Do the images on your website have alt tags?  If they do, are the alt tags something like abc123.jpg?  A very basic yet helpful search-friendly design practice is to include alt and title tags in each of your graphics to better describe what they are.  This tells visual impairment devices what those pictures are, and it tells search engines what they are. If the alt tag is “Austin event planning company” instead of “abc123.jpg”, your website is recognized as more relevant to its actual subject matter.

Have You Heard?

After years of speculation, it’s official: Google’s Matt Cutts stated that Google’s indexing formula ignores the ‘keywords’ meta tag.  What does this mean?  The meta keywords tag does nothing for your position on Google.  However, they are still used by many other search engines and directories, so don’t be too hasty and delete them from your web pages.  As I have mentioned before, having some extra meta tags in your site code is not going to harm you, so it is not a “bad” idea to keep up with your meta keywords.

A lot of folks crave the ability to self-manage their web site. But, no two content management system applications are equal. When researching software with your web developer, these are some factors to consider:

• You need a CMS software that runs efficiently and won’t bog down the server & site speed.
• You want an administrative interface that is easy for you to use.
• A lot of the nicely coded efficient software have awful looking interfaces.
• A lot of attractively designed systems are incredibly slow and arduous.
• Some software is too new or poorly supported, lacking community resources.
• Some software is widely popular with vast free online resources or paid support options.
• More popular programs often have easy growth options like add-on modules.

When WEBii proposes web site development with a CMS, we take all of these factors into consideration and choose a software or a ground-up custom solution option that best meets the needs of that client.

Example contest web page

If you are looking for a way to encourage people to visit (and revisit) your web site, try an age-old marketing tool: a contest.

Think of a simple give-away item that relates to your business – small items could be: a book by an industry author, a how-to publication that you wrote, a white paper, t-shirts, other promotional items; larger items could be: a plane ticket, a vacation package, cash, etc.

Now create an enticing and simple online form on your web site, and make sure it is easy to find.  Post links and “ads” about the contest on your homepage and other popular pages.  Make sure the rules and dates of the contest are nicely spelled out and do not scare your participants away.  Include a newsletter subscribe option in the form.  Make the confirmation page (thank you page) of your form valuable also – direct the user to particular information that you want them to see.

Take advantage of any marketing channels you have to announce the contest and create buzz about your business – submit the story to your Chamber newsletter, post it on networking web sites, mention it in your e-mail newsletter.

Once your contest is over, remember to follow through with the promise of selecting a winner and delivering the prize.  Take the opportunity to follow up again with your customers and mailing list contacts by announcing the winner in an e-newsletter and other marketing media.

What this does for your business:

• Creates brand (and web site) awareness
• Offers opportunity to gather new contacts for your mailing list
• Invents an excuse to contact and follow up with people
• Generates news about your company
• Increases traffic to other areas of your web site

People are always trying to keep up with the latest trends. Whether it’s the latest trend in handbags or shoes, people are stopping to take notice and see what is emerging on the fashion scene. For all of the fashionistas out there, this post is for you. Let’s take our fashion sense and translate it to what works for our businesses and website design. Stay with me as we touch on the top trends and translate them into design that works!

Trend #1: Canary Yellow is hot hot hot! Use splashes of color within your website design to create contrast and highlight important services or features. A pop of color is not only visually pleasing, but can also help you stand amongst the millions of other websites on the Internet. (Keep in mind, I said to use a POP of color – you don’t want your whole website to be a montage to a bright color that blinds your visitors.)

Trend #2: Braids, braids & more braids. It’s all the rage to braid your hair and I don’t mean the boring, one big braid we saw in the 1990s. Now it’s all about being creative with your braids – maybe it’s a small, side swept braid on just one side of your head or intricate braids tied into an up-do that paint a beautiful weave. Whatever the choice, there is something very hip about being creative with your braids. You are probably thinking how does this translate into my website’s design. It’s simple. While you want your design to be clean and modern, you also want a design that is creative and shows off your personality. Even when it is simple, creativity must be integrated into your website’s design.

