense to have the menus arranged on the left side. You should instead put them on the left side of your page and adapt your writing and website design for each language.
Not all localizers know how to use market-specific terminology
The simplest way to translate your website is to go to translation companies and ask for a quotation. However, translators will only put your text in the language you target. But, for localization, they will also need to understand the story behind and the specific market terminology. Despite their translation certifications, they will need your assistance in understanding what type of clients you want to target. You should also tell them how you imagine the customer experience you want to offer.
You can overcome this challenge by choosing translators living in the country you want to launch your website and portfolio of products. You can also work with PickWriters, or similar content localization services. This type of translator knows the local terminology and can quickly identify the phrases when you need to adapt your text, rather than just translate it. In case you don’t find a local translator, you can go to the country you target and mingle with the locals. By spending time and watching how a typical day looks in the new country, you will be able to understand the local language and reach a high localization standard.
Understanding the local culture
One of the biggest challenges that website administrators face is understanding the local culture. Customers like personalized messages and feel that you create the content thinking of them. Each culture has its particularities. Thus, you should do extensive research before launching your website. For example, Japanese or Arabic people prefer a website that is very intuitive and interactive. Therefore, you should think of including plenty of visuals and animations. However, you should pay attention to how fast your website loads. If they prefer an intuitive site, they won’t have the patience to wait for your website to load.
On the other hand, if you want to target people from North America or Germany, then you should be prepared with short and precise phrases. These people don’t have time to waste, and they will shift their attention from a website that doesn’t contain explicit instructions. Thus, you can arrange your website design with clear menus and keep a linear progression on your website. Keywords are also important not only for SEO and marketing purposes but also for customer engagement. Understanding the local culture will help you identify and use specific keywords that attract the customers’ attention and keep them engaged until the end.
Fail to determine clear business goals
When you decide to localize your website, you should also have clearly in your mind what exactly you want to obtain. Why are you doing this change? This is one of the challenges that many website administrators fail to overcome. Many of them think that if they launch a website, they should automatically translate it into two or three languages and expect that their number of clients will increase. Unfortunately, they discover at a later stage that nor their clients’ portfolio or their revenues didn’t experience any growth. This happens because they failed to determine clear business goals, and they don’t know where to start with their localization process.
There are a few questions that you should ask yourself before you decide to localize your website. First, you should clarify what you will use your site. Will you use it for direct sale or to promote conversions? You can schedule a brainstorming session with your management team and define the goals for your website localization. In case you end up having more than one purpose, you should prioritize them and focus on them one by one. You should also determine which parts of your website are crucial and bring the highest conversion rate. This exercise will help you decide which areas of your website you should focus on and ensure a sound localization to attract your clients.
Finally, you should also discuss with your lawyers and understand the local legislation requirements. Depending on the advice you receive, you will be able to determine which content needs strict localization. You will also know where you need to work more to make sure that you won’t end up getting any penalty from local authorities.
Fail to localize your website because of improper research
Even though your product has excellent performance at this moment, this doesn’t mean that it will be hugely successful in any country you launch it. Thus, the key behind your products’ success lies in your ability to localize your website and do highly detailed research. Understanding your customers’ culture and their shopping preferences will help you determine the level of localization you will apply to your content.
Once you understand how and why your target customers buy products, you will be able to localize your content and personalize the messages you send them. When they feel that their needs are on top of your interests, potential customers will start trusting your brand. Once they become loyal clients, they will automatically recommend your products to their friends or family. Thus, as long as you understand what your customers want and do in-depth research, the results won’t fail to appear.
Final thoughts
Even though it seems a natural process, localization comes with a lot of challenges. However, you cannot avoid and think that you won’t need it. Once you launch your website, it is reasonable to want to expand your business. Thus, you will need localization to take your business to the next stage and attract customers from various countries around the world. Localization starts with deep research and understanding of what your target audience expects from your side. You should also dig deep into the local culture and put effort to understand it as much as possible. Follow the steps below, and you will soon notice localization benefits for your business.
A seasoned Shopify expert can take your business to new heights
Let’s face it, ever since Amazon opened its doors in 1994, and with eBay following suit shortly thereafter, in 1995, online retailing has never been the same. With website designing tools made freely available into their platforms, these bemouths took the world by a storm.
Well, Shopify, a (relatively) new kid on the online marketing block is changing the online retailing landscape once more. With the help of a Shopify web design specialist, small business owners are taking their business to new heights.
