Tag Archives: politics

10 Mistakes You Are Making On Your Homepage

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Hosting

The post 10 Mistakes You Are Making On Your Homepage appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . Your Homepage: The trusty introduction of your company website to the rest of the world. As the old adage goes, first impressions are everything. So what is your home page saying about your website, and your company as a whole? If the main page of your website is guilty of any of the following ten offenses, it’s probably time to make a few changes.   Mistake #1: Hiding contact information. A study conducted by Small Business Trends found that of the 200 small business websites they studied, 70 percent with a phone number didn’t display it in a prominent place. Thirty-eight percent had their email address stashed away in a hard-to-find place. Furthermore, 68% didn’t include an email address on their home page at all. Always make your contact information visible. You want to make it as easy as possible for customers to reach you.   Mistake #2: Not using analytics. If you’re not using analytics by now, you’re missing out on valuable information about the effectiveness of your website. Analytics show you things like what content is most popular with your readers, the number of inbound links to your site, who is linking to your website, and more. Using Google Analytics is free, and it doesn’t take much effort to set up.   Mistake #3: Autoplay audio or video. Have you ever visited a website and a song or advertisement started playing out of nowhere? If so, then you know that autoplay media can really detract from user experience. However, there are exceptions to this. Author and mentor Christine Kane has an autoplay welcome video on her website’s landing page. In an industry like personal mentoring, a welcome video can help to convey personality and feelings of connectedness. But for the most part, let your visitors be in control of what they see and listen to.   Mistake #4: Poor navigation. Your navigation is the gateway to the rest of your website, so making it difficult to use isn’t a good idea. Putting your navigation in a non-standard location, using too many buttons, or having your navigation out of order can have a negative impact on usability. Keep navigation at the top of the page, limit it to only important links, and put your most important items first. Studies show that users expect the navigation bar to be at the top of a page, and read from left to right.   Mistake #5: No search box. This is especially critical for websites with large amounts of content. Today’s internet users are accustomed to using search to finding things online. Put a search bar on the top right of all of your pages to make things easier to find for user. This will also offer a valuable metric for you to use later since you’ll know what people are searching for within your website.   Mistake #6: Difficult sign-up forms. Research shows that the more fields a registration form has, the more it will frustrate the user. Limit your forms to only the most necessary items like first name and email address.   Mistake #7: Not split testing. Yes, you’re busy, and you might feel like you don’t have time to split test. But split testing gives you a great opportunity to improve on your site’s conversion rates.  If you already have a good amount of traffic, you should be split testing home pages.   Mistake #8: Not enough white space. White space is the space between text and images on a web page. As an analogy, imagine driving home, opening your garage door, and being met with boxes, furniture, and other items that crowd every square inch of your garage. There is no way you’re getting your car in there until you move some things out of the way. When it comes to page layout, most would underestimate the importance of white space on a home page. However, your website can look cluttered and unattractive without it.   Mistake #9: Not capturing emails. Most internet marketers would say “the money is in the list,” and this is quite true. You’ll have a better time marketing to those who have already shown interest in your website by giving you their contact information. Include a sign-up form on your homepage for people to opt in to your newsletter or updates.   Mistake #10: Poor readability. Even if you have killer copy on your home page, it won’t mean much to your visitors if it’s unreadable. Avoid using fonts that are too small, and make sure that your background colors contrast well with the text. This is also one reason why testing your website across devices and browsers is so essential. A page that renders well in Firefox may not show up the same in Safari.   Your homepage can either make or break the rest of your website, so make sure that you’re doing it right. Not only is it good for conversions, but your visitors will be more likely to revisit a website that’s attractive as well as informative. Continue reading →

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Content Marketing 101: What is a Call-To-Action?

