Should You Redesign Your Website?: 5 Signs That It May Be the Right Time
You thought your site was working fine. You were in love with the original colors. Man, that bright yellow text on a black background was eye-popping. Back in the 90’s, that is. Okay, that’s an exaggeration.
But have you been wondering lately if your website is pulling its weight? Bringing you leads (and sales), getting visitors interested in your other cool stuff, like your blog or e-newsletter?
Maybe you know that something is not quite right. But you can’t put your finger on it. Your business might have changed. Or you might be trying to attract a different kind of client. The copy may be stale and unappealing. Or you don’t feel like the real you is showing up online.
5 Signs It May Be the Right Time for a Website Redesign
- You have changed the focus of your business. Could be that you have added or deleted products or services. Or maybe you are laser-focused on a new kind of client. If your site doesn’t represent what you do anymore, it’s time for a change.
- Your site traffic numbers have gone down. Are people landing on your home page but not going any deeper? If Google Analytics or another traffic measurement service is showing a decrease in viewer engagement, you may need a site fix
- Your content is stale. Your tracking data may show that you are not getting repeat visitors. If you provide fresh content (changing testimonials in and out, announcing workshops and other events, providing new rich content, etc.), your visitors will keep returning. And it’s easier to do that with a WordPress design.
- You don’t have a unique online identity. Your “About Us” page is normally one of the top two most viewed pages on your site. That’s because your online visitors are craving to know who you really are. Because people do like to do business with people, not robots. How many visitors are going to your “About Us” page and how long are they staying?
- Your website is out of synch with your other marketing materials. Your website should be consistent in look and feel to your blog, your e-newsletter, your business card, and your other offline marketing and sales materials. It should get an immediate reaction from your reader, “Oh, yeah, I know these guys.” Having a personal brand and staying consistent builds customer trust
A website redesign is all about giving some thought to what your visitor sees the instant they land, what you want them to do next and how you are going to get them to do it.
And it’s not as expensive as you think. If you need a fairly simple site without e-commerce and other complex components, WordPress is an easy solution. You’ll be able to create new content anytime, add widgets and plug-ins for more fun, and-best of all-not have to be at the mercy of your webmaster when you need changes.
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RSS Feeds on Your Blog – A Goldmine!
When I create a website or blog, it’s second nature to me to add an RSS feed, as with most people. But often I do get the question asked why should I do this?
What ends up happening is some short education for the client. What is a RSS feed? Who uses them? Why should it be on there?
In one of my beginning blogging classes I first tell everyone that they need to make it easy for a visitor to sign up for their feed. Then I ask how many people understand RSS feeds. Normally only one or two raise their hands. This is followed by a short introduction to RSS readers, etc. But in the end my comment is, “You may never choose to sign up for feeds yourself, or implement a reader, or really understand them, but there are a lot of people out there that do.” And that’s why you need it on your blog!
Note on the left upper hand side of this blog, you will find two options. 1) They can sign up for the feed via a reader. Or, 2) they can sign up for the feed via email. Give them both options. A lot of people still want to be notified when you publish a post via email.
So if you don’t have both, go to feedburner.com and burn your feed!
As SEO expert Barry Hurd of 123 Social Media once said to me, “Every time someone signs up for your feed, that is worth it’s weight in gold”. Just think, the person who does sign up for you feed wants to be contacted whenever you do a new post. It doesn’t get better than that!
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Grade Your Website
Recently a colleague suggested I check out the site Website Grader. It’s a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.
Interesting results. Out of 100, our site was graded a 92. Whoopee!
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Gnomedex 9.0 – Oh, What I Learned…
This last Friday and Saturday, I spent two days immersed in Gnomedex 9.0 in Seattle, put together by Chris Pirillo. It was my first Gnomedex experience. I knew several people who were going to it, and watching the conversation via Twitter, it sounded like an experience worth exploring. So I took the plunge and shelled out the bucks for a full 2-day pass.
The room was filled with geeks and nerds. Okay, maybe not everyone, but definitely more than I had ever seen in one place. Please don’t take this the wrong way, I’m just painting a picture here. So, what exactly did I learn in those two days?
Conversation rules. Whether it was during breaks, at lunch or after the event, as with any community, discussion and life-revealing insights abounded. Stories told, questions asked that spurred deeper thoughts and ideas that will be taken beyond the walls of the conference.
Yes, I am good at multitasking. The experts say it is impossible, that you really do only focus on one thing at a time. But when I found myself posting tweets, following gnomedex on twitter, checking email, setting up a client meeting, etc. etc. and yes, wandering to Biznik.com occasionally, I was in the groove.
