Saturday, February 29, 2020
10 Tell-Tale Signs Of A Quality Website
Websites are launched by a gazillion website development companies every second. However, you visit only those that appeal to you functionally and aesthetically. Now, this preference is a function of several parameters, of which 10 are listed below.
1. The website resonates with you - the target audience
A quality website speaks to you in your language. The most successful websites stay away from corporate gobbledygook, and eliminate the fluff like it was plague.
2. It communicates a compelling value proposition
When you arrive on a website, its homepage should compel you to stick around. It's the best place that a business can make an impression on you with its value proposition so that you don't ditch it for its competitor's website. All web design companies should take note of this.
3. Optimised for mobile devices
User centered design is not just a buzzword. It is meant to be practiced. And if you are someone from a web application development agency reading this article, make it a point to constantly remind your team members from here on that almost every Internet user accesses the web from a mobile phone. (there are currently close to 730 million mobile phone users). Moreover, there shouldn't be 'flashy' objects like flash banners, animations, pop-ups or overly complicated elements that obtrude browsing. Less or no dependency on flash objects is a sign of good design thinking.
4. It has clearly defined calls-to-action
The purpose of each page in a website is to get you to navigate through the website and move you further down the funnel. The most usable websites use primary and secondary calls-to-action to direct you to the next logical step. CTAs tell you what to do next so that you don't get overwhelmed or lost. Which is why writers in UX/UI agencies spend time in crafting the most effective CTAs.
5. Answers 'Who I am', 'What I do', 'What can you (the visitor) do here'
A well-known brand or company can get away with not having to describe who it is and what it does. This is solid branding identification. But the reality is that most businesses need to answer these questions so that visitors know that they are in the right place. In his book, Don't Make Me Think, author Steve Krugg clearly states that if visitors can't identify what a business does within seconds, they won't stick around long.
6. Comes with a clear identity
Pay close attention the next time you're surfing the Internet. Watch for sites with logos or titles that are obscure, or a design so cluttered with ads and banners that the pertinent information gets lost. A good website always keeps its identity visible. And it's also brief and concise with its text.
7. Has good navigation
What is GPS to mobile phones, navigation is to a website. Just as homes are easier to find with a good map, web content is easier to find with good navigation. If a website doesn't have it, its competition likely will.
8. Hosts only good content
Good not only means interesting, but also accurate, fresh and well-communicated. Remember, you like everyone else have a short attention span. Hence, a quality website will keep its content clear and succinct, use proper grammar, spell words correctly, will be accurate, relevant, and up-to-date. A good website will also have an up-to-date blog and social media handles - a good go to market strategy.
9. Is secure
A robust website will urge you to use strong passwords for your accounts. Also, if the site is built on a platform like WordPress or Magento, timely updates will help it function better. These periodic updates often address security issues found by other users and developers.
10. It has testimonials
A sincere website will always establish its credibility with the help of testimonials. In today's social world, shoppers increasingly rely on the feedback of others, even if they've never met them. Testimonials from a client or customer feel more genuine than sales copy written by the website owner.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9882529
Friday, February 28, 2020
How To Save A Business Time And Money
If you're an entrepreneur, you wear many hats, at least when your starting out. You're the CEO, CFO and COO, along with the salesman, head of shipping and delivery and the marketing and advertising person. Everything that must be done, you're the one to do it.
And, combined with only so many working hours in a day, it's easy to see why it can be difficult to make any progress with your online business once you reach a certain point.
Once you have set up a business, you need to consider ways you can help it to grow. One of the ways to save a business time and money so it can develop is to put the necessary systems in place to help it run more efficiently.
Dealing with Emails
This might not be such a big problem at first, but as your online business grows, you'll get a lot of people emailing and messaging to ask you questions about your products or services.
Rather than spending a couple of hours every day responding to these and building good relationships with your followers, you can pass the task on to somebody else to complete. Neglecting the messages is never a good solution, since it could give your business a bad reputation.
