We love helping our clients – or aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners who aren’t even our clients – to be successful online. So, this article is here to showcase some interesting trends we’re seeing in responsive web design for 2023. Let’s dive in.

1. Website Headers Filling the Full Page

Using a website header that fills the entire page – width and height-wise – is a popular and super versatile website design trend that we expect to see continue being used in a lot of creative ways. From a basic version of this with large text and a button left or center aligned, to more creative versions such as with a transparent overlapping menu over a beautiful picture and dynamic elements with animation, there are a lot of very interesting design paths you can go down within this concept.

2. Use of Organic Shapes in Backgrounds or Elements

Use of shapes within page background is a great way to spice up the design of a page and make it eye-catching without distracting too much from the actual purpose of the page – the content directed at the user. For a while, geometric shapes dominated across the web, but lately organic shapes such as subtle round objects or flowing curves have become more popular.

3. Speed and Mobile Optimization Are King

With the majority of browsing now coming from mobile and users being used to instant gratification like the instant and endless scroll of social media and the expectation produced by the page speed performance of other website, people expect a website to load quickly and be easy to use on a mobile phone. Simply put, if your website is too slow or doesn’t function well on mobile devices, you’re very likely to lose business.

4. Live Chat and Chatbots

While website chat isn’t a new thing, it’s continued to greatly evolve over the last several years, with AI coming into the picture quite a bit and the technology for integrating chatbots and live chat into webpages has leveled up extensively. It’s now possible to create super fast, super streamlined chat experiences that users don’t have to leave the page for – and the benefits of this for lead generation and customer service are huge. Now with things like ChatGPT hitting the internet, we’re expecting to see very powerful chat functionality continue to become a bigger and bigger trend.

5. Micro Interactions

You know those tiny little animations you see on some websites and apps? Like, for example, when you mouse over a small icon and it spins or a button gets a tiny bit bigger when you mouse over it. That’s a micro interaction – just a fun little addition to your experience with the website or app that can also help guide them in what actions are available to them, and in turn can make your website a little bit easier to use.

6. Accessibility Options

Accessibility is not only a matter of wanting to make your website (and therefore your brand, products, services…) accessible to as many people as possible. It’s also, in some cases, a legal concern. This inclusive element of the internet is beyond a trend, and ultimately it’s in most website owner’s benefit as it can have a positive impact on things like SEO, traffic and conversions. As a result, we’ve seen a large trend towards the use of designs made with accessibility in mind. There are even some great tools out there now (such as WAVE) that use tech to assess your website and determine what things should be fixed to improve your website’s accessibility. For reference though, here are some things that help with website accessibility:

• Ensuring you’re setup alt tags for all your images made to describe the image in a helpful way to people who can’t see the image of its context.
• Including indicators to help focus important parts of the content such as links.
• Utilizing strong contrast between the text color and background color.

7. Scrolling Effects

There are many different types of scrolling effects, and we’ve been seeing more and more creative uses of this design trend. Scrolling trends include things like the popular Parallax effect which can make it look like a full-width background image is slowly scrolling by underneath the other elements and neighboring content sections, or animations on the page that are triggered by scrolling. These types of things make the design more engaging and in turn can increase the amount of time spent on your website.

7. Minimalism / Simplicity

A lot of what people consider “modern” or “sleek” these days when it comes to websites involves minimalism and simplicity – high-end but barebones graphical elements, clean typography, a basic color palette (think lots of white or black), and a super efficient user experience. With even a lot of major brands leaning into the minimalistic approach to their brand design and websites, we expect to continue seeing minimalistic web design to grow in popularity in 2023.

8. Artificial Intelligence and Dynamic Content

A great user experience on a website means being able to reach to your desired goal as fast as possible. Think about online chat when needing support from a large company, or using a personalized dashboard to understand and manage an account with a company. Things like dynamic content – where the website is coded to display content dynamically based on things like the user’s browser, location, user/account information (if they’re logged in) – and artificial intelligence will continue to push website efficiency and user experience to new levels this year.

9. Dark Mode

Dark mode – yes, kind of like the default for old computers back in the day – is making its comeback in the digital world. It’s not only easier on the eyes and makes it easier to focus on the contents of a page, but when used the right way can give a website a super sleek and modern look. It also affords the designer the ability to more easily direct user’s attention within the page because it’s easy to make things pop out of that dark space if you want to.

Conclusion

So, to break it down, the big takeaways from this would be that websites this year will continue pushing in the direction of clean, efficient, and engaging through the use of things like animations, AI, and minimalism/simplicity.

Ready to refresh your site, or have a company that doesn’t even have a website that you’re ready to give a beautiful home online? Our Denver responsive web design team is here to make it happen. Call us at (720) 507-9114 or email us at info@embermethod.com today.

The post Trends in Responsive Web Design for 2023 appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

There is no fool-proof “best way” to drive traffic to a website. The effectiveness of each individual strategy for your business will depend on the industry and your target market. In this article we’ll give an overview of some of the most effective ways to drive free website traffic in general. We’ll also discuss some paid approaches to help when you’re just getting started or push traffic to the extreme when you’re already doing well. Most of these methods could warrant a lengthy, dedicated blog post in their own right, so this article will just provide a basic overview. Hopefully after reading this, you’ll know where to spend time digging in deeper. Let’s get into it!

Strategies For Free Targeted Website Traffic

When it comes to “free website traffic”, that really just means you don’t have to spend hard money to drive traffic to your website. That said, there’s still a definite time investment involved. Depending on your stage of business and level of expertise, some of these strategies may actually be better to hire out.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Millions of searches are conducted every day on Google. In fact, the majority of people with internet access worldwide use Google at least one time per day. Unlike paid advertising, organic search results have a high level of trust and account for the vast majority of website traffic. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website and its content to rank as high as possible in those organic search results.

Let’s put it in basic terms. You go to Google and search something like “plumbers near me” or “plumbers in Denver”. You’ll get more results than you could possibly know what to do with, and you likely won’t get past the first couple pages of results. And that’s if you even get past the first page.