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Hosting

The post Content Marketing 101: What is a Call-To-Action? appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . You want to prompt your website visitors to take some sort of action. That’s the main point of having a website, to ultimately influence users to do something. The something that they do—whether it be signing up for a newsletter, signing up for a free trial, or buying a product—is called a call to action (CTA).  A strong call to action is essential to the success of any website, whether or not you’re using it to sell products and services. Some examples of calls to action include: Download our free ebook or industry report Sign up for a free trial Register for our free webinar View a demo Sign up to receive a free coupon Order now and get a discount   Why Have a Strong Call to Action? There are three main reasons for having a strong CTA on your website: Provides direction to your users. If ever your users are unsure of what to do with the information you provide them, a call to action gives them a clear step to take next. Measuring the success of your site. You can tell how your website is doing with the public from the number of visitors you have vs. the number of people who accept your CTA (otherwise known as a conversion rate). Adds an objective to your website. Your call to action leaves no doubt as to what your website is about. For example, if you visit the Adobe Photoshop download page, you know immediately that they want you to download a free trial.   How To Create One Creating an effective CTA requires some marketing knowledge, but it’s nothing you can’t pick up quickly. Here are some tricks to use in creating one that will catch eyes. Use actionable language. This might seem obvious, given the “action” in “call-to-action,” yet the internet is still full of vague language and information. Be clear about what you want your prospect to do. Use exact language. “You can register for our newsletter here” isn’t as strong as “Sign up for our newsletter.” Point out benefits. A CTA should be brief, but you can still express benefits in just a few words. State that the report they’re downloading is industry award winning, or that it will teach them profitable secrets to increasing their sales. Point out that the free trial is for 30 days and comes with 24/7 email support. Basically, give your customer a reason to respond to your call. Offer an incentive. A report published by Small Business Trends found that of the 200 small business websites they surveyed, 96% of them didn’t offer any sort of industry report, white paper, or otherwise helpful incentive. People like “insider” information, and offering it in the form of a free download makes it even more appealing. Keep it simple. You don’t want to overwhelm or confuse your visitors, so limit the number of CTAs you have on your website. For instance, Hubspot has three CTAs on the bottom of their homepage: Call us, request a demo, or start a free trial. You also want to keep the amount of information you collect from your visitors to a minimum. The marketer in you might be tempted to collect lots of juicy demographics, but a CTA form isn’t the place to do that. Studies have found that the more fields a response form has, the smaller the website’s conversion rate. Keep it simple, and you won’t overwhelm your visitors. Make it stand out. Your call to action should stand out from the rest of the page, and be in a place where users can easily locate it. Choose a contrasting background color, and place it above the fold where people can see it immediately. Some internet marketers would argue that a call to action need not always be above the fold. Just keep in mind that you want it to stand out to your audience and prompt them to take immediate action. Have it on every page. The same Small Business Trends report found that 72% of the surveyed websites didn’t have a CTA on any of their internal pages. The chances of a conversion increase when the site visitor always has access to the CTA, so make sure you include it in the same spot on all of your pages.   Having a strong call to action is an overlooked yet fundamental part of optimizing your website for conversions. Whether building a prospect list, rallying activists, or getting your name out there as a blogger, CTAs add needed direction for both the website itself and your visitors. Now that you know the importance of it, there’s no reason not to have one! Continue reading →

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The Wheel Turns: From Pay Per Click to Pay Per Gaze

