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Difference Between Informational and Ecommerce Website

By Derek Robinson

The modern world is all about websites. Almost all businesses have websites and those that do not are missing out on a great deal of benefits. When it comes to websites, there are different types. In this brief post, we will have a look at the difference between informational and ecommerce website. Both are websites but the fact that they serve different purposes is what draws a line between them. We will look at each of these websites and what they are created for and the audience they serve.

Informational Websites

Informational websites are the kinds of websites that provide information to the public. These types of websites vary and can range from taking care of your automobile to medical information. These websites are used by people or businesses to display their work and describe their services while the actual transactions and service delivery takes place offline. The main purpose of such a website is to allow the target audience to learn more about you and your business and what you do. In most cases, people would like to do their own research prior to contacting you or your business. Informational websites give you the ability to present as much expertise and knowledge as possible. This gives your audience a chance to learn more about you before they make that important call.

Ecommerce Website

An E-commerce website is a site specifically designed to facilitate commercial or business transactions involving information transfer online. E-commerce websites include but not limited to auction sites, retail stores, business-to-business services, financial management sites and music sites. Some of the popular e-commerce sites are eBay, Amazon, Zappos, Overstock, iTunes among many others. While the purpose of having a website is to promote services and products on the internet, an ecommerce website takes everything a step further. This website gives your audience a chance to buy products and services directly from your website. This saves you a lot of expenses and gives your audience convenience. With such a site, people can now shop in the comfort of their homes.

Conclusion

The difference between informational and ecommerce website is what they are designed to do. Like their names suggest, the informational website will basically provide information about a company and its products and services. An ecommerce website on the other hand will give the consumers a chance to buy products and services directly from the website regardless of where they are (of course they need internet connection and there might be some terms and conditions to be followed).Now you know the difference.

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Leave Your World Wide Web Presence To Professional Web Designers

By Derek Robinson

The web provides a vast market place for services programs and ideas. If you are interesting in creating room for your business in the internet marketplace, it is crucial that you find ways and means that will make it as unique as possible. For your business or brand to be unique among the other billions of businesses online, you need to consider working with a high profile web design team that will assist you in growing a brand to reach out to your customers as well as create awareness where your business is still unknown.

 

The process of building a website starts with the determination of the most ideal domain name that will go an extra mile in attracting the right buyers to the site. It is recommended that the domain name you choose matches with the products and services you offer so as to enhance your online visibility. The best way to approach this is using the company name or choosing the keywords of the products and services you offer. The work of the webs design team entails helping you create domain names that will go a long way in improving your internet presence.

 

Soon after a decision has been made on the most appropriate domain name, you will need to meet with the team of web designers where concepts will be formulated all geared towards creating a site that will serve the purpose of attracting customers. The concept discussions include things such as logos, color schemes among other visual aspects that are employed in efforts to create an effective online page. If need be to connect with existing customers, the website might include the company’s color theme as well as the logo. It is important to let the design team work on your site as they are professional in creating a site that will be unique and thus have an edge over the competitors in the industry.

 

The development of the website should be kept professional if desired goals are to be achieved. Customers prefer working with professional businesses and building a professional business website will go a long way in creating a perception of your business that customers will want to relate and feel safe interacting with. You can include features that allow online purchases to improve the customer’s shopping experience. This requires high level of security to convince customers to trust your site with their banking information. The work of the web designers is to ensure that the website is safe in all aspects thus providing a secure shopping avenue for the buyers.

 

There are many website design companies but the most important thing is to work with a company that will do more than just provide a standard website. You will require the skills of professional designers who will tailor make a website that will meet all your needs and serve its purpose exceptionally well. Choosing a bigger firm will not guarantee you great results. On the other hand a smaller web design company will work tirelessly in satisfying your needs and will pay more attention to your project.

 

When working on a web design project, there might be some changes and challenges that will require immediate attention. With large companies, reaching the support team might prove difficult. A small web design company will focus on their clients and thus the arising issues will be solved fast and sufficiently. A smaller web design company works closely with its clients which is why they are the best in solving personal issues.

 

It is crucial that you consider the importance of working with smaller web design companies instead of a larger one. The smaller company will ensure that the website is designed to your specifications up to the smallest detail. This will go a long way in giving you the safest and most professional website that will enhance your online presence and consequently improve your sales.