Website Updates
Starting your own website might not seem very time-consuming at first, but if you're successful and you start to get lots of visitors, you will need to regularly update your website in order to maintain your popularity and keep your followers happy.
Outsourcing allows you to free up your time for important tasks that demand your full attention. Also, it makes it possible for you to get people who are more skilled and knowledgeable than you to complete tasks that take you too long to complete.
Updating Your Social Media Accounts
This is another thing that entrepreneurs should be very involved in, but it can be extremely time-consuming to do all by yourself. As well as making new posts, you need to interact with your followers and let people know about any news or fresh content on your website.
The good news is that it doesn't all need to be done by you! Social scheduling software means you can schedule posts in advance, and virtual assistants can take care of interaction.
Proof Reading
Stop stressing about making small errors in your articles, blog posts and website updates. Seek the services of somebody to proof read everything for you before it's published.
This mean you can still publish content even if writing isn't one of your strong points, and you can save lots of time on checking your spelling and grammar and being g about if you've structured your sentences properly.
If you've been doing everything yourself, you'll quickly find that this is a limiting factor in the growth of your business. Putting systems in place makes things quicker, and it makes it easier to outsource, giving you more time to focus on growth and new ideas.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9934357
Thursday, February 27, 2020
What Is A Website Content Strategy? How To Develop It?
A digital marketing plan is incomplete without incorporating content in it. It shares a common podium with interface design, user experience, SEO, web marketing, content development, and public relations. It basically focuses on the creation, planning, governance, and delivery of content, which not only comprises the words on the web pages but also the usage of multimedia and images. It will help in enhancing the user experience of your website.
Keys To Consider Before Developing The Content Strategy
- A complete knowledge of the website
- Content should be written for the audience to ease their web experience
- It should be plagiarism free and unique
- Channel awareness is essential
- Effective management of publication and creation
- Generate New Leads: Content Marketing helps your business in planning and preparing the reliable and cost-friendly references of the website traffic, which result in generating leads for your venture.
- Enhance Brand Awareness: The staunch source of leads and traffic from your unique content will offer you a dynamic flexibility to experiment with marketing strategies to fetch more revenue in the form of distributed content, sponsored content, and social media advertising. It will help you to attract your targeted audience and increase the brand awareness.
- Set Your Goal: You should have a brief idea about creating a content marketing plan, to never miss out at any point. It will help you to determine the best marketing strategy for your business.
- Know Your Targeted Audience: It is commendable for you to have deep knowledge about your targeted audience, as it will help you to develop more valuable and relevant content. Therefore, you should keep researching about the mood and demands of the users.
- Maintain A Content Management System: It is essential for you to maintain a congruous system for managing your content, as it will help you to govern all your content in just one place. CoSchedule and HubSpot are some options that offer you this facility.
- Generate Innovative Ideas: It is another step to build an evergreen content marketing plan. Writing something with unique and brainstorming ideas helps you to grab the attention of Google. You can utilize content building tools for developing new ideas such as Website Grader, Blog Topic Generator, BuzzSumo, and many more.
- Determine The Format Of Content: It is essential to define the format for which you have to write content, such as Blog posts, eBook, Infographics, Videos, Templates, and Podcasts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9926782
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Pick A Problem You Can Solve?
One of the keys to successful digital product creation is picking a problem you can solve. Too often, many new Internet marketers will choose to create a product they like, but that usually doesn't solve a problem that is currently in the marketplace. As a result, there is no real demand for that product.
The common result in this case is that the person will go to a great deal of time and effort to create his/her product, but when no or few sales comes through, the person becomes disillusioned by the prospect of making a profitable living online, calls it "a scam," and often returns to their dreary job, figuring it's the only way to "make it in the world."
