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So you’ve got a blog right? You’re on Twitter circulating your links to your followers. You’ve got a Facebook fanpage and personal page to post your blog links on. You’ve posted a similar post on Tumbler and Posterous. I’m sure I’m leaving out some other mediums for linking but you get the point. What else could we be missing? Oh yea, you’re own website right?
Recently I was chatting with some of my colleagues in design and development. One of our main issues is the redundancy of the same content being regurgitated on all of the same platforms. Now I have to admit some guilt and hypocrisy with that because I do the same to some extent. If you follow some industry leaders you’ll see them have profiles and many different platforms. Almost all of which you’ll find the same content when new content is published. This is so that the masses can consume in whatever way they find most convenient. However what if that content wasn’t anything different from what a similar person is saying. It reminds me of that game where you till one person a story, and 7 people down the line will have variations of the main story plus or minus their own input.
How do you know what content is worth consuming? I don’t know of any one answer that blankets all, but I can say you should each really make your own decision on who you decide to hold on a pedestal of worthiness. Not like a monarchy or anything, but more-so for validity. Just because Tom of #1 design dot-com has 1.5 million subscribers and says something key about a subject matter doesn’t mean he’s 100% right for you or your industry. There is a lot of quality insights out there from some well-known people. There are also some great insights from some lessor known people too.
Your website should be your #1 source for your content. Sure your blog should be integrated in that, but people need to be captivated and drawn to your own website. Not consuming your content solely on other mediums and never returning to your site to comment, purchase, or consume more. You should also monitor your outlet mediums. If you find that more of your content is being consumed on a particular outlet AND for a specific subject matter more than others, its time to produce to that demand. Don’t regurgitate that worthy content that works mainly in Linked In, on Tumbler if the audience on Tumbler is obviously different. That could be just lazy tactics, but you’ll grow tired of social media as a whole if you go this route. Especially if you’re doing this yourself outside of using a marketing firm or social media adviser.
Let me know your thoughts on content redundancy in the comments below. I’m intrigued to hear you weigh in.
All Posts, Web Design
A term that many website owners may not be familiar with now, but a vital asset to monitor on your website. The definition according to Google Analytics is “the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.” Other sites and designers may consider visitors who come to you home page, but don’t visit other pages on your site – not just those who come and then leave. I’d also like to mention that a website with a lot of traffic but a low turn-over rate when it comes to leads is still not a fully functioning website.
We use our hosting company 1and1 and they’re Website Statistics tool via the control panel. It shows stats on all files accessed on your site and not just the pages. An easier tool is Google Analytics which is free from Google. All you need is a Google account which takes a few minutes to setup. If you’re hosting company doesn’t offer site statistics this is a great option for you. This tool show you your links to your site, hits, time on each page, traffic sources, browsers, and of course bounce rates.
Read below for some tips on how to improve your website bounce rate.
- Have an attractive call to action. Some calls to action items include free give-aways, analysis, downloads, contest, etc.
- Short talking points that link to other pages of your site that have more information to read in-depth.
- Relevant content to what your site is about. This one is a bit tricky because when someone lands on your page from searching or a specific topic or key words; they’re hoping to get those questions answered when they “land” on your site. Whether that information is on your home page, or another specific landing page.
- Headlines. Especially in bold or big letter font.
- Forms. Not just any type of form, but a simple and quick to fill out form that gathers visitor email, name, phone, and if possible social media handles.
- Browser compatibility. I’m not just talking about Firefox vs IE. Think about Google Chrome, Opera, and mobile browsers like Safari too.
Though these are just a few simple key items to focus on, they are big when it comes to your website’s ROI. Also consider they ease reading the content of your website. Reading the details or articles on your pages should be easy. I’ve read in some blogs that eighth grade vocabulary is a good level for the text on your site. Personally, I feel that it should be easy to read and directly to the point. If I want to read more, I’ll click the “read more” link or follow on to another page that seems to have more information about a particular topic or details. If you have more questions about this topic, or how your own website’s bounce rate is feel free to give us a call (1-888.603.1090) or send us an email. Here at Design Theory we provide free consultations to understand your needs and provide solid options to choose from.
All Posts, Web Design
Fellow web designers, I know we’ve all been there. Had a great prospective client meeting. They loved your portfolio of work. Contacted you from a referral of a previous client. So you’re feeling great about this project going into it. You make a draft, show it to them, and it all starts going downhill from there. They want more revisions, the logo needs to be changed, content can’t be agreed upon, and more and more. Originally you quoted a certain amount and now your billable hours have almost tripled and the site isn’t even half way done. You ask yourself, who’s really at fault here? Without getting into any formalities, lets keep most of the blame with the client.
When I first started out, I used a contract with my first client. Ironically, it saved me from an issue once the site was completed. They wanted the workup files and my contract specifically said they’re not included. After some phone calls, emails, and threats from their family members, I stuck to my guns and referred back to the contract that was signed. Could have been worse had I not had that agreement setup from jump right? Well, this type of story is all too common on this side of the fence.
Contracts don’t necessarily have to be only for the protection of one person. The current contract I have and use now actually is quite easy to read to not hard on the eyes for my clients. Really want a contract does is protect the property of each binding party and set rules and understandings of work or a relationship.