 

Creative Design and Internet Marketing

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Website Redesign – 10 Important Points To Keep In Mind

By Derek Robinson

There are different reasons behind website redesigning and you already know why you are doing it. It is however important to note that the standards used in the redesigning process will always change. You might be in need of launching a new product line or updating your cooperate image.

 

If your website is in the center of your business, then you have to know that the redesign will have a noticeable impact. You will need to ensure that this impact is positive in all aspects. This is why you are reading this post.

 

The following are top ten points you should keep in mind when redesigning your website. This is a simplified framework you can use in your website redesign project.

1. Have Defined Marketing Goals

The first step is defining marketing goals that will form the foundation of the redesign. Websites are used for sales, lead generation, and customer support. Regardless of the use, you need to have goals and these goals should be tracked using KPIs (Key performance Indicators)

 

The most important Key Performance Indicators are the conversions because they show the relationship changes. When a user fills the contact form and becomes a sales lead, this is an important event.

 

The main aim is to ensure that the visitors on your website are taking actions that are geared towards benefiting your business. The most important conversion actions include signing up for newsletters, downloading marketing documents and purchasing products.

 

It is important to use supplementary KIPs for purposes of tracking the performance of the site. For instance, pay attention to the bounce rate because when it is high, this means that there are many visitors visiting a page and leaving immediately. This might be as a result of inappropriate content or content that is not appealing to your target audience. Other important Key Performance Indicators include the average pages visitors view per session, and the average time they spend on the site.

 

Establishing KPIs and tracking them should be done before the redesign process because they will assist in establishing the comparison.

2. Know Your Target Audience

In most cases, people think it is a good idea to define their audience broadly, but it does not make any sense to exclude potential business. The danger in this is that while you try to include everyone, you might end up pleasing no one. The last thing you want is a website that reads like anonymous letters from a company.

 

The idea is to make the website read like a love letter to your audience. It is important to get into their shoes and understand what motivates them, what they are interested in and what they are looking for. Speak to them in a language they understand and make everything straightforward.

 

The task is to create a profile for all your target customers and ensure that the profile describes their needs, motivations, and interests. This might appear like hard work buy as you will learn, it will eventually pay. Keep in mind that you should focus on middle-level management when you are selling to corporations because they are responsible for making decisions that affect the company’s choice.

3. Provide Relevant Content

The main reason why a single company can dominate search engine result pages is content relevance. To search engines ‘relevant’ indicate that users find whatever it is they are looking for.

 

To your website, relevant content is what your intended audience will find useful. This is the main reason why you need to go through all the efforts to know your audience. This should be followed by content that represents their needs. Ensure you get into your target customers head to understand what they want or need.

 

Know why and how they got to your website, the problems they are looking to solve, the complications caused by the problems, how you can solve the problems in a different unique way, and how they will feel if you solve those problems.

 

The bounce rate on your website is a good sign of whether your content is relevant. The higher the bounce rate, the more irrelevant the content on the website is. This is because the bounce rate is raised by the number of visitors visiting your site and leaving as soon as they get there.

 

Relevant content will lower the bounce rate and increase the conversion rate. This is good for your website and good for your business. This is why it is important to work on your profile and the website content.

4. Search Engine Optimization

Phantom, Pirate, Hummingbird, Pigeon, and Panda – Google has continuously released algorithm updates. These updates are aimed at rewarding websites with relevant content. For this reason, you might want to ensure you are in the list of website being rewarded.

 

A while ago, SEO was all about playing the system, but things have been changed by these algorithm updates. The plays and games no longer work because these algorithm updates keep getting meaner and friendlier to the users.

 

Today, SEO is about different practices that are aimed at ensuring that Google and other search engines can easily understand your content. A competent website designer will incorporate these practices when handling the redesign project.

 

Keyword research is the other important part of SEO. There are many tools available online that you can use to conduct keyword research and identify the terms that match the motivations and interests of the audience you are targeting.

 

When you are selecting the keywords, it is crucial that you select one keyword for each page on your website. You can then optimize the page by using the keyword in the URL, title and through out the page content.

 

The exact method of optimizing the page is a debatable subject. This is because Google does not provide information on how it ranks websites. You can take advantage of Google Webmaster to find the terms Google considers relevant.

5. Explainer Videos Can Help

Days are gone when people used to only rely on images and text to tell their stories on websites. Today, you get an easier way of explaining things through videos.

 

Explain videos are popular because they actually work. When you have a video that has been well produced, a great script and visuals that engage the audience will capture their attention and this is all that matters. Through the video you can explain what you are all about in a way that appeals to the audience.