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Hosting

Although Google Glass won’t be on sale until 2014 and it will be years before the futuristic technology penetrates the device market far enough for advertisers to invest in its instant and interactive capabilities, Google has just been granted it’s “Pay Per Gaze” patent, so it’s certainly hitting the thoughts of your PPC agency , website designers and webmasters. Adwords was introduced in 2000 and PPC as we know it began in earnest in 2002; a multi-million dollar industry of which advertisers and digital marketing specialists are keen to explore every new opportunity, where each new device and platform translates to just that: a new opportunity.   The Google Pay Per Gaze Patent Google’s pay per gaze patent was filed for back in 2011 for a “head mounted gaze tracking device” which would send images from the direction of the wearers “gaze” to a server, that server would identify relevant adverts and charge the advertiser. The patent is not just limited to online advertising but can also relate to advertisements in the users environment which they view and interact with but Google has been a little non-committal about whether it will be implemented at all, inferring that not all patents get developed into products. The patent also suggests the capability to assess a user’s emotional response to an advert and react accordingly. If you’re not prepared to wait for Pay Per Gaze to become a reality, if it does (although if you are a realist it’s only normal to expect Google to want to make a few millions from advertising through the next step in wearable computing) then there are other Pay Per Click alternatives to talk to your digital marketing agency about. For the full news on Pay Per Gaze read more at Mashable and AllGeek.TV .   Will it just be Google Glass? It remains to be seen whether Google’s Pay Per Gaze patent will give them a complete monopoly on the head mounted device PPC industry, but there are certainly smart eyewear competitors to Google Glass emerging as Digital Trends reports:   Sony Smart Glasses Sony does already produce 3D glasses for gaming, but has filed patents in 2012 for devices capable of transmitting information to others and a pair of glasses with displays for both eyes.   Microsoft Glass Microsoft filed a patent in 2011 which included layering information on top of live action events and their other patents have included Xbox and Gaming smart eyewear.   Apple iGlass The competitor round-up would not be complete without an addition from Apple, who have filed much more vague patents which suggest they have been researching the area but are more likely to hit the market with an iWatch sooner. The report also includes potential products from lesser-known players and products, with some capabilities already on the market like gaming glasses and those which incorporate digital cameras but which have far less potential so far to send to you running to your digital marketing agency to initiate a Pay Per Gaze campaign. *** Having established his career in digital sales and marketing,  Duncan Cumming formed his own digital marketing agency. Along with the running of his business, Duncan spends time writing informative and helpful articles about the different areas of online marketing. Continue reading →

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Beginner’s Guide to Creating Stellar Original Content For Your Website

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Hosting

The phrase “content is king” has been repeated ad nauseum across the internet ever since Bill Gates first introduced the concept back in 1996. It’s been repeated so many times that the phrase has almost lost its meaning. Sure websites must have content, but how much of the content on the web is useful and/or original? Perhaps Mr. Gates should have said, “Good content is king.” Good content attracts readers, and prompts them to share it with friends. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a genius scribe to write great content. Just follow the recommendations outlined below.   Write for Your Readers This might seem obvious, but too often site owners fall into the trap of creating content about what they think they should be addressing. They don’t think about what their intended audience really wants or needs. Think about the typical person who reads your content. What are their pain points? What problems can you help them solve? What information can you bring to them that would make their lives easier? If you’re ever at a loss as to how to answer these questions, do some research. You can do this in a number of ways, including: Asking your readers what they’d like to see more of Signing up for Google Trends to see what people are buzzing about Visiting Q&A websites like Yahoo Answers to see what people are talking about in particular categories Visiting relevant online forums to see what topics are most popular Performing a keyword search with a tool like SEMrush to see what related keywords are most popular   Keep a List of Ideas Having a running list of blog post ideas is important. Keep a notepad or your phone handy so you can jot ideas down when lightening strikes, and add all of these ideas to a text document on your computer. Don’t be too selective about what you add to the list. Write down anything that comes to you, even if it seems imperfect. Often ideas need some time to marinate before they become something you can use.   Spin That Idea Most blog post and article ideas lend themselves well to multiple pieces of content. Have an article on why saturated fat is bad for you? Why not write it from another angle, like what sources of saturated fat to avoid, or how to cut saturated fat from your kids’ diet? You can also look at the topic from a seemingly opposite stance, like writing on fats that help you lose weight. If you have a “list style” article on top super foods, highlight each super food in its own separate blog post. When you get an idea for a new topic, spend some time brainstorming different angles.   Take Your Time It’s perfectly understandable that you want to publish that genius blog post now. However, consider the implication of not taking your time to properly craft a blog post: In your hurry, you miss some grammar and spelling mistakes that your spellchecker didn’t catch. You leave out a couple of good points you would have remembered had you not been rushing. You realize you could have used better word choices. You forget to attribute a source, include a link, search for a picture, or add any number of small details that would have made your blog post more polished. Yes, the web moves at a fast pace, but not so fast that you have to sacrifice the quality of your content to keep up.   Create Serial Content This is a great way to go in-depth on a subject without creating content that’s too lengthy. For example, Erin McNeany of the Never Ending Voyage published a very popular three-part blog series entitled, How to Sell Everything You Own . This is a topic that specific groups of people (world travelers) search for often. The series is so popular that it still ranks high in the SERPs, even though it was published in 2010. Think of a daunting problem you could help your readers with, and create serial content that would solve that problem.   Invite Guest Bloggers No blog is an island unto itself, so feel free to invite others in your field to contribute to your blog. An added advantage is that the guest blogger will bring traffic with them if they’re well known enough.   Polish Your Skills Writing is a skill that can always be strengthened. Invest time in improving your writing skills with resources like the Purdue OWL and Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips . Above all, practice, practice, practice. This isn’t just important from a technical standpoint. The more you write, the more you establish your personal voice.   Anyone can create content, but not everyone can create good or even great content. If you can put these guidelines into action, then you’re on your way to creating great content that your website visitors will ultimately value. Continue reading →