To have an in-demand product, you need to create a product that solves a problem. If this problem is widespread throughout the industry, and you develop an effective solution for it, people from all across the industry will want to get their hands on your item, setting you up for some nice profits. Thus, it is critical that you find a problem you can solve, then develop a solution for it, whether it's an e-book with information of an effective solution for the problem, a software program that can alleviate the problem, a membership site with information and resources that can solve the problem, etc.
You may be wondering, "how do I identify a problem I can solve?" Here, you will need to do some observation and some research. Some of the best ways is to go to your favorite search engine, type in the industry or topic you are interested in along with "+ forums." This should bring up a list of online forums that serve the people in that industry or who deal with that topic. You can go to these forums and read about the current topics and issues being dealt with in that industry. You may have to register at these forums first in order to access some sections of them, but this is not the case at all forums.
If an issue or problem continues to be brought up by several members of a forum, chances are that this is a problem you can build a product around in an effort to solve or alleviate it. This is a problem that is demanding a solution, and you have the opportunity to provide that solution and make good profits by doing it, plus build your reputation as a problem solver and solution creator.
You can also read about various topics and information in online newsletters, magazines, and ezines related to your industry to find potential problems that you can build a product around. Oftentimes, there are statistics in publications regarding common problems people in an industry are facing; if the statistics indicate a great deal of people are struggling with that same problem or issue, you have a potential product idea to build around.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9918938
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Internet Trends
The contemporary society has become a global room at such a rapid pace. Technology has successfully broken down the wall of distance in the dissemination of information. Before now, it would have been a very long rigorous process for me writing this and getting it typed using some manual sluggish typewriter that could take hours. But thanks to technology for saving me the stress.
The internet has become a networking zone. A meeting place for socialization and business. As a matter of fact, the easiest way to sell or market a product is through online marketing. In a few minutes you will be reaching to thousands of potential consumers with little or no stress. Virtually seven out of ten have constant access to the internet, either through laptops or cell phones.
With the aid of internet, dissemination of information spreads like wild fire across regions. This brings to the awareness of the general public events and issues happening around them. Some of these issues are of great interest either by their delightful or controversial tone as perceived by the public. Either ways, they become trending online, generating highest traffic for bloggers and on top of the chart for journalists.
Internet trends are products of perception. What people perceive an issue to be determines their reactions towards it. So internet trends can be subjective to an individual society. Issues relating to same-sex marriage would not trend in an European society as much as it will trend in an African society. Reason being because of the different perception of both societies on the subject matter. However there are global trends that cut across societies.
One feature of trends is duration. Every trend has a time span after which it becomes faded and stale. The length depends on how much traffic it generates online which is determined by comments and discussions about the issue.
By and large internet trends can serve as opinion poll. They portray people's views, mindset and understanding about the issue at hand. Asides from generating dollars for bloggers and site owners, internet trends are statistical analysis. Not only does it show people's opinion, it also gathers data on statistics of number of comments either positive or negative on each issue. Internet trends can serve as tools for random sampling for a research purpose. Interesting to also mention the less-cost dimension of internet trends. It is easy and faster to a larger audience.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9926728
Monday, February 24, 2020
Webinars - A Guide to Creating The Perfect Webinars
With the ever-increasing technology in today's world, the demand for high speed information is at an all-time high, and along with this, the modes of information delivery are also increasing a lot more. With this increase has come a powerful new medium known as Webinars. The term for a Webinar is a "Web Seminar", which a live-streamed video conference that can be used for businesses and their employees over long distances, which can also be used for online video interviews and related services. Businesses that use this tool can boost productivity and efficiency, as it can cut down travel time and costs and allow issues and tasks to be solved quickly. In this guide, we will explain exactly what needs to be used to make a webinar work correctly, allowing you to break out into the crowd.