Now, think about if your plumbing business was one of the first results to show up for anyone searching those high-intent queries. That equals big traffic, and that means tons of business opportunities. Apply that to any kind of business and you can see the immense value of SEO. It basically means taking strategic action to tap into the intent-driven searches that are occurring all the time related to your products or services.

It sounds perfect, but SEO is no walk in the park or immediate solution. A solid SEO strategy can realistically take 6–12 months to really start delivering enough traffic to expect consistent leads/sales from. But, once you get to that point it’s like the gift that keeps on giving.

SEO Stoke Tips:

• Conduct keyword research to best optimize the content on your website and find good, relevant topics to write fresh content about.
• Consistently write, publish and promote high-quality content that provides valuable information and/or solutions to your target audience.
• Pursue opportunities for quality links back to your website content. (See below)

Backlinks

Backlinks are historically something of a hallowed subject in relation to SEO and driving website traffic. In simplest terms, they’re just links to your website from other websites. They’re traditionally a huge focus for SEO marketers, because the number of backlinks to your website was one of the most important factors for SEO.

Today, they’re still crucial. But, a focus on quality has taken over. In the past, many employed black-hat techniques to skyrocket the number of backlinks to their website, many of which were spammy “link buying” services or fake websites. Today, backlinks are still of huge importance, but spammy links can actually hurt you more than they help. Google’s algorithm really looks for backlinks from high-quality, authoritative websites.

And that’s not to mention the simple possibility of direct traffic thanks to those links, regardless of their SEO impact. For example, if you landed a great guest blog posting opportunity with a high-authority blog, the possible clicks from that post to your website are of just as much if not more value than the impact it could have on your SEO.

Backlink Stoke Tips:

• Save some of your best, most valuable content. Search for high-authority blogs related to your niche and target audience, and reach out about guest posting your great content on their blog. Make sure to include relevant links to other resources where relevant, as well as a link somewhere in the content or author section of the post.
• Seek expert influencers in your niche or target market and work to build relationships with them. Feature their expertise in a strong piece of content on your website and they’re likely to share it on their social media and possibly link to it from their own website.
• Search for and answer questions relevant to your market and expertise on Quora. Where it’s relevant and natural, include links back to content on your website.

Content Marketing

Writing good blog posts and in general offering quality, useful content that’s of value to your target market is of utmost importance. It not only helps your SEO efforts and backlink opportunities but will also provide you with engaging content to promote and drive people to your website. Promoting the content is key here!

Ultimately, the purpose of your website (and business) should always be to fulfill user intent. In other words, solve a problem. That means providing true value to your target audience. This hits two birds with one stone: you establish your expertise and build trust with prospects around that expertise. If and when the time comes that they need what you offer, you might be forefront in their brain because of the valuable solutions or information you’ve provided in the past.

In short, writing and properly promoting high-quality content that’s of interest and value to your target market is a surefire way to boost SEO, drive traffic and increase engagement.

Content Stoke Tips:

• Consider what unique expertise you may have that would be highly valuable to your target market. What problems do you offer unique, high-value solutions for? How can you go ahead and help your target audience while also positioning your services or products in a place to further help them? What questions are your prospects seeking answers to? Write about it. Or, better yet, make a video about it.
• Create and consistently utilize an email funnel. Have a simple opt-in available on your website. Use special offers and free value to drive more opt-ins. Run a regular email campaign to continue building your relationship and trust with those prospects.
• Use social media strategy (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc) to get your content in front of your target audience and drive engagement.

Social Presence

In general, you should be active on the social platforms that are most used by your target market. Post interesting, relevant content (not necessarily just your own!), build a brand personality and connect and engage with anyone that might have relevance to your business. Of course, make sure all your social profiles have a bio link to your website.

This is a great way to promote the stellar content you’re putting out. You can use quality content and a social media strategy to build relationships and drive awareness of your brand. It’s also where you express who you are as a brand and continually express your Unique Value Proposition. And on top of all that, it gives you what marketers call “social proof.” Having a relevant, high-quality and consistent presence on social media makes you appear more real and trustworthy.

So, get out there and engage with your target audience on social media. With a good strategy, you’re sure to generate some traffic and awareness via social media efforts.

Social Media Stoke Tips:

• On platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, join groups relevant to your niche and target market. Post valuable content, comment with added insight and generally engage with the other members on a regular basis.
• On platforms like Twitter and Instagram, do hashtag research and use hashtags set for every post where it’s relevant.
• Create a separate content plan for reach platform and for platforms like Twitter and Instagram post at least once a day at the same time.

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is, of course, one of the oldest and most effective marketing techniques out there. This works two-fold. First, if people have had some direct interaction with or referral to your brand, they’re far more likely to seek out your website and dig deeper. Second, once someone has heard about a business, most will go online to look into it before making any kind of purchasing decision. Think, for example, if a friend tells you about a great restaurant they ate at. Are you more likely to just head on over there, or are you going to go online and look at their menu?

As far as taking an active approach to word of mouth marketing, there are plenty of methods. Ultimately, the word of mouth approach involves using grassroots networking to drive awareness and engagement with your website and business.

Word-of-Mouth Stoke Tips:

• Tap into your existing network- let them know what you’re up to and what you’re offering. Tell them about your new website and encourage them to check it out, or even link to it themselves.
• Drop your website link on professional business cards and look for any decent opportunity to get them out there.
• Attend conferences, meetups / networking groups, and other business functions.

Directories, Citations and Listings

There are plenty of places online that people go to seek products and services aside from the standard search engines. From the classic online Yellowpages to things like Yelp and Homeadvisor, you can find relevant directories, aggregators and general resource-based websites for any niche. It’s a great way to get your business on the digital map, drive awareness and possibly even gain some backlinks.

Obviously, this can be pretty industry specific, but look for other websites that aggregate businesses like yours. Aside from Google search, what methods might your target audience use to search for businesses like yours? This can be especially important for local service-area businesses – get consistent, accurate NAP (name, address, phone number) listed in as many relevant directories as you can. Comprehensive, consistent NAP can also be a big help on the SEO front, aside from the actual direct traffic it might bring.

