by Marelise da Silva | Feb 12, 2015 | Website Analytics, Website Content, Website Development, Website Optimization
If you’re a small business owner and your website isn’t performing as well as you hoped it would, we’ve put together a list of reasons why small business websites fail and we recommending investing in help from digital marketing specialists who can turn your website around. Think of your website as your most valuable piece of real estate; it can be seen by people around the world and the first impression it gives is crucial. So, why do small business websites fail?
- It’s poorly designed. We understand small businesses don’t often have large budgets to spend on fancy web design, but you must understand how important an attractive, well designed website is. If the look and feel of your website doesn’t inspire confidence, chances are people won’t feel comfortable investing money in your business.
- It’s hosted on a third party site. If you use WordPress, Tumblr, or some other free service, your content can be removed if it violates the hosting site’s terms and conditions. This means all your hard work can disappear overnight, leaving you without a website, so rather than relying on third party hosting sites, invest in your own website domain and ensure you fully own the site and the content.
- Your target audience is too broad. If you want to target everyone with your content, your aspirations are too high and you’ll notice your website isn’t generating any leads. Instead of having a wide target audience, you should seek to understand your target audience in as much detail as possible. Then, you can tailor everything on your site – the banner, the tagline and the content – to a very specific set of demographics.
- You haven’t integrated your social media accounts. Anyone who visits your website should be able to follow you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more with the click of a mouse and any website updates should be published on your social media profiles.
If you would like more information about how our team of web design specialists can help revitalise your small business’s website, or if you have any general inquiries about the digital marketing and web design services we provide, please do not hesitate to contact us today. We look forward to hearing from you.
by Marelise da Silva | Jan 28, 2015 | Website Development, Website Optimization
Whether you are having your website designed from scratch, or making use of a pre-designed theme, you will need to end up with a website that performs well for your business. These days, every company who has a hope of surviving needs a web presence. It is one of the non-negotiable rules of the 21st century.
For many of your new and prospective customers, your website will be their first impression of your company and their first interaction with you. This is a make or break opportunity to convert a visitor into a potential customer down the road. When you view it in this light, suddenly the importance of having an effective website rises significantly.
What can you do to make your website more effective?
Here are only a few of the many tips you can follow to achieve a more effective website design:
- Focus on value: Any great business is built on the foundation of a strong value proposition. The entire purpose of your site should be to drive home your value proposition to your customers. Do this by shifting the focus away from you and onto your customer.
- Minimal distractions: An important thing to ask is – where does the visitor go next? If there are many calls to action, or too many links in the navigation area, your user’s attention will be diverted into too many different directions. They will have a hard time figuring out where to go, when they should be focusing on the many benefits your product or service has to offer.
- Optimise your calls to action: Everything on your site should be designed around the “funnel.” This is the path the visitor will follow from the landing page to converting the visitor into a paying subscriber or customer, ultimately.
These are a few of the tips you can follow to help your website perform better. Contact WSI OMS to learn more about affordable and effective website design in South Africa.
by Marelise da Silva | Jan 22, 2015 | Website Design, Website Development
Great web design, with its unique look, functionality and feel is what brings any website to life. It is what makes the site’s visitors want to click around and, if you’re lucky, even bookmark the site for future visits. As any professional website designer knows, a lot goes into the creation of a website and even more to consider when designing the site.
For starters, you need to consider the elements of the company’s brand, the appearance and colour schemes of the site, usability considerations, functionality, image compression and screen resolution, browser compatibility and website architecture, etc. After this, other elements come into play such as search engine optimisation and content management, etc.
What are the web design best practices?
These are only a few of the things to keep in mind when designing a website. However, there are also a few important best practices which are essential to creating a fantastic website:
- A compelling layout design: By achieving an attractive layout design in your web design, your visitors’ attention will be arrested. It is really one of the main things that will keep your visitors exploring your site and delving deeper into the pages and information. A great layout design will require the use of basic design principles such as consistent header, navigation elements and logos among the web pages. It should also have a good contrast between the background and text.
- Balanced use of colours: Using too much colour is one of the best ways to ruin your website’s design. Mismatched colour combinations and too many interactive features are big mistakes to avoid. Use three to four colours to achieve a well-balanced design.
- Organised content: The look of the site will welcome your visitors but it’s the content that will keep them around. So use common fonts, using consistent font sizes, colours and hyperlink colours. Use an organised presentation of content, making content accessible with the minimal amount of clicks.
To learn more about effective and affordable website design, contact WSI OMS today.
by Marelise da Silva | Dec 25, 2014 | Website Development
Launching a website for your business is a stressful and meticulous process. There is so much to consider from web design to functionality, links and spelling mistakes. It is vitally important your website is 100% before the launch, as this will be the most prominent feature of your online marketing.
It is a good idea to formulate a plan in the same you would for any major undertaking and creating a comprehensive checklist is a brilliant way to make sure your website is flawless before you launch.
Components of a well-designed website
- Content. Spelling and grammar errors will make your business appear unprofessional and sloppy, remember, this will be the first stop in your digital marketing campaign, so ensure all page content is triple checked for utmost perfection. Also be aware of other content such as videos and images.
