5 things web designers don't want you to know

OK Let's be honest...if you have had a not-so-good experience with a web designer at one point in time you are not alone. We talk to folks all the time who are very wary of being burned again. It's very unfortunate.

Today we want to share a few facts which will hopefully enlighten some of you and give you the insight you need to make smart business decisions. Here are the top 5 things that web designers don't want you to know (but we're going to tell you anyway).

1. Most maintenance updates take less than 30 minutes

If a website is constructed correctly, then 90% of maintenance updates are a piece of cake. Even creating new pages of brand new content is not a time consuming process for a professional.

Some things will take longer of course, but the important thing to take away here is that if you're being billed hourly, there are a couple things you can do to reduce that hourly rate.

• Combine your updates into one single update. Rather than sending five separate small updates over five separate days, send them all at once. It's possible that your developer can do all of them in an hour, which will make your invoice an hour worth of work instead of five hours
• Try to hire a web developer that bills in half hour increments. For small updates, this will reduce your cost in half

Another thing to know is that your developer should be able to make your changes very quickly. It really should never take longer than 3 or 4 days. We try to do our updates within 24 hours.

2. Hosting is not very expensive

Hosting is pretty cheap...especially for a fairly small static website of less than 50 pages.

So what does this mean? If you don't ask your web developer to change your website very often, then really you shouldn't be paying him a whole lot. Most of our small business websites pay us between $400 - $700 a year for hosting AND 5 hours of maintenance.

3. It's possible to update your own website

This fact is more well known now than it was 4 or 5 years ago. But one way to drastically cut down on expenses is just to update your website yourself through a "Content Management System" or CMS.

A CMS is simply a tool that lets you manage the content of your website. You can add new pages, update your information, add pictures, etc.

Now of course you need the time to do it, which a lot of people simply don't have. But if possible hire an intern or get some help. If you're making updates to your website on a regular basis, it pays to have a CMS.

4. Your website needs to be constructed correctly to get found on search engines

It seems like half the websites online are not search engine friendly. Whether it's because the person who created it didn't know the right way to do it, or they were lazy when they created it; so many websites today are not suited for search engine crawlers.

Make sure your website is constructed correctly. As any SEO firm will tell you, there are many different things to check. Here's a free article which will answer the question is my website search engine friendly - it's our Easy SEO Checklist, mainly for beginners.

5. Your web designer might not be an actual web designer

Say what? A web designer is someone who is an expert in graphic design, SEO, HTML, CSS, and website usability (at a minimum).

Most "web designers" are people who may know how to do one or two of these things, not all of them. Just because you know HTML doesn't mean you can create an effective small business website.

When talking to a web designer, make sure they don't just know how to make a website, but how to make it look good, and how to make it work.

We recommend that you ask to see their portfolio, and then ask them to show you some real life examples of businesses they've helped. Then talk to those businesses as a reference and see what they say.

Hopefully these facts will help give you the knowledge you need to make smart business decisions. Don't forget to contact us if you need a free consultation. Good luck!

8 Features of a Great Call to Action Button

The best way to get visitors to do what you want them to do on your website is to create an effective call to action button.

A call to action button is simply a button people click on that says something like:

• Sign up now
• Call us today
• Get a free quote
• Download our brochure
• Read more
  

A good call to action button has several characteristics. Here are a few:

1. Color contrast

The color of the button should stand out from the surrounding elements on your website. So if you have a white background, don't have a light button. Make it a dark color.



The Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce uses purple for this image to make the important Visitor Guide button stand out.

2. Give a few details

Some users want to know a little more information before they click on something. Keep it brief, but give them a few more details if it fits on your button and looks good.

If you'll look at our buttons on the right, you'll notice that we have the call to action statement in bold type, followed by a short explanation.

3. Don't make it scary

There are some terms that people seem to shy away from. If a web user thinks they're making a long term commitment that will be hard to get out of they're less likely to click it.

Don't say: "Register" or "Sign up"
Instead, say: "Receive Updates" or "Stay Connected"

These friendly terms are more inviting and people are more likely to click on it.

Defy the Bad Guy uses the phrase "Free Safety Tips Newsletter" rather than something like "Sign up to receive our newsletter". After all, who doesn't want to be safe? And who doesn't like free?