Citation Stoke Tips:

• Look for review aggregator directories that list business’s information and user ratings. Think things like Yelp, Google My Business, Homeadvisor, etc.
• Seek professional business directories relevant to your niche. E.g. BBB; your local small business chamber of commerce; organizations that provide licensing, certification, accreditation, etc.

Paid Website Traffic

Maybe you’re just starting out and don’t have the momentum or time to solely rely on free website traffic strategies. Or, maybe you’re already out there crushing it but know a little investment could drive even more sales. Either way, there’s a time and method to buying website traffic. Whether this means Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads… these are surefire ways to get your content in front of a highly targeted audience and drive traffic to your website.

Google Ads

Google Ads essentially give you the ability to buy your way to the top of Google’s search results. In the vast majority cases Google Ads are run on a pay-per-click (PPC) setup, meaning you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. Given the right circumstances, Google Ads (AKA search engine marketing) can mean huge ROI. Pump some money into the right ad setup with a properly optimized conversion funnel and you could see your ad spend turn into a lot of revenue.

The amazing thing about Google Ads is how intent-driven it is. When you setup a campaign, you select specific key terms and phrases to bid on with your ads. For example, you could target “plumbers in Denver” (or any location), and only people searching things like that will get served your ads. So, you’re really only exposing your ad to people who are actually showing warm interest in what you offer.

All of that said, what you pay per click varies greatly by industry and keyword. A bad campaign can run up ad spend quickly without much return, so properly optimizing your campaign is of crucial importance to your budget and ROI. That means serving the right ad messaging, driving traffic to a landing page that will convert well, and bidding on the right keywords.

Google Ads Stoke Tips:

• Utilize a tool like Google’s Keyword Planner to find good key terms to bid on. Tools like this will provide data like average monthly search volume, competition level and average cost per click.
• Create multiple ads and ad sets so you have more samples from which to optimize the messaging for the highest conversion rate.
• Make sure Google Analytics is integrated on your website and with Google Ads so that you can track the effectiveness of ads and optimize your website for conversion.

Facebook Ads

Similar to Google Ads, you can run advertising campaigns from your Facebook business page based on cost-per-click or cost-per-impression pricing. Facebook Ads, while different than Google in a few important ways, can be a very powerful marketing tool in their own right. The key here is consumer targeting. Facebook has built up so much data over the years, which they let you tap into with Facebook Ads. You can drill down your audience based on all kinds of demographic and interest data. Or, you even can run powerful retargeting campaigns based on an existing email list.

Whatever approach you use, as long as you’re strategic and specific about your targeting and funnel, you can drive tons of relevant traffic and sales with Facebook. Obviously, Facebook is more of a “fun” social network than business, and is very content driven. Unlike Google Ads where you’re targeting intent-driven searches, Facebook ads should be more centered around promoting content that will catch people’s attention as they scroll through their feed and lead them to take some kind of action. For these reasons, Facebook Ads are generally better for B2C than B2B, although it can absolutely work great in either scenario.

Facebook Ads Stoke Tips:

• If you don’t have them already, create Buyer Personas. Build custom audiences in Facebook Ads based on each buyer persona.
• Promote content that’s user-focused and with a specific funnel in mind. Again, utilize buyer personas here to strategize your content.
• If you have a solid email subscriber list, experiment with making custom audiences from that.

Conclusion

There are plenty of sound methods to drive traffic to your website, both free and paid. What will work best for you depends on a number of factors including your business model, what you sell, what market you’re operating in, and what kind of budget and timeline you’re working with. Most of the time, the best overall strategy for increasing traffic to your website includes a mixture of multiple methods.

Want to learn more about one of these methods or need help setting up a successful strategy? Get in touch today, read our other insights or check out our Digital Marketing and SEO info pages.

The post How to Drive Traffic To Your Website appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

The thing is, we really just want to see awesome businesses succeed. We’re in love with results, and that’s the nature of our business. And while we’d love to have every business as a client, we know that not all business is the right business for us (or vice versa). Sometimes a DIY small business website is the better answer to get your business started or to grow into the next stage.

Disclaimer: We do sell websites. But, we’re not out here trying to sell people on services that they can’t afford or won’t provide the best all-around solution for their business growth at this moment. Again, we really just want you to succeed. So, we figured we’d provide some information to help you narrow down what the right solution is. And, if hiring a professional happens to be that solution, please do get in touch! Either way, we’re here to help you grow your business. And when it comes to succeeding in todays world, one thing is for sure…

Your business needs a website. So, what’s the best solution?

These days it’s crucial to have a professional digital footprint, which means having a website. For small and medium-sized businesses it’s also crucial to make effective use of your marketing budget. When it comes time to setup or redesign your small business website, there are a lot of things to consider. Foremost among them is whether to hire a professional web designer or make your own website.

Drag and drop website builders like Wix and Squarespace have made it easy for small business owners to make a solid website. But going DIY also means risking a website that doesn’t perform for your goals, gives a terrible impression of your business or simply takes too long to get up to snuff (AKA lost revenue). In short, both have their advantages and disadvantages. The right answer is different for every business and depends on a number of factors. In this article, we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of each approach. Then, we’ll compare website builders and provide tips for choosing a web design company. By the end, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to act upon whatever you decide is best for your business.

Pros and Cons: Make Your Own Website vs. Hire a Web Design Professional

Depending on the type of business and the stage you’re in, sometimes it makes more sense to build your own small business website. Other times it’s better to invest in a professional web designer. Here are the things you should consider.

Overall Business & Marketing Strategy

Let’s clear something up first. Building a website and publishing it on the internet does not equate to business success. A business website is an investment, but not a “silo” investment. Many think they can put an incredible website online and leads and sales will magically start to flow in. This leaves out other crucial aspects of marketing such as promoting to build awareness, capturing leads, and driving conversions.

They say “if you build it they will come.” But, it really doesn’t work that way with websites. How will people come if they don’t know it exists? Even if they do know it exists, why bother checking it out unless there’s a good value proposition? In other words, the success of a website depends on having a killer product or service that’s properly marketed. Think about things like product development (are you solving a problem?), search engine optimization, paid advertising, optimizing conversions and sales funnels. These things all cost money.

