Your Business Website - First First Impression

Most people know that not having a website is a huge mistake for any business. But what about a “bad” website? Surprisingly, having a “bad” website is more of a turnoff to potential customers and clients than not having one at all. So what is a “bad” website?

I have outlined eight items that rank among some of the most annoying and ugly features of “bad” websites for your education and enjoyment!

• Not visually pleasing. If your site is ugly or looks like a budget site with grainy images, poorly aligned text, or obvious pre-packaged template use, it’s not going to fly with your potential clients and customers.
• Difficult to navigate. Many sites look pretty good, but if it takes several clicks and a lot of reading to get where the viewer wants to go, then you’re going to lose them. Website visitors have a very short attention span. Also, if your colors don’t work with each other (think blue text on a black background), then people will immediately get frustrated and leave your site.
• Slow to load. When the web first went mainstream, the only way to set your page up properly was to use tables. Then, images and flash came along. Now we have stylesheets and numerous other tools at our disposal to accomplish our goals. The older design systems are chunky and take a long time to load. Mouseover images that disappear and come back only after loading a server-side image may turn off your visitors.
• Not searchable. This isn’t a cardinal sin. However, as a business owner, you are ignoring a very powerful solution to your visitor’s need. They are most likely on your site for a reason - to get specific information. Using a robust search feature can give them a speedy solution and increase your conversions.
• Clumsy e-commerce. When you are trying to sell something on your website, it has to be integrated seamlessly into your content. The store page has to have the same look and feel as the rest of our site and has to “ooze” your company. Also, ensure that you’re keeping your viewers on YOUR site throughout the purchase process.
• Broken links. This is unforgivable. It reminds me of my business law professor in college. “Spell check comes with all word processors. If you have a spelling error, it means you’re too lazy to check, so I’ll be too lazy to give you a good grade.” Having broken links, bad image links, or missing components to your site is a sign that you don’t care about your site and therefore, you don’t care about your visitors or their experience.
• Take it easy on the fonts. Two fonts should be used - MAX. The body of your site should not look like your Font folder on your computer. Yes, fonts are fun, but web fonts are all pretty similar so relax a bit. Choose one for your headlines and one for the body. Other accents can be done with italic, bold, underline, and image highlights.
• Same goes for colors. Your site should be clean and uncluttered. Your fonts should all be the SAME color unless highlighting a specific item (and used sparingly) or using a hyperlink.

This list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a start. The web is vital to the success of any business. From law firms to day cares, from catering companies to martial arts schools, you NEED a high quality website. If you have a “bad” website, forget about search engine optimization for a minute and focus on bottom line optimization!

Feel free to look at our portfolio and see if our services could increase your web presence and make your site more of a tool than a burden for your business. We design and code websites so that they’re maintainable by YOU and it’s extremely affordable to get off the ground.

What’s the deal with Twitter?

Twitter, ladies and gentlemen, is the water cooler of the digital age! Twitter users share short updates, called Tweets, on what they’re doing with all of their friends and associates on the site (called Followers). 

Great, so why do you care? Well, Twitter is an SEO dream come true! There are so many people Tweeting like crazy, that the traffic that Twitter builds can be incredibly valuable IF it’s harnessed properly. 

Here are a few guidelines to remember when using Twitter:

1. Separate YOU from your company. Tweeting about going to the grocery store or how much you love Lost will not help your business at all (a bummer, we know!). Keep your business Tweets relevant.
    
2. Tweet often, but not too often. Tweeting every 15 minutes to talk about your business is, under most circumstances, not a good idea (and annoying). Keep your Tweets relevant (see #1) and they have to be newsworthy. Now, if your company is in the middle of a major revolutionary change (new product line, merger, etc.) then Tweeting more often is justified and mandatory!
    
3. Link away! Each one of your Tweets should highlight something about your business. Each Tweet should also have a link back to your company’s home page or an individual page or post (if it’s a blog or combination blog/website) relevant to that Tweet
    
4. Follow to get followers. Find Twitter users that are in the same business as you or have the same interests. One of our clients, Divinity MMA, has done an exceptional job building up a host of followers of both faithful and fight fans on their Twitter page. By following several Twitter users dedicated to mixed martial arts and religion, the followers of those users have in turn begun to follow Divinity.

That’s the basics on Twitter. For more information, a great book is Twitter Power by Joel Comm.