As stated above, a webinar is a tool used for live conferencing. This is not just limited to business meetings, but can also extend to business interviews, school and college interviews, marketing a product and even general Q&A's. However, using this tool can prove to be difficult for those who have no general idea where to start from, and with little to no experience, things could lead to be sloppy and unappealing for viewers which can lower traffic and interest. In order to make sure the experience is a pleasurable one, you will need to know a number of things that will help you expand your knowledge in the field of webinars. In this entry, we will be focusing on a specific aspect of webinars, which is marketing a product, item, or service to a particular audience or demographic.
As a first, arguably the most important aspect of hosting a Webinar is the equipment being used. It should be obvious, but a lot of people will quickly lose interest if the video quality is poor, as viewers will not want to spend their time trying to figure out what exactly it is they're looking at, quickly prompting them to be annoyed. The next item that may lead them to be just as disgruntled is the general audio quality. If the audio is choppy and inaudible, it will most likely render them unable to hear the opposing party, causing issues and possibly resulting in miscommunication. These issues can usually be resolved by simply acquiring a faster internet connection, as these can be the result of poor connection between both ends. However, if the issue still persists after this, it is more often than not a result of low-quality equipment, and it may be wise to invest in an external microphone and a High Definition camera.
Next, maintain a connection. When it comes to creating webinars, you are constantly competing for someone's attention. This is why it's important to make sure your content is both relevant to what the viewer is looking for, and just as important to make the webinars fun and entertaining as to make sure you keep the potential customer hooked in. On average, a general video viewers attention span only lasts ten minutes in, however with marketing webinars, it is an even smaller window. On average, you have only ten seconds hook in a viewer's attention and maintain it, as more often than not, if this attention is not held they will simply move on to the next appealing product that is being offered. This first ten seconds is crucial and critical. Start out with a relevant and relate-able joke, as a humorous tone will help draw in a viewer.
Finally, learn to keep it real. As stated in the previous entry, it can pay off to maintain a connection and relate with your viewers. This is to make sure you can hook in as much potential customers as possible. The more viewers there are, the more attention your webinars will draw, in turn, bringing even more viewers and creating an upward spiral of success. A good way to do this is being your webinars by introducing yourself with a real life story that will help our viewers to relate to you. By doing this, it shows that you are also a real and relate-able person, prompting viewers to be even more interested in your offers. You can also use the advantage of analytics as a tool. By inputting real life statistics into your webinars, this shows your viewers that you aren't simply trying to sell than item, but you are showing them a crowd of other customers that also believe they need this item. This can trigger a response in your viewers that lead them to be even more interested.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9945439
Sunday, February 23, 2020
How To Look Professional Online
There are billions of people who are using internet for professional purposes. It is called online reputation management. No matter what field of work you are in, online content is powerful in making and marring the image of a person. Though no specific rules define professional behavior online but it is advisable to follow some basic steps in order to look more like an expert and less like an amateur. Here is a guide to help you put your best foot forward on the Web-
The best stands out
The internet does not filter out items you don't want other people to see. If somebody key in your name into Google then it will deliver the most relevant results. So, load the web with professional content that reflects well on your name.
Maintain your reputation
Your privacy and reputation should be taken care of. This process is time consuming but try to dedicate some time to find out and remove dubious content. For e.g. If your friend an objectionable photo on Facebook, try and remove the tag yourself. Make sure, no questionable content should be available related to you on web. Though it is virtually impossible to entirely remove the content once published online but your best option is to keep negative materials from ever hitting the web at the first place.
Protect personal information
Protecting password and other vital information is of supreme importance on the web. If anyone gets access to your account, it may ruin things beyond repair. People get victims of identity theft, sometimes financial resources get stolen and other times computers are hacked. So, the password should not be easy-to-guess thing. Keep on monitoring all accounts on daily basis.
Branding is must
Maintaining online reputation is not just being safe about your data but think of your online reputation as a product that needs to be marketed continuously. Creating a business fan page on Facebook, joining professional sites like LinkedIn, writing a blog are some of the effective ways to manage your professional presence. It will be great if colleagues and clients review your services or goods. Honest reviews are powerful. Never forget smart web surfers can quickly spot fake reviews. Try to be consistent with messages and profiles. While writing content, make sure you use the same logos, slogan and even fonts. When anybody offers criticism, respond amicably and figure out the solution to solve the problem.