So, where do you need to be investing your marketing budget? If you spend it all on an amazing website and have nothing left for other marketing, that killer website might still fail to meet your business goals. On the flip side, if you start out with a website design that’s good enough then focus on other aspects, you could be better off. Then, when your business is thriving, you can reinvest some revenue in a website that will maximize on what’s working.

On the other hand, there are many other cases in which building your own website could be a recipe for a failed business. You always want to appear professional, and a bad design can kill you first impression and hurt your business. Need custom app integrations? A customer portal? Payment processing or a product-centric setup? Even if you simply need a lot of content or a specific, custom design built to drive prospects through a certain funnel… it’s probably best to hire a professional.

Ultimately it comes down to the role your website plays in the marketing of your current business stage. Are you capable of providing that yourself or will going DIY hinder your ability to succeed and grow?

Design & Functionality: What Does Your Business Website Need? What are you capable of?

Obviously, a business website is important for almost any kind of business. That said, the role of a website varies vastly from business to business. Some businesses are based 100% on their website. It’s where they drive all brand awareness and traffic, sell products and create revenue. On the other hand, some businesses use a website simply for professional legitimacy and to provide information (AKA a brochure site). The role of your website in relation to your greater business goals should be a huge consideration when deciding how to go about setting up or redesigning your website.

Think about two main things here in relation to your goals: design and functionality.

Studies show that visual design is one of the top factors that define a user’s first impression of your business. That said, a tech startup might rely more heavily on a high-end visual impression than, say, an independent plumbing contractor. You should consider how important the “look and feel” of your website is to your potential and existing customers. Do you feel capable of designing to that level with a drag and drop website builder? Frankly, some people just don’t have an eye for good design. Some do, but might get frustrated with the limitations of website builders. And for others, a website builder might be the perfect medium to setup a solid baseline visual design.

Functionality includes user experience and features. Does your website need e-commerce capability? A large number of products? Does your service require the need for a client portal? App integrations? Think about what your site needs to provide the base level of accessibility and usability of your product or service. Also consider the baseline user experience that will keep people from bouncing off the site and checking out competitors. Basic website functionality can easily be achieved with a website builder. But if your business goals require more complicated or technical functionality, it might be worth considering bringing in a professional.

As discussed in the previous section, it’s all about priorities. What does your business website need right now to offer a high chance of success, and are you capable of it? The answer to that question will help answer whether you should invest time in a DIY approach or money in a professional approach.

Budget: How much does a website cost? DIY vs Professional

One of the first things many business owners consider is website cost. It’s enticing to look at the cost of website builders and want to just do it yourself. Sometimes that works out great. Other times, the result is a terrible website that doesn’t work for the business. Flipping that on its head, as discussed earlier, it’s also not uncommon to see a business sink thousands into a custom, professional website that they don’t market properly. And it’s just as much of a fail.

So, how much does a website cost? If you go DIY you’ll probably spend between $150 and $300 per year depending on the plan you go with (e-commerce or not; extra features; etc). This typically includes web hosting and often comes with a domain name. The level of customer support and documentation varies from builder to builder.

For professional design, many professionals will charge a few thousand on the low end, with costs of $5000+ being common (get in touch about our pricing – we do our best to provide affordable solutions). These price tags are often well worth the end result. You can typically expect very high-end custom design and development, custom feature sets and in general a website tailored to the unique needs of your business goals and brand vision.

Obviously, doing it in-house is significantly cheaper. But it comes down to considering whether you have the skills and time to achieve your goals with a DIY small business website. That leads to our final consideration.

Time: Are you losing business revenue?

When considering DIY vs professional website development, you have to consider the time involved. Not only the time it will take to setup and design a website that’s ready to support your business as a marketing asset. But also the time spent maintaining and updating it in the long term. If you’re going for something simple and static (like a starter brochure website), then you might be able to knock it out relatively quick. However, it’s worth considering whether the time spent figuring out the website builder and actually designing the website is losing you revenue. If you’d instead be spending that time operating and growing the business, you might be better off letting someone else take care of it while you do what you do best.

Hiring Professionals: Choosing a Web Design Company

For many companies, making the investment in a professional, responsive web design is the right move towards further business growth. That said, we know how tough it can be to choose the right web design agency or professional. There are a few questions you should always consider when going through the hiring process for web design. These are all things we think about and make clear with our clients, but we’ve noticed they don’t always ask about on their own. You should, so here they are:

What are the immediate and long-term website costs?

First, know your budget. It will help you weed out those that are way below the level of quality you’re seeking as well as those that are brand-name priced and way outside your budget.

Also, make sure you always get well-defined breakdown of all costs involved. What happens if you have to put in a change order mid-project? Or what if you want to request another iteration of a page/template design? Once the site is done, how does ongoing maintenance and updating work? These are just a few examples of questions to consider.

What are your goals and how will the web designer work in relation to those?

As discussed earlier, you should form a clear picture of your website’s purpose. What is its role in your overall business goals? Whoever you bring on to build your website, your goals should be on the forefront of their strategy. Otherwise, you might end up with a site that’s beautiful to look at but doesn’t convert.

This also comes down to overall website usability. Is this web designer thinking about the end user of the website and how to give them the best possible experience of your brand and sales funnel?

Accessibility & Personality

It’s always important to ask who exactly you’ll be working with. Where are they located? What’s their time zone? How available will they be via either email or phone? You want professionals on your side that aren’t going to drop off the map for a week mid-project or drop deadlines. Even better, you want people that you can truly feel good working with. You want to feel comfortable and at-ease knowing that you’re in good, honest hands.

Building Your Own Small Business Website: Options Comparison

Business not ready for a pro website investment? Think you’ve got the technical savvy, time and vision to make your own website? If you’ve considered the pros and cons and decided you want to try to make your own website, here’s a comparison of some of the most popular website builders on the market.

