Free Website Design Tips

Here’s something we see in a lot of websites we analyze that could be severely damaging your website’s effectiveness. Many sites have a “partners” or “friends” or “affiliates” page. It was conventional web design practice not that long ago to include those pages to add credibility and to, in some cases, create reciprocal links. (“I’ll put a link to your site, if you put a link to mine on your site.”) The website analytics chart below is from an active site that we host that is a little more than two years old. You can...

There are just some things that in general consumers get really excited about. Things that are “Free” and things that are “New” and things that are “On Sale.” These are some of the most trusted weapons in any direct marketer’s arsenal and you can use them to drive traffic to your website. When you add new content to your site, tell your customers and tell your prospects. Use these as copy points in your ads to drive people to your site to expose them to more of your marketing. And, of course, when you have a completely new website, you should shout...

OK, I admit it. We get a lot of raised eyebrows when we tell a potential customer how much we charge to do their email marketing. And I understand why.  If you are a DIY (Do It Yourself) emailer, it appears to you that you are currently doing it for free. So, on the surface it seems like a no-brainer right? “Why do I want to pay a marketing web development company to do what I am currently doing for free?” Well, in my last post I talked about the dangers of DIY (Do It Yourself) Emails. That showed that there is a clear cost, or potential cost that isn’t...

Quick quiz: Is getting an email from me to you the same as getting an email from your business to your customers or your prospects? If you answered “yes,” then read on. Email may be one of the most misunderstood internet topics by small to medium businesses. The misperceptions are driven by their daily use of email at their PC, which leads them to extrapolate a similar understanding of how to use email to communicate to their prospects.   So let’s quickly get you out of harm’s way of the most common dangers we see.   First and most importantly,...

Your organization succeeds because your employees have defined roles. It is now time to define one for your website. For some websites we analyze, the site functions merely as the receptionist. “Welcome, want to know about our company mission statement? Third link on the left. Have a nice day.” Other websites, the site functions as the customer service representative. But I would say for most websites that we analyze, the site function is the PR manager. “Our company was founded 30 years ago on the principles of honesty and integrity and customer service....