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8-Step Checklist to Follow for Your Next Website Redesign

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Hosting

Every website needs a good overhaul now and again. Whether you’re rebranding your website or just updating the look and feel of it, several things must be taken into consideration before you begin. Giving your website a huge overhaul can be a long, tedious process. There are multiple factors to consider from the framework of your website to the impact a redesign will have on future marketing efforts. Checklists make the process go much smoother since you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re forgetting anything. Here is a checklist to make sure you’re on track with your website overhaul.   Does your site have goals? Even if you’re doing a redesign “just because,” you should still have some solid performance goals for your website. After all, you want your site to perform just as well, or even better than its current incarnation. Consider metrics to improve on such as: Monthly unique visits Time on site Bounce rate Conversion rate Current ranking for keywords   Once you determine your goals, make them measurable. e.g., increase conversions by 25%. If nothing else, make a note of your current website metrics and make it a goal to meet or exceed them. Your current metrics also make a good benchmark by which to measure future performance.   Is your site usable? Usability is multifaceted, and is one of the most important considerations when redesigning a website. According to Peter Morville’s usability honeycomb , a website should be: Useful: Your content should fulfill a unique need. Usable: Your website should be easy to use. Checklist for usability. Desirable: Your website image, brand, and overall appearance should evoke a sense of appreciation. Findable: Content should be easily navigable and easy to locate both on-site and off-site. Checklists for website navigability. Accessible: Your website content should be accessible to people with disabilities. Credible: Users should be able to trust your website and what you tell them.   Are your site standards compliant? The World Wide Web Consortium sets standards for how a website should be built from the inside out. Why do these standards matter? Websites that are standards-compliant display better with modern browsers, rank better in search listings, offer better accessibility, and operate on less bandwidth. See Checklist for standards compliance.   Does your website have high-quality content? As mentioned above, a website’s content must be useful to the visitor. A pretty website without useful content is much like an empty jeweled goblet: Pretty to look at, but containing no substance. Your website’s content is basically information meant for visitors. This can include blog posts, articles, video, podcasts, audio, pictures, charts, slideshows, or a combination of these. Since people mostly come online to get information, having helpful, interesting content is your best bet for getting in your visitors’ good graces. See Checklist for content quality.   Is your website accessible? As mentioned above, users with disabilities should also be able to access your website without a problem. This usually involves marking up code so that screen readers and other devices can access it easily. See checklist for website accessibility.   Is your site optimized for search? It’s important that web designers become increasingly aware of the importance of SEO in the structure of a website. Page elements like titles, pictures, and even video can contribute to or harm a website’s place in search engine rankings. When redesigning a website, take inventory of your old site’s most valuable pages in terms of SEO: The pages with the most traffic, the most inbound links, and with the highest keyword rankings. Create a strategy for using 301 redirects so as not to lose any of that valuable SEO juice. See Checklist for website SEO.   Is Your Site Secure? Website security is often overlooked, until something goes spectacularly wrong. Plan ahead by taking website security measures including using encrypted login pages, strong password practices, backing up your files, and keeping tight file permissions. See checklist for website security.   Do some final checks. The tiny details matter. Spelling and grammar, typography, browser compatibility, and other small details can either make or break your website relaunch. See checklist for website relaunch.   A website redesign can feel daunting, but it’s actually less so when you have all of your bases covered. Each separate element of a website is connected to the other. That’s why it’s important to have concrete goals for your site redesign, to make sure that they all work together in the end. Even after your website re-launch, you will likely engage in constant tweaking and improving as you discover bugs and receive feedback. Improving a website is an ongoing process. Continue reading →

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