Wix – From $13/mo

Wix is a great option for its ease of use and ability to customize. Based on a true drag and drop website builder, it lets you literally drag page elements (text, images, etc) around and drop them where you want. It’s super easy to use and offers lots of creative freedom, partially because it really does let you drag and drop elements wherever you want on the page with few limitations. This makes it more beginner-friendly and easier to put something basic, and somewhat unique, together quickly.

Wix offers over 500 templates which vary in their purpose and, honestly, quality. Once you select a template and build a site, you’re locked into that design. To switch templates, you have to recreate all your site content. So you’ll want to make sure you carefully select a template that fits your business goals and the needs of your website.

If you want lots of easy to use options and more creative freedom, Wix might be the option for you.

Squarespace – From $12/mo

Squarespace, while perhaps less beginner-friendly and customizable, is a great option for those concerned with visual design. It also utilizes a drag and drop builder, although it has more limitations that Wix and as a result customizing the design can take more time to figure out. It also has far fewer template options. But that said, all of their templates are created by professional designers and are of the utmost quality design-wise. Think modern, sleek and clean.

Unlike Wix, Squarespace makes it easy to switch templates while retaining all your website’s content. This lets you experiment more, but again can require more tweaking and figuring out.

If you’re more concerned with high-end, modern design than total creative control and beginner-friendly usability, Squarespace might be the option for you.

Shopify (E-Commerce) – From $29/mo

Wix and Squarespace do both offer business / e-commerce accounts from which you can setup products, process payments and run an online store. That said, Shopify is undoubtedly the king of commerce-focused website builders. Whereas most other builders include e-commerce capability as something of an afterthought, Shopify was developed entirely around e-commerce.

Shopify utilizes templates and does allow you to customize your site code. It also takes tons of app integrations (many available directly from the Shopify app center) that let you put together exactly the kind of store and user experience that you need. That said, properly setting up apps and performing serious customization can get a little technical in Shopify, so the ease of use is perhaps lesser than Wix or Squarespace.

If you’re looking to start a commerce-based website of any kind, Shopify might be the best option for you.

Conclusion

Ultimately, every business is different. There is no perfect right or wrong as far as setting up a small business website. It really comes down to your budget, priorities and the stage and goals of your business. Need more help deciding what’s best for your business? We’re happy to offer 30-minute consultation for free, just get in touch. Whatever you decide, get out there and build your fire!

The post Should I Build My Own Small Business Website? appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

This article will first dive into what website conversion means and how conversion rates work. Then, we’ll get to the good stuff – how to optimize your website to increase conversion rates. In other words, let’s boost those leads and sales!

So, what does website conversion rate mean?

Conversion rate is a ratio or, typically, a percentage. It defines the percentage of total prospects that actually convert into a customer or lead. It’s always based on some kind of goal, and as such it’s often discussed in relation to e-commerce. This is because with products, conversion is super simple. How many people came to your website last week? How many of them converted into purchasing customers? Divide the former by the latter and you have your conversion rate for that week.

That said, it absolutely applies to businesses that aren’t product based as well. If you’re a service business and use your website as a lead generation tool (as you should), conversion goals would typically involve some sort of lead acquisition. This can mean turning traffic into email list subscribers. Or perhaps scheduled consultations, or a basic inbound email.

So then, what is conversion rate optimization (CRO)? Exactly as it sounds, it’s the strategy behind optimizing your website for the highest conversion rate possible. Most successful strategies involve a lot of analytics and testing, as they help nail down the optimal setup for turning traffic into conversions.

What’s the average conversion rate?

The average conversion rate in general is about 2.3%. That means, for every 100 consumers coming to your website, about 2 convert into actual paying customers. This, of course, varies widely by industry, product, and much more. But, it’s a good base rate to reference. If you’re under that, you need to put some work in, because you could do a lot better. If you’re right around that ballpark, optimization could still help greatly. Most businesses with well-defined strategies to increase their website conversion rate do much better than the average, often pushing into double digits.

So, what are the steps of conversion optimization and what does a successful strategy like that entail? Let’s get into it.

Website Conversion Rate Optimization Fundamentals: 6 Key Steps

Conversion optimization for a website involves a number of elements and requires a consistent, focused strategy. The serious nuts and bolts of that would require a more in-depth guide. Companies often choose to pass that hat to experts specializing in conversion rate optimization services. Today, we’re just going to nail down some of the overarching aspects that should play into any conversion strategy.

1. Have a compelling, professional and functional website.

Often there are specific pages (landing pages) that you’re hoping will convert. Other times, like with multi-product e-commerce or service-based business, there are countless pages you might convert from. As such, visitors are likely to browse several pages before taking any action. In fact, it’s very common for consumers to have more than one browsing session on your website before acting. So, for many reasons, your overall website design and functionality are crucial.

First, consider design. Studies have shown that visual design is one of the most important factors for user’s first impression. And, when it’s not a good impression, they usually bounce in less than 10 seconds. On top of that, browsing might occur from all kinds of devices. So, ideally you have a responsive web design (multi-device friendly) that is clean, consistent and professional.

Also, consider loading speed and overall user experience. Is it easy for people to navigate around the site and find what they’re looking for? Do pages load quickly and properly? Slow loading time means high bounce rates, as do confusing websites.

This is one of the first things to consider when building your conversion rate strategy. Before spending time crafting landing pages and conducting optimization testing, ensure the overall site is ready to convert. In some cases, like HubSpot, a website redesign is a game-changer for conversions.

2. Have clearly defined goals and a conversion funnel – and track everything.

As mentioned in the intro, the whole concept of conversions is based on “goal completion”. So, if you don’t have clearly defined goals, what are you converting anyway? Whether you’re selling products or services, your landing page should be designed with a specific goal in mind. And, just as important, you should be tracking any data that relates to your conversion goal. How are they interacting with the page? How many are making it through the funnel?

Offering tutoring services for an architecture exam? Perhaps your goal is direct signups for the tutoring course. Or maybe you’re hustling the long-game and offering free value like an eBook in exchange for their email. Whatever it is, define the main goal as well as the funnel that directs people from landing on the page through completion of your goal. Sometimes it can be useful to have a series of mini-goals on the way to the main goal, depending on your funnel. This can be powerful in that it helps track where people are getting stuck or dropping off. Just be careful not to overcomplicate things – a landing page should be clear and concise.

