Feb/090
Web Design - Building for your Visitors
Have you ever came across a website where you had absolutely no idea what to do next? Chances are, you hit your ‘back’ button, and continued on to another website.
Seems like no big deal right? However, from a business stand-point this website owner lost another potential customer… All because his website is lacking the most important thing of all… Usability.
At Primary Target, we often speak with clients who have existing websites that simply aren’t converting. Upon looking at these websites, we can quickly see why. Confusing navigation, inproper site hierarchy and cluttered content all contribute to lost visitors.
Developing your website with your visitors in mind, will help increase vistitor time spent on your website, as well as increase your website’s page views.
Clean navigation and breadcrumb trails (small sub-navigation links that show visitors the path to their current location on the website) will help your them find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily.
How does your website rank in ‘usuability’? Try this… integrate Google Analytics into your existing website, to get a true snapshot of it’s performance and usability. Google analytics provides robust, statistical data that will help immensely.
One of the best stats offered is your website’s ‘bounce rate’. This shows the percentage of people who left your website after visiting only one page. That means they exited your website on the same page they entered.
If your bounce rate is high, you have a few things to look at.
- Is my website’s design at all confusing?
- Is my navigation functional and relevant?
- Is the content on my website relevant?
- Is my website cluttered?
Decreasing your bounce rate will certainly help your website’s conversion. Whether it’s selling products online, or simply having visitors contact you for more information, relevant and structured content will help your website perform the way it should.
Feb/090
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Do Your Homework
Search engine optimization is a topic that people ask me about literally each and every day. To be completely honest… it often pains me when I speak to clients about it. I’ll tell you why.
For those of you who know me, you know that I’ve been involved in search engine marketing for nearly 10 years now and I’m a total SEO junkie. Seeing how I’m only 26, the search engine game has been a huge part of my adult life.
The part that haunts me is how so many business/website owners have been sold on the idea that search engine optimization is some top secret formula that only true professionals can master. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the business/website owners’ fault, it’s simply the same old jargon filled non-sense they’ve been sold on, by shiny shoe’d ‘know it alls’ in suits.
Search engine optimization isn’t about tricking search engines into ranking your website at the top of their listings, it’s about delivering relevant, well-presented content to search engines in the manner in which they prefer… period.
We all know that Google is the powerhouse search engine, and optimizing your website for Google is clearly the way to go. What many of these ‘know-it-alls’ won’t tell you, is that Google provides you with virtually all the tools you need to properly structure and optimize your website for their algorythym. I’m not saying that getting to the top of search engines is easy, the fact is it’s not. Any SEO company that promises you top rankings in search engines such as Google is simply lying to you. Nobody has that type of control over Google’s rankings.
Search engine optimization is a full-time job. It’s not something that is simply done once and forgotten about. It’s an on-going process. Whether it’s increasing your rankings in major search engines, or maintaining your current high rankings, the optimization process should be considered an integral part of your marketing efforts.
I’ll leave you with one piece of advice. If you’re interested in search engine optimization for your website, research it a little bit and familiarize yourself with the basic guidelines. There is nothing worse than going in blind.
A bad SEO experience can be fatally damaging to your website’s future exposure in search engines.
Feb/090
Branding… Seeing the Importance
Many business owners fail to see the importance of branding their business. This costly mistake sends their marketing efforts into a constant counter clockwise motion… And that’s not a good thing.
Here’s what I mean. An inconsistent or non-existent brand puts your marketing efforts in a continuous ‘first impression’ stage, as there is never a sense of familiarity from your prospects and customers.
Let’s dig a little deeper… Drive down a city street and notice how quick you can pick the ‘golden arches’ out from a sea of other billboards, signs and buildings. This is the perfect example. If McDonald’s used different color ‘arches’ for each location, would you have notice their upcoming location just as easily? Most definetely not.
Branding is a consistent theme comprised of a well-design logo and color scheme. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, simply unique.
Let’s try a test… Skim through the mountain of business cards you have lying around and pick one. Visit the web site located on this card. A well-branded company will continue this color scheme from their business card, throughout their website. Doing this provides you with a sense of familiarity and reassures you that you’re indeed on the website you were looking for.
Now try this with another card… Perhaps this second company doesn’t carry a branding theme. How do you feel now? A little less certain perhaps. This is not a feeling a company wants you to have when researching them.
Branding impact may seem faint or somewhat unnecessary, however thats what makes branding so powerful… It often works without many of us seeing it.
If you have any questions on branding your business, don’t hesitate to contact our team here at Primary Target. We would be happy to help where we can.