Blog

Excuse Me, I think You Forgot Your Website

August 31, 2010 by Jeune Ortiz

It seems unlikely that a website would be forgotten. After all, when it was being developed it took hours of your time to write the copy, it took weeks to develop, and the launch had so much anticipation that a day felt like a month. Your new website was all you could think about! Then it launched, your fans cheered, and you went back to your real job.

Did you forget about your website?

Your new website held so much promise, but it’s hard to keep up with when you have so many other things you have to take care of in a day. But your old website is still being found by your prospective customers, and it still has a lot to say. Here are the three most common signs that a website has been left behind.

Old News

As  web designers, we’ve seen our share of forgotten websites. They reveal themselves with signs of neglect such as outdated news and information, discontinued products or a “Happy New Year” message that’s still there in February.

Links to Nowhere

Other signs of neglect include “links to nowhere.” Broken links throughout your website send a bad message to visitors about your company’s professionalism. Resources pages are the biggest offenders, because their sole purpose is to provide a list of links to helpful information for visitors.

Forgotten Blogs

Blogs are a wonderful way to educate and communicate with customers and prospects on a regular basis. Blogs also enhance the impact of your SEO strategy, because search engines reward websites that regularly add fresh content.

The problem with having a blog is the reality of keeping it up to date. If the last blog entry on your site was posted six months ago, that doesn’t say much about the dynamic nature of your company.

Two Ways to Keep your Website Young

If you need a fool-proof way to maintain your site and keep it up to date, please contact future-ink to discuss our Website Maintenance Services. If you don’t have the time or resources to update your blog regularly, talk to us about our Blog Writing Services.  As one of the top San Diego web designers, we have the expertise to keep your website humming and operating at top performance.

Category: Web Design

This One Thing Can Dramatically Increase Your Email Open Rate

August 30, 2010 by Jeune Ortiz

Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to market your company and wring out more sales from your existing client base. However, when it comes to using email, you’re not the only one vying for your prospect’s valuable time.

Like it or not, SPAM has changed how we sort through email. But when you get your “From Address”  right, your email has a greater chance of being opened.

The Humble and Overlooked “From Address”

You may not give this area of the email much thought, but it is the number one column that gets scanned to determine the email’s importance. In fact, the from address drives 65% of all opens!

Get it Right

Make it Recognizable

The From Address is easy to sort because we look for names that are familiar, then business or group names that we recognize.When you’re putting your email together, consider who will be receiving the message and whether or not your first name or business name will be most recognizable.

Display Names VS Email Address

In many email programs there is an option to use a display name instead of the email address. If you go this route, your domain name won’t show, so it’s important that you have something in the display that will be easily recognized. Here’s an example:

Stephanie Jackson would not be a name I immediately recognize, but UBC is. Next I’ll look at the subject line for more clarity. Before you use a personal email address or display name determine whether the person’s name is at least as recognizable as the brand.

Consider Truncation

Sure, putting the date and volume of your newsletter is nice for you to reference. But if your recipient keeps the from column narrow, all your recognition may go out the door. Here’s an example:

This would be better:

Not only is the company name easy to see even with the rest of it hidden, but the subject line is compelling.

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Category: Email Marketing

6 Best Website Redesign Tips

August 27, 2010 by Jeune Ortiz

When you’re looking to redesign your website there are a lot of things to take into consideration. One of your primary concerns is that your new website has a positive impact on your business. This list will detail the changes that need to be made so that you can ensure your new site works hard to bring you new customers.

1. Have a Primary Goal

When you know what goal you’re working toward, functionality and layout are easier to determine. Make sure your goal is trackable and quantifiable. By using real numbers, you can find out how your new site is performing.

2. Big Flash is Out

Flash animations may catch the eye of your users the first time, but after that they are annoying and can slow your download time. (Google gives big points to sites that don’t make users wait.) Nowadays there are options that will make your Flash animations load quickly and work on devices like iPads and mobile devices.

3. Inventory Your Assets

Your old site has valuable content, keywords, and search ranking. If your web designer doesn’t know what they’re doing, these things can easily be lost, which will have a negative impact on your new site.

4. Write Great Content

People don’t read your website. They skim the content looking for headlines and subheads that will give them an idea of what the page is about. Content writing is best left to copywriters who understand how to persuade a visitor to read the information, while still providing the search engines with lots of great keywords. If you choose to take this task on, break up the content into many headings, and remember to use your keywords in them.

5. Have a Marketing Plan

Your site should have a marketing plan that can be implemented during the redesign. You’ll want to have these elements: Lead generation, lead capture, and a plan for continued contact with the leads you generate.

6. Hire a Professional Web Design Firm

It’s tempting to use a friend or relative to reduce the cost of your website design costs. However, unless their full-time  job is to design and develop websites, your project will no doubt take a backseat to the rest of their life. There are many nuances to developing a website that can negatively impact your rankings and overall results if not done right. If you’d like to start your web redesign, call us for a free estimate or you can get an estimate online.

Category: Web Design