From there, you’ll start building meaningful data. These analytics will be crucial in understanding what works, and what doesn’t.

3. Use the 3 ‘C’s: Clear, Concise, Compelling.

When it comes to crafting the landing page, stay focused and on-target. Statistics show that you have on average about 7 seconds to capture users’ attention before they bounce. Your messaging and the layout that delivers it should be easy to understand and digest, and draw interest out of the audience.

Your landing page should be built around showcasing your Unique Value Proposition. Use the 3 ‘C’s to lay out exactly what you’re offering and why it’s enticing to your prospect. What problem are you solving for them? Why should they feel compelled to take action today?

This involves having a combination of great Headlines, Call-to-Actions (CTAs), and concise copy. Plus, again, well-defined goals. Sometimes it’s really worth it to utilize content experts that can help you craft compelling copy. If you’re not a writer, you might end up wasting a lot of time and money with landing pages that don’t convert largely due to lackluster on-page content.

4. Test, test, test.

Whether you wrote the copy yourself or not, you should never follow a “set it and forget it” attitude. Testing is one of the most important aspects of conversion optimization. You’d be surprised how much some little changes can affect how consumers respond.

Utilize A/B (split) testing to try out different headlines and CTAs. A/B Testing has actually been shown to be one of the single most effective strategies for CRO. Dig deep into your analytics and look for differences in engagement. And, of course, differences in conversion rate. Once you find something that seems to be improving conversions, don’t stop. Keep following that direction. Keep testing. The process of ongoing testing is what will ultimately lead to epic conversion rates. And that’s why split testing is a native capability built into every website we design – we’re always ready to optimize for our client’s success.

Some people go as far as A/B testing entire pages. Think new headlines, CTAs, copy, images, layouts… everything. If you want to really get down to the nitty gritty, you can start by split testing full, unique landing pages. Once you find the one that works best, hone in on testing just the headlines and CTAs to further optimize.

5. Make the conversion quick and easy.

Whether your conversion involves filling out an email subscription form, going through online checkout, or simply making a call, you should make it as quick and easy as possible for users. Nothing will kill conversions quicker than a complicated process.

If it involves a form, keep it short. Only ask for what you really need to lock the conversion. We’ve all come across the form with well over a dozen fields – it’s often a sigh and bounce situation. This is also something you can A/B test. Try out different form setups. Test forms with varying numbers of fields or other varying elements.

If your website’s conversion goal involves checkout, make it easy. The shopping cart should be obvious, and the path from selecting product(s) to checking out should be as streamlined as possible. This is why many online stores offer guest checkout these days. Some people don’t want to go through the extra time to set up an account. Maybe they’re expecting it to be a one-off purchase. Not ideal for you, but you’d rather lock that sale in. Plus, you still get their email address and can have an option to send future offers and specials.

On the other hand, if the goal is simply inbound calls or emails, make it obvious! They should be able to find contact info within a couple seconds of looking for it. Even if the main goal isn’t direct communication, having readily available contact info at all times is a good rule of thumb. It makes you appear accessible and cuts down the barrier between you and people who won’t buy without getting their questions answered.

6. Utilize ratings, reviews and testimonials.

Any type of user-generated content that puts your product or service in a good light can help greatly. Most people check ratings and read reviews before they make a purchasing decision. And 84% of consumers trust reviews as much as friend recommendations. So, if people have vouched for your company or your products, show it off! It’s no joke that good reviews can make the difference between someone converting into your customer versus your competitors.

When it comes to e-commerce, utilizing product ratings on your own site is great. It not only allows existing or past customers to provide feedback that can be crucial to bettering your offerings. It also provides prospective customers with third-party indications of value.

Conclusion

As stated previously, these are somewhat broad fundamentals. Every business, industry and market is different. That said, apply these fundamentals to your website and marketing strategy and you’ll be well on your way to more conversions.

Have more questions about conversion best practices, or want some help increasing your website conversion rate? Get in touch – we’re happy to help and love to see our clients succeed.

The post 6 Steps To Website Conversion Optimization appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

But if you can establish credibility, people will feel safe and trust you. That means more sales, more leads, more conversions.

So, why is website credibility important?

It seems a bit self-explanatory, doesn’t it? Plain and simple, if customers don’t feel like they can trust you, they won’t buy your product or service. Your website often acts as a first touchpoint for potential customers. As such, it’s a major opportunity to make or break your credibility with any prospective customers.

Often, you have less than 10 seconds to stand up to the initial psychological credibility judgement. In fact, studies have shown that consumers will judge the credibility of your business within 7 seconds based simply on the visual design. So good web design, plus a number of other credibility-building factors, are crucial to keeping visitors on your site long enough to even give you a real chance. What are those factors? Let’s discuss a few.

How to increase website credibility

There are a number of basic factors that when put together can optimize the credibility of your website. Before we touch on those, it’s worth mentioning that we’re all about honesty. We hope you are too. That means building the credibility of your website and business on real and true information. There are manipulative companies and people out there in the world acting off false credibility – don’t be that guy. Okay, with the ethics plug out of the way, let’s get to it.

Clean, Modern Web Design That’s Easy to Use

A Stanford study shows that almost half of people (46%) consider design to be the biggest factor in a website’s credibility. Right behind that at the top of the list are topics surrounding information architecture. So, basically, the way your site looks and its layout/organization.

To look professional today, you must to move out of the dinosaur age of websites and into responsive web design trends. Clean, modern design that works on any device will make consumers immediately take you more seriously. On top of that, it should be very easy to navigate around the site and find what you need. There should be no barrier for consumers to understand the content.

Accessibility & Good Customer Service

Whether its you directly, your sales team, customer service… your business should be readily accessible. This means phone numbers and/or email addresses in an easy to find place. Preferably, on every page.

If people have to go out of their way to figure out how to get in touch with you, it immediately makes you seem less real. If a prospect can’t get in touch with anyone, how can they begin to trust whoever is on the other side?

