The Outline for a Successful Web Presence

Having a successful web presence is key to taking your company from local to global. Creating a website can expand your customer pool from the areas around you to the world around you. It makes your business accessible to customers 24/7 with the click of a button. The potential of your company’s web presence is great, no doubt about it. But in order to turn potential into results, there are a few things your web presence has to have in order to be successful.

Homepage: The first thing your website design should have is a homepage. This is the place where customers get their first impression. It has to be catchy, comprehensible, and organized. The homepage should give the viewer some basic info on what your business model is. What does your company do? Why are you reliable? What do others have to say about you? You should have some captivating images, maybe a few quotes, and the basic layout of your website. Use tabs or infographs to show your other web pages. Make sure they are easily accessible and interesting as well.

About: The next thing your web presence needs is an about section or company info page. This is the place where you can really shine. Explain to the customer why, specifically, you are the company they want to invest their time and money into. Show that you are trustworthy, reliable, and confident. If your customers were impressed with your homepage, this is where they will probably go next. Continue to impress them with details about your business model and your company’s m.o.

Testimonials: If there’s one thing customers trust, it’s the word of a fellow customer. Include a section of laudable reviews or quotes on why others have been pleased with your company. If someone is browsing your website and sees real life testimony of your previous customers, it’s bound to help your company gain their trust and peak their interest.

Blog: Don’t underestimate the power of the blog. Having a blog is a great way to enter into a conversation with your customers. Blogs usually have a laid back feel and a conversational tone that is appealing to customers. They also help prove your credibility; if you are a pet sitting business writing blogs that offer tips on how to train your dog to stop barking when the mailman comes to the door, people will trust you know what you’re talking about. Blogs are also constantly changing and being updated. This will keep customers coming back to your website to see the latest post.

Social Media: Don’t forget to incorporate social media into your web presence. Add share buttons for Twitter, facebook, Google Plus, and other social sites so that viewers can share your company’s website with their friends. In addition to share buttons, create a presence on Twitter and facebook so that you can connect with customers on a social level. Become one of their likes, interests, or favorites.

Need assistance setting up your web presence? Contact CodankWeb Design. We design custom websites for our clientele. We will work with your company every step of the way to create a website that accurately represents and promotes your business model.

Website Design Errors You Should Avoid

Creating a website for your business is a great way to put your company name out there and display your business model to potential clients almost anywhere in the world. But before spending all that time and money on a website design company, you need to make sure you are getting your money’s worth. You want your website to attract customers, increase website traffic, and draw in more business. Here are a few blunders you should avoid when planning out your company’s web presence. Keep these in mind when consulting with your website design company.

Give the viewer some room to breathe:

Cool images, videos, and fonts can be good for your company’s web presence; however, you need to know when enough is enough. Don’t have too many animations or widgets that take a long time to load--people won’t want to wait. Too many images and videos can also distract the viewer from the actual content of your website. Remember, the goal of your website is to promote your business model. Some fancy web design features are good, but keep the main focus on the content of your website.

Spelling and Grammar:

Speaking of content, you want to make sure you have good spelling and grammar. This may sound like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised how many errors appear on company websites. Take the time to proofread and edit your content. If you have typos, your readers won’t find you credible or trust the quality of your service.

Don’t Be Afraid of White Space:

You may have the urge to take up every square inch of white space on your web pages. But stop and think about using the white space to your advantage. White space can make images pop and make your content clearer. Too much color can distract the viewer and be too overwhelming. Contrast between content and design can be a good thing, forcing the reader to appreciate the design and still focus on the content.

Don’t Forget About SEO:

You want to make sure you content is search engine friendly. Create an SEO plan and figure out how you want to incorporate your website design and content. High quality content with key words related to your business will help put you higher on the search results page.

Your company’s website should do its job of informing people about your business and projecting your company name on a global scale. It’s important not to make these blunders so that your website can be effective, alluring, and informative. If you’re thinking of creating a website for your company, contact Codank Web Design. We are dedicated to making original websites for all our clients.  

Let's Start Pinning

Pinterest is a web phenomenon that is taking the world by storm. It’s an online pin board that’s driven mostly by the imagery and photo quality of the products on the site. Pinterest combines social networking and consumerism; it allows users to share products, design tips, crafts, recipes, and pretty much anything else that peaks their interest. But where does online pin board, seemingly directed mainly towards women, fall in line with website design?