Are you ready to join their ranks? Shopify expertReno Web Designer can help!
eCommerce Solutions for every business
Thinking of starting your own small business online? Contemplating expanding your recently established online marketing operation? Tired of trying “old school” online marketing solutions like list directories, email chain messages and classified ads on Kijiji and Craig’s List? All these strategies worked well in the past, but online marketers are now facing tough competition from startups and established eCommerce players alike.
Well, there’s good news! If you work with a Shopify expert, you’ll quickly be able to ditch the traditional marketing strategies that aren’t working anymore. But that’s not all! Your web design expert will also offer you a wealth of Shopify tips and tricks, and support you with powerful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics that will breathe new life into your website and your business.
With the help of a Shopify web design specialist, you can now establish a world-class online marketing presence on one of the fastest growing eCommerce platforms. With some support and guidance from SEO experts and online marketing specialists, you can join the ranks of over 800,000[i] online stores in no time at all.
It doesn’t matter what line of business you are in. If you pick the right Shopify expert, you can unleash the same online marketing capabilities as large multinationals do.
There are hundreds of free website themes to choose from, and that can be intimidating for many new and aspiring Shopify business owners. Work with your Shopify specialist web designer to choose an appropriate theme that matches your business and audience
Alternately, engage with a veteran SEO coach to get highly effective Shopify tips on how to make the most of all that this powerful platform offers
You can even discuss your own web design ideas for a customized Shopify website, and have it developed from scratch to meet your unique specifications
Don’t know how to include order-taking and payment cycles into your website? With a Shopify web design expert, you can have an integrated shopping cart built right into your website
You can even have your custom-built Shopify website integrate shipping and logistics features, so your customers can track their orders from placement to delivery. Now, how cool is that?
And for small and medium online businesses who worry about credit card processing and receiving your payments on time, your Shopify expert will have you covered there too! Your website will include all the features that the “big guys” (and gals!) use to process payment transactions through the most accepted global payment networks.
Safety first
Before you launch any online web presence – be it a website or a social media account, you’ll be wise to consider the safety aspects of your endeavor. With the number of hacks and cyber threats on the rise, especially to small and medium-sized businesses, online security should be your primary concern.
There’s more good news that your Shopify expert can share with you! You can work with your design specialist to include some of the same protection offered by banks and other financial institutions, to their customers, into your website design. Your customers’ privacy, and the protection of their personal data should be a primary concern for you. By choosing to work with an expert on the Shopify platform, you’ll be able to benefit from unique Shopify tips and techniques that’ll make your website a much safer place for your clients to visit and transact on.
With Level 1 PCI-compliant[ii] security protocols, your customers can safely and securely place orders and you can receive payments without worrying about cyber thieves or hackers. And that’s the kind of peace of mind you’ll receive when working with a Shopify web design specialist.
Getting the most out of your website
You may decide to go-it-alone with your website building project, but chances are that, with a sophisticated and powerful eCommerce platform like Shopify, you might not optimize your web design to its fullest potential. And then again, you might work with web designers that are themselves new and inexperienced to the Shopify environment. There too, the results will likely not match what you were expecting!
With an SEO and online marketing expert on your side, who knows the inner workings of platforms like Shopify, you will exceed your online marketing objectives. And the invaluable Shopify tips and techniques they share with you will help you expand your marketing profile. For instance:
When building your Shopify presence, don’t just settle for a template approach. It’s true, templates might get you up and running in no time, and they are a relatively pain-free way to get onto the Shopify platform. However, where’s the site differentiation? How will your customers differentiate your site from hundreds of others who use the same template? Even if it’s a template you choose, your Shopify web design expert can help customize it to make it uniquely yours
Take advantage of other Shopify tips based on the platform’s unique eCommerce insight reports to plan your own marketing activities. For example, work with your Shopify expert to develop marketing messaging during the months of November and the 3rd week of January[iii]. The Shopify platform sees heightened customer buying activity around these times and you can cash in on those trends
Another strategy that experts, who are intimately familiar with the Shopify platform, recommend to their clients is to build your marketing plans around customer shopping habits. One of the many Shopify tips to consider is based around the fact that North American shoppers (U.S. and Canada) typically place their orders around 5:00 PM EST[iv]. So, if you want to push through major pricing updates to your online store, do that either before or after this transaction window
Responsive Shopify web design is all about leveraging customer web browsing patterns too. One tip that experts on the platform share with clients is to leverage peak browsing time of their customer base. For U.S. consumers this is 12AM EST, while Canadian buyers typically browse around 8 PM EST[v]. If you have new products to offer, or special announcements to make, then timing them around the peak browsing habits of your client base might be good for business
These Shopify tips are based on a wealth of data that the platforms’ owner, Shopify Inc. (SHOP), has mined and analyzed from actual Shopify merchants and retail customers who shop on Shopify. It is only an expert on the platform that can help you add value to your Shopify website by leveraging these and many other similar tips. You can get the most out of your Shopify storefront by integrating tips like these into your online marketing plan.