Cash your expertise
It is important to be online to pump up your reputation in unlimited ways. There is no better way to present yourself as a well-rounded, trustworthy professional than blogging about a topic that interest you. This initiative will help you establish as an expert on a relevant subject. Even you are not among world's top experts but putting a thought and value into online content is always appreciated.
The internet memory is accurate
Internet never forgets. If you put write anything online, it is there forever. So be cautious and vigilant what you are feeding it. Not everyone is happy with the internet's long memory but your vigilance is your best protection.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9964640
Saturday, February 22, 2020
6 Easy Ways To Improve The Credibility Of Your Website
Website credibility is a key factor that no small business owner can realistically afford to ignore as it affects sales and customer engagement.
Without a reliable, credible website your ability to:
- Maximise your sales.
- Effectively interact with your customers.
- Communicate your value to prospective customers,
Think about your own experiences shopping online. What are some of the key reasons you have abandoned an online shopping cart?
- The website payment gateway wasn't secure.
- Postage or shipping charges where not disclosed till near the end of the transaction and were too expensive.
- No physical address that you could easily find on the website.
- Customer service phone numbers and email addresses where difficult to find.
- The website 'returns policy' was non existent or difficult to find.
- The above are just a few reasons why web visitors might abandon a shopping cart. If a prospective customer doesn't think that they are dealing with a professional, trustworthy, service provider, the chances are they won't complete the online transaction.
How to boost your website credibility
1. Easy to access customer service
Make sure it's easy for people to get in touch with you via your website. Remember customers like to have customer support options. For example:
- Phone support
- Email support
- Live web chat
2. Include your contact details
Put your contact details on your website. Sounds simple right? You would be surprised how many websites don't! At a minimum you should include your phone, email, and a physical address even if it is a PO Box. Often when we can't find contact information on a website we immediately wonder whether they are hiding something or why are they withholding this information.
Links to social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or Instagram are also helpful in building credibility as they show that the business is trading and promoting itself on several platforms.
3. Reviews and customer testimonials
Google reviews, Facebook reviews and customer testimonials all help to create an increased level of social proof. This helps build credibility for your brand and your website. If you haven't added these social icons to your website I suggest you do.
4. Logos and security badges
Are you an accredited service provider? Do you have a CPA qualification or perhaps another well recognised qualification? If so, make sure you add these logos to your website. Including logos of well known institutes or industry bodies can help boost the credibility of your website.
If you run a product based business and sell online, security badges can be very useful too. If customers know that their online transactions are going to be secure they are more likely to provide their credit card details.
5. Articles and press
Don't underestimate the power of print media. Articles, editorials or mentions in the press are another great way to build your brand and create online credibility. Add these articles or add a link to them on your website. If there are some great images used in the article, share these on your website too, which again helps to build the profile of your business.
6. About Us page
An informative "About Us" page listing credentials and experience is also a great way to boost credibility. After the "Home page" the "About us" page on a website is one of the most visited pages. Therefore, if yours could do with an update, go for it.
Take Action - most are easy to implement
Most of all, many of the suggestions above are easy to implement so take a moment to review your website and evaluate if there are any opportunities to improve it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9954997
Friday, February 21, 2020
Setting Goals For Your Online Business
The need for goals
Reaching our goals helps us to believe in ourselves and setting goals is a great way to fuel our ambitions. It isn't just about creating a plan for our success in life, it's also to give us the inspiration we need to reach out and reap more than we ever thought possible. Goals focus our acquiring of knowledge and help us to set our time and resources in an order to get the very best for our situations.
In this article we'll discuss:
- Guidance in your niche selection
- What are niche goal projections and outcomes?