Below are some general categories you’ll want to use in your own contract if you don’t have one already:
- Authorization
- Agreement
- Scope of Work
- Payment Schedule
- Confidentiality
- Hosting
- Terms
- Project Guidelines
- Files and Ownership
If your a freelancer doing jobs here and there, a typical surface level contract should do. However if you’re working as a subcontractor or with bigger businesses that are outsourcing work to you, a contract written or reviewed by your lawyer may be your best option. It would be a wise investment in the beginning that may save you thousands in the future.
Have some tips on contracts? Let us know in the comments below.
Social Media, Web Design
I have some goals I set out for this year and one of them is meeting new people. Specifically business professionals and entrepreneurs. By now most of them have websites created which is great. If you’re in business you should have a website, period. Well I used to preach that and actually that’s not all of it. Your website needs a few more elements than just content and contact information.
By now you should have already heard the term Web 2.0 already. Basically it means a new way that websites use to communicate and interact with visitors. You’ll see this with short videos, social media, instant chat, blogs and comment options. These are great ways to mine information from your visitors but also create a more personal connection to them while keeping them engaged to stay longer on your website. Obviously the longer they stick around the higher the chance that they will use or purchase your services and products.
Lets start with Social Media. Depending on your business and service, you may want to use a few of the many social media services that are currently popular.
Facebook I would recommend starting with. Setting up a Fan Page isn’t difficult and may take up to an hour to do. Add some pictures and comments and anything else of interest to your page and profile. Once properly setup with all your profile and contact information, you then need to suggest this page to all of your friends on your personal side of Facebook. This is so that whenever you post from your Fan Page, they will see your post and hopefully comment on it – but also their friends will see it and hopefully become fans too.
Twitter is another great service that helps get your business to people who otherwise would never know you. So whenever you have a new blog post, or sale, or promotion, or event, you post that info in a Tweet. Now Twitter isn’t the place for only trying to make a sale, its a place to make new connections with people who are in all types of likes and industries. Most connections are with people you never met before, but engaging in brief conversations develops a relationship going forward which can lead to sales and referrals. Twitter is also a form of Micro-Blogging which then leads into Blogging. If you’re not a writer, you can train to be by using these means.
Blogging. If you’re not doing it yet, you’re missing out on creating wonderful and meaninful content about your industry. I make the analogy with blogs to how having a website years ago was like being ahead of the game; and now having a website is vital. Same thing with a blog. Your posts should be about tips and information about your industry and services. Things that would appeal to people who seek your services and people within your industry. These posts get indexed into search engines and when people are looking for such information your website may pop up. Create valuable content and build your reader base. In turn, they’ll pass along your posts via social media links and draw in more readers who could then be potential clients and customers of your trade. Are you seeing the pattern here?
Call to action. I have said it before in previous posts, but you have to give your readers something for free if you want their contact information. A website that receives 2,000 hits a day but gains no information about the visitors and converts none of them to leads is not a functioning website. Most sites with great call to actions have items like free e-zines, newsletters, image downloads, website analysis, and more. But everything they offer is free. The only string attached is a vistors email address and maybe their name on a simple form.
None of this should be done over night. Proper implementation does take a bit of time. I strongly suggest a web consultant if you’re not versed with the “lingo” to make these adjustments yourself. Or if you are you can always Google you way through it I suppose. Just know that these things are important to your bottom line if you want to see a greater ROI on your website. If you have any ideas to add to this short list please leave a comment below.
All Posts, Web Design
This may be a question that strikes a bad feeling through your spine if you’re not really sure. But a very important question I ask when coming across a new client that wants an overhaul on their current site and transfer hosting companies. A hosting company is a business that has large amounts of servers that store your site information, data, and files. A hosting company can also register your domain name. Some well known hosting companies include MediaTemple, Register.com, GoDaddy, and 1and1. I use 1and1 because they’ve been around for a number of years, and I’ve been hosting my websites with them for over six years without an issue. Their up-time is guaranteed at 99%, and they’re technical support is available 24/7. This is important when trying to add features or get help on settings.
Now upon logging in to their current hosting website control panel (if they have access to it), I’m able to see who the site is actually registered to, who the technical contact is, and who the domain is registered to. There has been a few occasions where the business I was working with had no direct access to their site or hosting company. The reason why this is so important is that without being properly listed as the owner of a domain, the current registrar actually legally owns that domain URL. Sure there can be some loopholes and legal tricks to fight this, but this is something that can be easily avoided. Let me show you a few ways to look up and check your own information.
Visit a website called Whois.Net. They offer free website look up information that shows the hosting company, domain creation date, last edited, expiration date, contact information and of course domain registration information. See this screenshot below for the look up information for WordPress.org:
By looking at the information above you can see the domain ownership information and contact information. There is more to see here and if you’re interested, click here to see the full description. It’s also worth mentioning that the information is open to the public to see. So if you don’t want people knowing where you live, real email address, and home phone number you may want setup a mailing address and separate contact information. Other free websites for looking up website information are Domain Tools and Network Solutions. Both offer the same information as far as domain contact and ownership information.
Your homework from this post is to look up your own domain and see who is listed as the contact and owner. If it isn’t you, contact your web designer or hosting company and be sure to have it updated with YOUR information. If you have troubles or need help, give us a call and we’ll surely help. (888-603-1090).