Trend #3: Watch your step with those 4 inch heels. The world can be tricky to navigate, especially in four inch heels. However, the height advantage can really work for us shorter folks. However, don’t make your website a maze. Make it easy to navigate. Granted heels make it easier to see farther, but our feet can start to hurt if we have to walk too far. Your website navigation should be a breeze for visitors. The easier it is for them to find the information they need, the longer they will stay on the site.

Trend #4: The oversized handbag is your secret weapon. Inside your oversized handbag is all of your tricks. Use your website to hold a similar arsenal. Not only do you want to have the necessities in your purse (wallet, sunglasses, cell phone) and on your website (contact information, information about the company, products & services), but you want to have the helpful extras. For your website, this means having useful information and links readily available for your customers. It also means highlighting your own expertise for the visitor; you can do this easily through a blog or through posting helpful articles on your website.

Trend #5: Printed graphic tops show what you are made of. One of the most defining aspects of your website is the photography you use. You want to use high-quality, professional photography. Stock photography is very reasonably priced and provides you with the professional look that is necessary. The last thing you want is a website with low resolution images that provide an unpleasant viewing experience for your visitors, who are often potential customers. Fashion rewind … just as your photography translates into what people think about your website, your graphic tops should have prints that are meaningful and reflect your personality. Otherwise, who are you trying to show off to?

Trend #6: One shoulder, please! The perfect top … one shoulder exposed … stunning! Plus, it’s a sassy and fun summer look. Your website should show off your best shoulder. You want to highlight the important information about your company, the products & services you offer, and why folks should choose you.  However, you don’t want to give everything you’ve got away. Use your website to drawn them in. Make sure there is a clear call to action. Basically, you want to entice them to want more, so they will contact you directly.

It is fun to see how two completely separate items – fashion and web design – can relate to each other on so many levels and how you can translate that to success for your business’ web presence.

On a side note, remember to be fashionable in all that you do!

Having trouble deciding on a particular domain name to represent your business?  Keep in mind that you do not have to decide on just one – you can have more than one domain name pointing to the same web site presence.   Your primary domain is usually the one that you use to advertise on business cards and to host your email (bob@mysupergreatdomainname.com), but as you come across great ideas to sell your product (myproductname.com, myindustryname.com), we can set up those additional names to direct traffic to your site as well (and even forward email if you like).

A lot of web site owners hear the term “meta tag” at some point and aren’t really sure what it is.  Then they start to panic and wonder if their web site designer included this. This topic can be rather extensive, so I will just cover some brief points.

Firstly, there are many types of meta tags.  These tags are within the code of your web page.  Basically what the tags do is define certain information about your site that may be important to a search engine or computer.  A few examples are: title, description, keywords, and author (but there are many more).

So are they important? Yes, sort of.  They are based on earlier Internet technologies, and many search mechanisms ignore them. However, some tags – like the title tag – are still considered important to include, especially for search engine exposure.

Should your pages have meta tags? Yes. At least title, description, and keywords tags are a good idea.  It certainly does not hurt your site to include these, and it might help.

The most important ‘meta tag’ is the title tag. This is the title you see displayed in the web browser (in the top bar).  Even after a couple decades of Internet behavior changes, experts still agree that the title tag is an important communication tool that tells both browsers and search engines what your site is about.  It should be one of the first things in your code, so it is one of the first opportunities a search engine has to read about your site.  So – this is an ideal place to include strong key phrases about your business.  Furthermore, search marketing professionals will stress that you should strive for variation on each title tag page to page.

How can I tell if my pages have meta tags? View your web page in a browser, right click (PC), and select the View Source option (might be called Page Source or something similar).  This will display some of the code for your page (excluding certain programming like php or asp).  Toward the top, there should be several lines that start with <meta name=….

WEBii can help with enhancing your site for search friendliness, and this is one of the things we look for in that process.  Contact us if you would like assistance improving your web site’s code.