Supercharged online marketing
To make the most of your Shopify web design, you need to work with platform specialists who can help you integrate multiple marketing strategies, and link them to your website. While your social media presence will help drive online sales, Shopify merchants derive significant amounts of revenue from their online Shopify storefronts. Your Shopify expert can help you create an online marketing presence that that takes advantage of this important fact.
By helping you design a Shopify website that you fully own and control, instead of depending on market-makers like social media platforms, you will have greater influence on your marketing strategy. Additionally, by incorporating other elements, such as SEO, into your online selling strategy, your Shopify web design team can turbo-charge your marketing efforts.
But making the best of an online presence also means being able to compete globally. And that’s where a Shopify specialist website designer can truly add value to your online marketing efforts. You’ll be able to leverage some great Shopify tips that can help you compete with the big league, such as:
Understanding how minds of shoppers in various places of the globe work: Japanese online buyers spend the most, your German consumers have the quickest click-finger, so they shop the fastest, while U.S. consumers will come back to your website most often and frequently.
By understanding these characteristics of your buyers, you can work with your Shopify web design team to create websites and marketing messages that facilitate the closing of each transaction, including customized geo-based pricing, market-specific deals and audience-specific promotions.
You may think you need to spend a lot on an accessible website. But your Shopify expert can work with you to get the most of that investment depending on where your customers are located. If you sell a lot in places like Malaysia, Vietnam, Morocco, Singapore or the Netherlands[vi], building a website that supports tablet computing gives you a better ROI – because that’s how shoppers in those markets do most of their Shopify purchasing.
On the other hand, Mexican consumers are more inclined to use Shopify to shop via a desktop, while the average Indian shopper on the Shopify platform chooses to shop using a desktop and tablet rather than mobile. Therefore, you can use Shopify tips such as these to build a Shopify website that gives your target market an even greater personalized shopping experience.
Your Shopify web design expert can also help you supercharge your online selling when it comes to closing the deal. With over half of shopping carts abandoned just prior to clicking “pay now”, it’s imperative that you work with a platform expert to help you close the gap between marketing and selling. Working with an expert on Shopify can help you do just that.
There’s ample research that shows Shopify shoppers do an overwhelming amount – 80% – of their purchasing via the online storefront that your web designer can set up for you. It’s important therefore to customize the design of that storefront to match the demographics and clientele you are selling to.
Your Shopify expert can help you strike an equilibrium between delivering your marketing pitch, and making it quick and effective to close the deal. And a lot of factors go into closing that gap including:
Page layout
Theme selection
Fonts and graphics
Ease of navigation
Content optimization
…and more!
And you need to make consumers aware of what you have in store for them online. Shopify’s research shows that, while most consumers buy through Shopify storefronts, or in-store using POS solutions, discovery typically happens online via social feeds or other marketing channels. Your Shopify web design specialist will help you create a bridge between social media marketing and storefront selling so that your customers seamlessly walk that “final mile” to close the transaction.
Take your business beyond your borders
As your personal Shopify web design specialist, we’ll help you take your business beyond borders. With strong SEO and online marketing expertise, we’ll tailor your website to match your needs. Whether you are in the Beauty and cosmetics business, Fashion and apparel industry, Consumer electronics, Home furnishing or Food & Beverage space, having an expert providing you with Shopify tips and tricks, marketing workshops and success strategies can take your business to a new level.
Are you ready to join the ranks of billion-dollar business like LeSportSac, Rebecca Minkoff and Fashion Nova? Do you want to rub shoulders with celebrities like Kanye West, Kylie Jenner and Justin Bieber? Do you want to take your online presence into the realm of multinationals like Nestle, GE and PepsiCo?[vii] Your Shopify web design specialist can make that happen!