- Your website needs to be compatible with all user browsers, both old and new. Responsive websites should be checked across all devices to be sure they look good on smartphones, tablets and laptops across the board.
- This will have a dramatic impact on the amount of traffic you receive as well the reactions that come from potential clients viewing your web page. Speed and convenience are the currency of the 21st century so ensure your load time is optimised, your links are working, your icons are functioning and your automatic responses are in place for optimal user-friendliness.
- Search Engine Optimisation. Everyone wants their website to come out tops on search engine results, so always have this phrase in mind. Check your metadata, tags and XML sitemap.
- Prevent data loss by making sure all your security and backups are in place. Store your passwords in a secure place, have 24/7 monitoring scripts installed and keep a copy of the final website for backup purposes.
- Be 100% certain your website complies with all applicable laws and regulations before you put it on the net. Find out about cookies, usage rights and terms and privacy policies.
- Making sure your website is set up to capture data and analytics will provide you with valuable information on how you can improve your digital marketing strategy going forward. Insert analytics codes on your website and sync your Google Analytics accounts. Also create proper funnels and goals in your analytics software if this is applicable to your site.
At WSI OMS, our team of qualified experts understand what it takes to create and launch a successful website. We are able to design a digital marketing strategy to suit the individual needs of your business and we guarantee the best results. For expert web design, mobile marketing, social media marketing and more, contact us today.
by Marelise da Silva | Dec 15, 2014 | Website Design, Website Development
The world of web design saw a lot of decision changes in 2014 with the release of iOS7 and Windows 8 tablets, causing a rise in the popularity of flat design websites and websites that were far more visually stimulating. At the same time, large landing pages with massive images and strong, yet simple, calls to action became the standard for businesses to market their goods and services in the digital world.
In 2015, we may not be looking at an enormous shift in the web design landscape as a whole, but with digital consciousness moving towards creating a unified brand experience for customers across a wider variety of extremely fragmented platforms, content marketing and search engine optimisation among other things are going to become more important than ever.
Five web design predictions for 2015:
- Nearly flat design. Flat design has become increasingly popular in recent times and will continue to do so in the future due to the fact it is easier to understand, aesthetically pleasing and easier to develop and make responsive. Nearly flat design has a “less is more” approach which will continue to grow in 2015 as it focuses on content and products as opposed to background design elements.
- Micro UX/Transitions. Paying attention to the smaller details of a site will create a more enjoyable online customer experience. It is the fun, seemingly insignificant features which should not be overlooked in web design going forward. You can create a wonderfully memorable experience with UX effects and transitions.
- Tiled navigation. More and more sites are implementing preview in the form of tiles and the simple reason for this is that images are more captivating and intriguing than text. Images create the feeling of walking into an actual store and will encourage users to complete a desired action before navigating away from your site.
- Device agnostic design. It is crucially important going forward that website designs function properly on all devices. With an increase in the use of mobile devices, it is important to consider the amount of screen resolution combinations, input methods, browser capabilities, and connection speeds to create the most enjoyable experience for visitors.
- Multi-page websites. Smart phones have created a love for scrolling, meaning users prefer to scroll rather than click. It would seem that multi-page web design, which allows users to view all you have to offer in a single page as opposed to clicking and navigating to multiple pages, will give websites more SEO power in the future.
At WSI OMS, we offer web design services of a world class standard to ensure the digital face of your brand is up to date and professional. To learn more about our range of digital marketing services, contact us today.
by Marelise da Silva | Sep 18, 2014 | Digital Media Marketing, Website Development
The internet is continuously evolving, times are changing, and the style of digital marketing and website presentations is constantly changing. Here is a quick way to check if your website needs an updated, modern look that can attract and maintain viewers:
- When last has your website been updated? Is the same information, in the same style and manner still showing, as when it was first setup? Studies have shown that if your website looks and works the same way it for over 3 years, it may send out the wrong perception, of the business being outdated and unable to provide the needs the viewer is looking for. A fresher look may give viewers a reason to come back.
- Does your website still run on a “doctype” browser? Browsers have changed, search engines have changed. Most popular browser types to use are HTML4 or XHTML transitional.
- Is the layout of your website, a table based layout? A more modern method for layout is CSS. Most businesses make use of this method to define layout, instead of the older versions of <td>tags or <th> tags or <tr> tags. It may also make it more difficult for search engines to pick up your website.
- Is your website designed to fit any screen? Previously, websites were designed to fit monitor screens of 800 (wide) x 600 (High) resolutions. Modern day gadgets, allows one to view any website on any screen, mobile and desktop. Upgrading to a newer layout and design gives your business a chance in today’s fast paced society of internet users.
- Does your website make use of a built in flash? Many websites use of video, JQuery or Javascript layouts, instead of older versions such as flash. Search engines have also evolved in such a way that websites with built in flash layouts are no longer picked up, which lessens the chances your marketing potential.
Contact WSI OMS today, a newer approach to digital marketing can be developed for you and see your business into a brighter future.
Need help with your digital marketing strategy? Then contact WSI OMS today.