- Are you busy or productive
- Ninja productivity hack revealed
- Video - Goal projections and outcomes
What do you like to do? What are your habits, hobbies, or passions? There are a number of niche choices within any main topic when you break it down.
An example could be Baseball which is a very broad term with lots of competition. If we break that down there are many niche selections to choose from within that keyword: baseball teams, major or minor league, kids, uniforms, statistics, jerseys, caps, equipment, collectables, magazines, etc.
All of these baseball niche can be fine selections to build a website around and can be quite profitable. I have an entrepreneur friend that has a number of sites, one of which is a website about football snack helmets, which has been doing well for a few years now.
What are niche goal projections and outcomes?
A projected outcome of your goals within your chosen niche.
Niche - The topic or category that you've chosen for your site.
Goal - The end result that you are seeking.
Projection - An estimation of when the end result will occur,
for example:
- First commission sale within 30 days.
- First page ranking with my targeted keyword within 30 days.
What exactly are you going to do to reach your goal? Or what are you willing to give up in exchange for the desired goal? Maybe turn off the TV for a few hours each day, or trade in some wasted time for, that same time being spent to reach your goals.
The law of sowing and reaping
There is a time for sowing and a time for reaping. The time spent sowing, or creating the business can be for years depending on the project and the desired result. Once the sowing time is up, the reaping time can start and be indefinite.
There are many tasks that need to be done with any set goal and each one takes time and effort to complete. I've heard that "excellence is a commitment to completion", so we need to be good finishers of each task and reach our goals.
The time spent sowing can be less depending on the effort given to it. If we sow little we will reap little also. If we are building a website and posting to it once a week it will take quite a while longer to reach our goals of filling it up with quality content, as opposed to posting 3-4 times per week.
Are you busy or productive?
The definition for:
Busy - actively involved in doing something, or having a lot of things to do.
Productive - achieving or producing a significant amount or result.
Are we busy doing many things without a proper order or timely, continuous task completion?
Example: spending hours on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and also additional hours on other things without making posting quality content for our viewers our #1 priority.
It's easy at times to get involved or over-involved in a project that ends up taking a lot more time than we thought but aside from that we'll be more productive and reach our goals quicker if we properly structure our time and always make posting fresh quality content a priority.
Create clear niche images
We need to do some internal and external research and visually see some other website businesses within our niche. This will give a look at how the other niche sites are presenting themselves and their products. The internal research is making a list, over a couple or few days, of things that we love to do, or what are we passionate about. It's best to select a niche that you would like to spend a lot of time and energy on, not one that you'll get bored with or become disinterested with. We can also choose to create a nice affiliate website setup to inform about and promote products, or have a non-profit or personal site (.org). Many website owners have multiple sites.
Create a vision board
Do you have any wall space at home to devote to a vision board? They're great to increase motivation and energize your efforts as you pursue goals.
Take a nice area of wall space and fill it up with goal related images and headlines and pictures that inspire every time you look at it. See, visualize, and feel the goal being reached as you look at the board and are inspired to move forward and achieve. Keep on adding and replacing inspiring images and text to keep it fresh, in sight and also in your mind.
Websites like Pinterest are great for creating vision boards and one can create as many boards as they want for fun, or to keep private.
Ninja Productivity Tip
I guess it doesn't matter what type of business that you are promoting but all have dozens of tasks that need to be done continually and properly. Many have multiple internet businesses and always have a list of things that need to be done asap. Well here's a great tip I've used and recommend to you.
Plan ahead and:
- Remove all distractions or find a place where you can be uninterrupted.
- Choose only one thing to focus on completely for an hour and set a timer.
- Stop when the timer goes off and leave it for the next time. Don't think about it anymore.
- Take a short walk or take a non-sitting break, unless you've been using a standing desk. Lying flat on your back might feel good too.
- Start the next task and repeat the process.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9968498
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