Personal touches make a world of difference. It builds a different kind of rapport with clients when they get something handwritten from you, rather than a sterile, cold (and maybe generic) emails. It seems simple and it seems like it wouldn’t make that big of a difference, but believe me it does. Think about how you feel when you receive something personal via the Postal Service. Maybe it’s just me, but I love getting mail! I get emails every day all day – on my Blackberry, dings from Thunderbird, on my Gmail – I’m just inundated with constant email, as I’m sure you and your customers are too.  What we aren’t inundated with (anymore) is handwritten written notes & cards. Therefore they stand out more than emails do and that is where opportunity lies for you to make a strong impact and help build your business relationships.

One way to make a personal impact is by sending out Birthday and Holiday cards. You don’t have to catch every holiday and some of them you might have to be a little politically correct on (that’s up to you) but it makes a difference to catch a few of them and recognize them to your customers. I’d especially try to keep up with birthdays, if that is possible. You might even be able to include a special holiday or birthday promotion. I know I’ve received cards in mail for birthday promotion … usually its save 10% for your birthday or get your free birthday gift in store. This usually entices me to go to the store that sent me the promotion, even if I haven’t been there in awhile or wasn’t planning a trip there in the immediate future.

Okay, so holiday and birthday cards, that is a fairly easy handwritten note to send out. But you need more than just that. You need to be sending more. Here are a few ideas for handwritten cards you can send out:

• When you meet someone new: send them a personalized note, letting them know it was nice to meet them and thank them for their time. Drop a few business cards in there, so they will have your name and your card handy whenever the need arises.
• When you receive a referral: it is always a good thing when you pay thanks to someone who has sent you a referral. Sending a handwritten note can add that extra touch and truly show that you are appreciative of the referral they have passed you. This helps show that you go above-and-beyond; this will also give the person referring business to you additional confidence for future transactions, networking and referrals.
• When you haven’t talked to someone in awhile: maybe you have an old client or a former referral partner that you haven’t talked to, seen or worked with in some time … send them a note and invite them for coffee or lunch to catch up.
• When you want to check in and just say hi: it is okay to not have a underlying meaning or purpose to your personal touches. Sometimes you just want to say hello and you should.

I’ve heard different folks say you should send 2-5 cards a week, but I realize that can be a lot, depending on the size of your network and customer base & the extra/free time you have.  To start off, I’d set a goal of 1 handwritten note per week (can be networking partner, client, someone you recently met, etc.). You can build up your numbers later. Just starting writing and building your connections.

Yet another example of how to use your web site as a communications platform, rather than just a marketing tool: a newsroom. More commonly seen in websites for mid-size and large corporations, a newsroom serves many purposes.

From a PR stand point, it fortifies messages you have already spread to the public. From a Marketing aspect, it gives you new mediums to express information about your new clients, current projects, internal experts, and events. And from the consumer (and search engine) perspective, it clarifies details about your company – even before any meetings or phone calls were made.

Possible “newsroom” features:

• Short bios of members in key leadership positions
• Video clips of company spokesmen making speeches
• Photo slide show of a special event
• Press releases (internal)
• News articles / releases from other sources
• Recent statistics about industry
• List of associations
• List of awards and recognitions
• Announcements of new clients / projects
• Announcements for new product launches
• Internal announcements (new regulations, new policies, new training)

When planning your next web site redevelopment, consider how a news room section could add value for your customers, for the press, for search engines, and for RSS news feeds.  Web developers can get creative with presentation and offer different options to maintain the ongoing news updates.  With a little research and work on this, a small business could easily have the professional appearance of a large scale operation.

While your site is always a marketing tool, it is also a resource that will improve the efficiency of your internal operations.  One good example of this is online registration documents.  This is perfect for medical practices and consulting firms.

Consider This:
Include PDF versions of all of your standard ‘new customer’ documents on the website, allowing new customers to download, print, and complete them prior to an appointment.  This can shave 15 to 30 minutes from a person’s appointment time and help your staff stay on schedule as well.

Step It Up:
Post the forms in an interactive format so the customer can fill it out directly from the website and have all of the information emailed to your office almost instantly.  Ideally your staff will receive the registration information several days ahead of time and any kinks with the appointment will be worked out well in advance.

Even Better:
Your web developer may be able to format an online form to send you the data in a format that can be easily imported into your local office software program.  This eliminates tedious typing and human error, and frees up more of your office administrator’s time.