I am not a geek or nerd. Yes, I knew this already deep in my heart, and never claimed to be. But until you experience this collective energy that they possess, you will never know. Jokes told where I find I’m one of the few not laughing. Eyes glazing over as a group of young techies at lunch converse in languages unknown to me.
This community has passion. I have been to all kinds of conferences, and sometimes one can be just like another, just a different spin. And although I may not understand every realm of geekdom, I do know that at Gnomedex there was a passion for technology, a passion for knowledge and a passion for social causes. They were there for a reason, and it went beyond the typical conference.
Finally ten other things I learned at Gnomedex 9.0.
1. Attendees are not allowed to go hungry or thirsty.
2. Geeks really like Star Wars.
3. An amazing 3-D printer does exist.
4. I can now blame everything on Drew’s cancer.
5. Hard-core spammers can turn around their lives.
6. Macintosh and PC users can co-exist in the same room.
7. Getting a flask in our swag bag does not mean we can fill it right away.
8. Never be surprised at the interjection of four-letter words.
9. If you leave early, your name will be pulled for a prize.
10. Geeks and nerds are people too!
My hats off to Chris Pirillo and his gang for Gnomedex 9.0 The blend of human and social intereaction, both in person and online, again, shows me the power of the online community.
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Will the new theme Headway take the place of Thesis?
Just a quick post, as the talk on Twitter, and elsewhere, is the new theme Headway. I’ve yet to really take the time to go through it, but at first glance it’s pretty impressive.
So instead of rehashing what has been said, check out the Headway site and John Haydon, social media marketer, on why he made the switch from Thesis to Headway.
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Get Rid of the Google Landing Page Blues: 5 Tips for Increasing Online Sales with a ‘Portal Site’
Whether you are a massage therapist, dog trainer, executive sales coach, event planner, or someone else, if you are selling information products online, or are thinking about doing it, you might already know how hard it is to get your visitor’s undivided attention.
Your website visitor, who must be convinced to buy a product they might have never heard of, is a little different from the customer who goes to Amazon.com to buy a copy of Seth Godin’s latest bestseller-something she already knows she wants. What you must do, then, is persuade her to buy your product.
On a large, multi-page website, your reader has many choices: click here, go there, do this. If you have several products (e-books, DVD sets, audio recordings, etc.), your visitor can easily become overwhelmed.
To attract visitors and convince them to buy, consider creating landing pages. Also called micro-sites, landing pages are really just sales letters posted on the Web that allow you to target the very people who are most interested in what you are selling, the people most likely to buy.
Great idea. Except for the fact that Google recognizes landing pages as sales letters and does not rate sites with sales copy very highly. So you don’t get nearly as much organic search traffic. Many online marketers get around this by creating a portal site, one central place with valuable free content for the search engines and links to their individual landing pages.
5 Tips for Increasing Online Sales with a ‘Portal Site’
- Create a simple URL/address for your portal site. It helps, especially as you begin to sell more products, to have a simple, central site. When someone asks what products you offer, it’s easy because you just have to remember one site address and direct them to that.
- Create links from your portal site to each of the landing pages for your individual products. You will want to send people to separate landing pages for each product, each with its unique domain name. Choose names that are easy to remember.
- Create sections of your site where visitors can download free content. This is key because it will increase your organic search rankings and drive traffic to your site. Because Google loves content, especially fresh content, include articles, special reports, and other information that is timely and helpful and will bring you lots of visitors. Valuable content will also establish you as an expert and build the reader trust that leads to sales.
- Include a sign-up for your free, opt-in e-newsletter and links to your blog and other social media profiles. It’s a great way to build your list organically, find quality prospects, and get your content out to more people.
- From your portal site, send visitors to separate landing pages with their own unique domain names. Make each page simple, with no menu bar, no confusing options. You want your reader to focus on the reasons she needs to buy your product right now. So just include your sales letter and link to a form where your visitors can buy your product.
A well-thought out portal site linking to landing pages with amazing copy that sells your unique products will go a long way in pumping up your online sales.
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SEO Tools – A Must for WordPress
The All in One SEO Pack is probably the most used and well known admin plugin for WordPress. The All in One SEO pack allows you to give your post or Page a keyword rich title, different to the post/Page title, a meta description and keywords. This is a must have tool especially for Pages and when you are running your site as a content management system. Click here to download the All in One SEO Pack.
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