The growth of web design all depends on the sharing and exchanging of ideas and techniques. If you search under the technology section of Pinterest, you can often find web design ideas. You can then “re-pin” them and use them for inspiration later. It’s a great way to see what else is out there, what other web designers are using, and what’s popular among the web design community. You can also create a page on Pinterest and list yourself as a website designer. Pin some samples of your work and include information about yourself and or your company. People can see your work, re-pin it to their pages, and your website design skills will get more exposure.

With Pinterest, you can also include links to your facebook and Twitter pages, as well as your company website so that people can follow you more closely if they are interested. Also, make sure to include key words in every picture you post on Pinterest. That way, if someone is searching for “wedding website design” and you have a pin board dedicated to wedding websites, they can find you easily.

Pinterest is, in large part, a site saturated with pretty images of things that people find interesting. But if you look under the right categories, you can actually find some useful tips on web design, technology, computers, and the like. Post pieces of your design portfolio to Pinterest and see who re-pins your posts.

Socialize your Website: Why it’s important for your company to reach out with social media.

Let’s Socialize: Social media has made the internet an extension of our social lives; it’s become a place of sharing thoughts, ideas, and interests. Getting on facebook means connecting with friends through pictures, posts, and articles. Getting on Twitter means opening up the line of communication between you and people all over the world. The online experience has become a portfolio of favorites; you can share favorite recipes, articles, quotes, ideas, and much more with all your friends while sitting at your computer. Getting online means exchanging ideas and entering into a conversation about the things you like and the stuff you’re interested in. 

That’s why it’s vital to incorporate social media into your company’s website design. Having pages on facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and others puts your company’s website into the social world of the internet. Without the help of social networking, it’s like you’re sitting on the bench at a high school dance; you’re watching and can see what’s going on, but you’re not hanging with the crowd. In order for your company’s website to get the best exposure, you have to get up off the bench and dance your way into the online conversation. If you immerse yourself into the social lives of potential customers and clients, you are guaranteed to have more success.

Brand Recognition: Social media websites get lots of traffic, so if you make a facebook page for your company and your company’s website, then you’re guaranteed to get some views. People will see your pages and start to recognize your brand. Check your stats daily to see how many likes your pages get and how many people are frequenting your facebook page. If your numbers are low, include social media share buttons on your company’s website. This will encourage people who visit your site to share your page with their friends on facebook or tweet about your company.

Social Media is About Sharing: Having a facebook page isn’t just for posting information. As stated before, facebook is a way to share and exchange ideas and enter into a conversation about the things we like and take interest in. Use videos and pictures on your facebook page to attract more visitors. Think of your facebook page as a giant advertisement. Include pictures, articles, videos, and quotes. Make it eye-catching and stimulating. Also, take advantage of other people’s ideas. You can re-post an article from someone else’s page or use a video from someone else’s website (as long as you give them credit). Social media is about sharing, so share other’s ideas on your pages if it is relevant to your company.

When it comes to promoting your company’s business model, social media can integrate you into the intimate part of people’s online conversation. If you can wedge your way into their social activities on the internet via facebook and Twitter, your company can become part of their interests. When considering website design and social media networking, consider contacting CODANK Web Design. We can provide more tips and tools when it comes to your company’s website presence. We also create one of a kind websites for our clients and assist with social media marketing. Contact us today for a free quote.

Do I Need a Separate Marketing Website for my Products?

Lots of ecommerce merchants use a main website to advertise their products and provide important information about their company. But when the time comes to promote or sell a certain product, separate marketing websites are essential to increasing your sales and marketing your products effectively.

People may browse your ecommerce website because they need information about your ecommerce business, but they may not look there specifically for product sales and reviews. Contact a website design company, like CODANK Web Design, to make separate websites to market your products. If you sell a variety of products in your ecommerce business, create different websites to target each category of products. Customers shop online by the product they want. If they need shoes, they will browse ecommerce shoe products. If they are looking for power tools, they will search for sites that sell power tools. Having those separate ecommerce websites for your products will reach more customers as you narrow down the inventory to match their interests.

The website you use for your ecommerce marketing business is usually run by an IT team. If you use a website design company, they will be dedicated to making sure the product is marketed in the best way possible. CODANK Web Design understands the art of making marketing websites to attract customers to a certain product. Our team will design custom websites to help market your products and contribute to the growth of your ecommerce business. Our ecommerce websites are enabled by content management systems (CMS) to help you add and change updates, coupons, or special promo deals on your products.

If you want to see tangible results in selling your ecommerce items, you have to capitalize on the services of a website design team. They will know what it takes to market your products to attract customers. Expand your ecommerce business and customer base by contacting a website design team. CODANK Web Design can help you make these external ecommerce websites. Contact us today for a free quote.