And when they do get in touch, be timely and personable. This goes without saying. Nothing will clip credibility faster than a bad personal interaction.

Privacy & Personal Information

First of all, provide at least a basic privacy policy that’s easy to find. Second, don’t require a bunch of unnecessary information. Ask them to make an account too early? Bounce. Require personal information that isn’t necessary for what they’re looking to do? Again, bounce.

Ultimately, avoid anything that could create a trust barrier. If you have to ask for any personal information or require a signup, make sure you do so at a time that allows clear understanding of why you need it.

The biggest point here is you want people to feel safe when they’re on your website. If they feel safe on your website, that’s a first step towards them feeling comfortable reaching out. And that’s another step towards a sale.

Helpful, Informative Content With Sources

Websites that are designed to simply sell as much as possible quickly beg skepticism. Instead, by providing quality, useful content you can build a high level of trust with website visitors. Just like with marketing and sales, focus on providing great value for free at first to develop trust and build a relationship with your potential buyers. Then, when they reach a buying point, you’ll be at the top of the list.

Another important point here is sourcing. If you’re providing information of high value, it helps greatly to back it up with sources. This shows that you’re not just making stuff up, but rather are well-informed from other credible sources. Credibility begets credibility – in other words, you’ll appear credible if you cite credible sources.

Testimonials, Reviews & Certifications

One of the most surefire ways to build credibility is by showcasing your successes. Let past clients speak to your value. Show off awards and other forms of recognition you’ve received or earned.

When prospects see and read about the great work you’ve done for others, they’ll immediately feel more secure.

Case Studies & Portfolio

Building off the previous point, utilize past successes. This time, I’m referring to actual case studies or a portfolio that shows off the actual work that you did. Rather than just recognition or kind words, this gives hard proof to prospects that you’re great at what you do.

When combined with great reviews or testimonials, people will see that you have skills and also aren’t a total drag to work with. That’s a serious credibility boost.

Minimal Advertising & Promotional Content

Similar in nature to providing quality, useful content. Don’t bombard the user with attempts to sell (or, worse, loads of 3rd party ads for click income). This can quickly feel scammy and also provides a bad user experience. Talk about a rising bounce rate!

Most people these days have some kind of promotional content. Pop-ups, chat bots… so on. If you’re going to utilize such techniques, just do it tastefully. Remember that the goal is to provide value, build trust and solve problems.

Readability of Content

Ever been to a website and the grammar was all messed up? I bet it turned you off pretty quick. Same goes with bad quality writing or content that’s just hard to read for whatever reason. This includes typeface choice, font sizing, grammar, and more. If you’re not a writer yourself, it might be best to simply hire a copywriter, or at least someone to proofread and edit.

Low readability and low-quality content will look unprofessional and lazy. Not to mention to impact it has on SEO, as high-quality content is now a major factor in search rankings.

Conclusion

There are more factors that play into overall website credibility. But, they don’t all apply to every type and size of business. So with that said, this is a great place to start. If you optimize based on these criteria you’ll be in a great position to build trust and grow conversions.

Have questions or want one-on-one help with your website? We ethically employ all these criteria in our approach to responsive web design and we’d love to help you level up your digital presence. Get in touch today to chat about your website credibility.

The post Business Website Credibility: The How and Why appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

Due to the shift towards online and digital marketing, small business website design is a huge part of our business. And, it’s something we truly love to do. If you’re considering a redesign or new website for your small business, here are some things to think about:

Consumers look online for first impressions

In many cases, it’s no longer necessary to physically visit a business or chat with a representative to get an impression of the business. Instead, consumers can turn to things like Google, Yelp, and more to read reviews. Or, they can simply explore the online representation of your business: your website.

With the seemingly limitless options out there, consumers form judgements about a business within seconds. They land on their website and quickly judge based on the aesthetic and functionality (and… speed). In fact, some studies say consumers will form a judgement from your website in as little as 50 milliseconds. If your website design doesn’t align with the level of quality and professionalism that they’d expect from your type of business, they might dismiss it and move on. On the flip side, if your website stands out from the crowd and elevates your professional brand, it might lock that lead in.

Multiple Touchpoints

Even if you have a storefront in a bustling part of town or a great word-of-mouth network, running a business without a dedicated website leaves you a step behind. The amount of information available at any time leaves consumers constantly seeking multiple touch points before deciding to patronize a business. Your friend told you about a great new restaurant downtown? I bet you checked the menu and reviews online before deciding to actually go.

Modern consumers still might come across your business through a more traditional form of advertising. But they’ll often look at your website to explore your brand and offerings further before making a purchasing decision. Without a professional web design for your small business, these prospects may even wonder if your business is real or legitimate. Existing without a business website is like putting a lid on your marketing box. It limits the effect the rest of your advertising efforts can have.

It’s an investment in business growth

Some business owners get turned off by the need to spend a chunk of money at once for a web design. They might think it’s better to spend it in smaller amounts over time on traditional or digital marketing. What this outlook misses is that an effective small business website design is a long-term investment. It acts as a literal nonstop, 24/7 marketing force for your business. And, it also acts as a landing zone for all almost any other form of marketing.

Without a website, you’re missing opportunities for consumers to become aware of your business, your credibility and your value. You’re risking the possibility that money spent on other marketing efforts will lead prospects into distrust or confusion. Especially if you’re considering digital marketing services like PPC or SEO, you want to be sure you’re sending traffic to a website that will convert.

This goes beyond the simple necessity of having a small business website. A web design that’s plain bad is just as bad if not worse because you’re giving exposure to a terrible impression of your business. At its core, a quality website can be just as important and less risky than the perfect brick-and-mortar space. It’s a key ingredient to the business pie for any small business, and one that can leave a real bad taste if left out of the mix.

Staying Competitive

Still hesitant and not sure if you need a small business website? Here’s an exercise to help you consider the importance for your industry: make a list of your top competitors. Look them up. Do they have a website? If so, they’re already steps ahead of you. They’re controlling their own messaging and brand experience, and benefitting from the additional marketing power. If they don’t, you’re missing an opportunity to be steps ahead of them!