4. Keep distractions to a minimum

It's very easy to make a website too cluttered. But by adding a lot of stuff, we end up losing the effectiveness of what we started with.



Sometimes less is more. The Northern Neck Farm Museum keeps their home page very simple to emphasize the buttons on the left to make sure that the important items are easy to see and there are no unnecessary distractions.

5. Use white space

White space, as mentioned in our article on How to Make Your Web Content Look Amazing is the blank or empty space surrounding elements on your web page. White space can really make your call to action button stand out and get noticed.



6. Put it at the top of the page

The "above the fold" principle is what the user sees on their screen without scrolling down. If feasible, put your important call to action buttons "above the fold".

A lot of times it's not practical to put your call to actions at the top. Maybe it's not how you want your website styled, or you have something else at the top that you want to highlight. That's OK...this is just one way to do it.



The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank uses two techniques for their call to action button - positioning it at the top of the page, and high contrast. They have a dark green button on a white background.

7. Give more than just one option

We always want people to "Buy Now" but what if they're not ready? They don't want to "Buy Now", but they do want to "Learn More". Give them the option to do that.

A cautious customer will take baby steps towards the ultimate goal. In baseball, a walk, stolen base and a base hit scores 1 run...same as a 450 foot home run. Let them go at their own pace.



Constant Contact wants people to sign up for their free trial...but maybe people just want to "See how it works".

8. Give the button a "hover" feature

Users like it when a button lights up when they hover the mouse over it. Our buttons on the right do this as well...they turn a slightly brighter yellow. It's just an attractive, simple way to let your users know that it is in fact a button that you can click on.

Creating a good call to action button can really help you reach your website goals. We hope you can incorporate these ideas into your website and improve the effectiveness of your online presence!

Your Website and How to Get Your Point Across

Ever feel like your website just sort of...sits there? It's great to have a website to promote your business but without a specific goal and plan to achieve that goal, you're not going to get much out of it.

Your website may have several goals in mind, but most likely a couple of them are more important than the rest. You don't have to exclude the secondary goals, but SOMETHING has to stand out.

The first thing to do is figure out specifically what it is you want your web visitors to do. Here are some ideas of actions you want your web visitors to take right from your website:

• Request a price quote straight from the website
• Receive online donations via credit card
• Find out about a specific product or service
• Stay updated on local events or attractions
  

OK so you have your goals figured out. How to you get your web visitors to do anything?

Here is the 3 step process to get results on your site:

1. Web user sees something interesting
2. Web user clicks a link to find out more
   
3. You tell them how to take action
   

Web user sees something interesting

So how do you make sure your web user sees something interesting? Here's how - repetition. Don't just mention it once and hope they get the message. You should list it in 3 different places:

1. Main navigation - on our website, the main navigation is the blue menu bar at the very top. Anything important should be accessible through the main navigation.
   
   We utilize the drop down menus for secondary pages and we recommend that you do the same. It makes it much easier on your web users.
   
   
2. Buttons or graphics - we have a couple buttons on the right side of our page that we REALLY want our web users to click on. It's in the menu at the top also, but we repeat it on the side as a button because we want to make sure people visit it.
   
   
3. In the main content area of your text - most people will click on a button like in #2 long before they read the text on your website. But you should still mention important things in the body of your text.

If you emphasize your key points in these 3 places than you your web users should notice it.

Web user clicks a link to find out more

How do you get them to actually click that button? That's another topic by itself, but you need to use a good call to action button. Here's one of our articles that describes how to create a good call to action button.

After your user clicks a call to action button you only have one more step to take.

You tell them how to take action

There are 2 good ways to make a conversion on a website. You want your web visitor to either call you, or fill out a contact form. Make these two options very easy to do. Some people are more likely to fill out a form, others want to call. Give options and keep it simple.

Here's a couple examples of sites which have a nice and simple Contact Us page with phone number and a contact form:

• http://themasterstouchpainting.com/contact/
• http://seashellmotel.org/contact/
• http://www.haleyesgenerators.com/about-us/contact-us

We hope these tips helps you get your point across on your website, and helps give you a more effective online presence.

Don't forget to contact us if you need a free consultation on your website or internet marketing.