Ready to discuss elevating your web presence? Get in touch today to discuss small business website packages or digital marketing services.

The post The Importance Of Your Small Business Website Design appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

There are a handful of things to consider (and test) before making the update to WordPress 5.0. This article will go over the major changes, what they mean for your website and how to approach updating.

You can read WordPress’s own post about the release here, and a more in-depth “field guide” with feature info and links to developer info here.

Gutenberg Editor

The most talked about aspect of the new WordPress release is the Gutenberg Editor. Evolving from the mostly text-based editor common to WordPress for years, Gutenberg introduces a drag-and-drop style block editor. WordPress already leads the market in number of sites managed on its platform. Gutenberg is a move to further that domination by rivaling intuitive hosted platforms such as Wix and Squarespace.

Website design and development professionals that specialize in WordPress have often relied on custom modification to expand the features and functionality of WordPress. This has led to a massive theme and plugin directory. Gutenberg seeks to counter some of the need for plugins, meta boxes, shortcodes and more by offering a more feature-rich building experience straight from the core.

That said, Gutenberg still doesn’t rival some third-party tools used to build highly custom websites – for now. We see ourselves bypassing Gutenberg in favor of the more powerful tools we’re used to for most page building (more on compatibility below). But we also see ourselves starting to utilize Gutenberg for more customized article posting as it grows. It’s likely that Gutenberg, along with custom addons that are already popping up, will eventually come to truly rival third-party tools. And we believe the best process here is to simply stay in touch with the growth of WordPress 5 and adapt accordingly.

Theme & Plugin Compatibility

Many themes, builder tools and other general plugins work by interacting with or changing the way the classic WYSIWYG works. With Gutenberg’s overhaul, there are obvious concerns that there will be compatibility gaps. To deal with that, it’s crucial to check with the development team of any third-party tools to ensure they’ve updated to be compatible with 5.0.

We try to keep plugin use minimal in order to keep site code clean, maintain optimal site speed and avoid bugs. The standard set of tools we use have all already pushed updates with 5.0 compatibility.

With that said, it’s never a good idea to push major updates for plugins, themes or the WordPress core straight to a live website without testing first. Instead, we plan to pull backups of all sites and test the updates in a “staging” environment. This helps ensure a smooth transition on the live end and we recommend this approach to anyone using WordPress. For a smooth transition, update your 5.0 compatible plugins and themes before you update the WordPress core.

Keeping the Classic Editor

For themes and plugins that are yet to push compatibility updates or for those who would rather wait to dive into Gutenberg, WordPress has provided a fallback. Via the Classic Editor plugin, you can bypass Gutenberg in favor of the classic editor through 2021. This means that you can update to WordPress 5.0 with the Classic Editor plugin and all your themes and plugins will continue to work exactly as they normally would. This allows you to gain other advantages of the upgrade, like security, without risking compatibility issues.

There is also the Gutenberg Ramp plugin which offers selective Gutenberg activation. So, for example, you could set it to use the classic editor when editing pages and the Gutenberg editor when editing posts.

When to Update

It’s generally recommended to update WordPress immediately to take advantage of updated security and bug fixes. But, there’s no major rush updating your website to 5.0. As long as you do it within reasonable time (a couple months), you’ll be fine. Especially for companies with high traffic sites or a busy holiday season, we recommend waiting until January to update. A plus to this is that the core developers will likely have worked out the initial bugs via incremental updates. You can also install and activate the Classic Editor plugin. Then, update the WordPress core without experiencing any difference in your site’s back or front end.

Have questions about WordPress 5.0? Need help updating your WordPress website? Contact us.

You can also get in touch about our web design and development services.

The post WordPress 5.0: What You Should Know appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.

What is SSL?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and is synonymous with HTTPS protocol. One of the most common cybersecurity measures, SSL encrypts any data that is transferred between a computer and a website. You can tell if a website has an SSL certificate by the green padlock in the address bar and a web address with “https” instead of “http”.

Protecting Data

One of the most obvious reasons to implement SSL encryption into your website is simply to secure data. For websites that process or collect any personal information, SSL will protect all that data from attackers. Think emails, names, phone numbers, credit card information, logins and so on. In fact, it’s required to have an active SSL certificate if you accept online payments through your website in order to comply with Payment Card Industry standards.

Customer Reassurance

Aside from the pure security benefit, SSL creates a psychological affect for consumers. Whether or not they input personal information, simply knowing the website is secure builds trust and comfort. A recent update in Google Chrome as part of Google’s efforts to standardize web security will notify users if a site is insecure. And of course, you don’t want your visitors questioning whether you value their security.

Standardization

Internet security has become an issue of high awareness and importance in recent years. With cybersecurity breaches seeming to happen left and right, it’s nothing to gloss over. For this reason, organizations such as Google and Let’s Encrypt have been taking action to standardize global web security. Some of the results of this include:

• Web browsers like Chrome now make it readily apparent whether a website is secure. Look for a green padlock icon in the address bar or direct security notifications.
• Google made SSL encryption a factor in SEO rankings. Websites that aren’t secure now get docked and their search rankings could hurt as a result.
• In the past, SSL certificates were expensive and complicated to implement, making them less of a priority. Now, companies like Let’s Encrypt offer FREE SSL certificates that are easy to install in an effort to secure the web.

In conclusion, it’s obvious where the web is moving in regards to SSL. The importance of having a certificate, whether or not you take online payments or transfer much data, has become hard to ignore.

How do I get an SSL certificate?

As mentioned above, the revolutionary website security company Let’s Encrypt offers free, easy-to-install SSL certificates. Plenty of Content Delivery Networks (CDN) now also offer free SSL/TLS encryption, including Cloudflare and Google Cloud CDN. We’ve even encrypted websites for free directly through a hosting provider. Some host companies are catching up with the cybersecurity revolution and now offer SSL as part of hosting packages. We include free SSL certificate setup with every web design project we do.

Get in touch today for more help understanding SSL and how to implement it into your website.

The post What Is SSL And Why Do You Need It appeared first on Ember Method - Denver Web Design & Digital Marketing Services.