 

With a video, you can showcase the personality of your brand and this is a good way to ensure that the viewers retain the information. Videos can help in increasing the conversion rates and in achieving higher ranks on Google.

6. Responsive Design vs. Mobile- Friendly

You know that you that your redesign should appear attractive on different screens and there are 2 ways you can achieve this.

 

The cheaper option of the two is a mobile-friendly website. This simply means that your website will work the same way regardless of the size of the screen in use. Your content will scale to fit smaller screens and this means that you need to use smaller images. Because there are some features such as drop-down menus that will not work on mobile devices and you need to eliminate them.

 

If there are more than 35% of your visitors accessing your site using mobile devices, you will need to spend a little more for responsive designs.

 

Responsive designs are website designs that will adapt to the environment. The images and texts will resize and realign depending on the screen being used. The unnecessary images will be hidden when the screen being used is small.

7. Analytics Utilization

You should at least be using Google Webmaster and Google Analytics. These services are free and are highly assistive. It is important to start by tracking your website before the redesign so as to identify the things that need to be altered.

 

Google Webmaster Tools are more important with search engine optimization. After the redesign, you should take a few months then check to see the keywords that are performing well. You can then continue with the optimization of pages that are underperforming. You can also introduce new pages that are based on keywords considered high-value.

 

You can track the Key Performance Indicators using Google Analytics. These should be the KPIs that you defined prior to starting the redesign process. These tools can also assist you in tracking your marketing campaigns among many other important aspects.

8. Marketing Automation

As you plan the redesign for your website, you need to decide on whether you need to invest in marketing automation. Some of the automation tools will cost you a fortune but based on the benefits they bring on the table, investing in them is worth every cent.

 

The marketing automation vendors will provide all the comprehensive toolkits which will give markers an easy time planning, coordinating, managing and measuring all marketing aspects and efforts online and offline. Normally, these vendors will give you tools that help in building and tracking your landing pages, growing email lists and many other processes.

9. Existing URLs Forwarding

The redesigning process might also include the elimination of outdated pages. The unfortunate thing is that the visitors that arrive through the legacy links will be welcomed by the 404 error Page. This probably means you have lost that visitor for good. And this is bad for business.

 

A good solution to this problem is the redirection of all legacy URLs to existing pages that have been redesigned and contain relevant content.

 

Start with a map to the existing web content. List all the URLs. If you are eliminating any of the pages during the redesign processes the server-side 301 redirect. This will help in sending the visitor to the appropriate pages.

10. Conversion Path Optimization

The first step in the website redesign process was defining the marketing goals. Just because the website is launched, it does not mean that the process is over.

 

Once the website is launched, and you have traffic on the pages, you will need to ensure that the conversion paths are optimized. This is a process that is geared towards making alterations to the landing pages for purposes of increasing website visitors.

 

When you think in the line of conversion paths, you will also have a chance to change the other parts of the website that bring the visitors to these landing pages. The optimization of conversion paths is part voodoo and part science and this is why this skill is in high demand. In most cases, a 1% change or less can have a huge impact on the results you get.

 

Now you know some of the important elements that you need to pay attention to when you are redesigning your website. This will ensure that your website is attractive and can keep the visitors glued to the content and convert them from visitors to buyers.

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How Much Does A Website Cost? The Truth

By Derek Robinson

Most people who want a website built for personal or business use always have a similar question about how much money they should invest in a website. If you do not have a boatload of money in the bank, the smallest amount of money is a big concern and you want to see it utilized in the best way possible.

 

When you are paying for tangible goods, the concern is not all that intense. When intangible things such as website development or design services are things you are paying for, there are always problems. Because you cannot hold the website in your hands, knowing what it is really worth can be a little tricky.

 

The cost you pay for having a website built will greatly vary. If you get quotes from as many as 20 web designers, you will get an equal number of varying rates. Some will charge a few hundred dollars while others will ask for thousands, it all depends on the company, what they offer and a whole lot of other unexplainable things. The big question is – how do you know the right amount to pay for a website?

Factors Affecting the Cost Of Web Design

What You Need

One mistake that most people make is to assume that because they have what they consider to be simple ideas, they should pay lower than what the designer is willing to take. This is a mistake because what you might consider to be simple can be a great deal of work in web design. You should not be surprised to find a one page website that requires more work than a website with dozens of pages.

Something that you might not know is that the designer will not charge you according to the amount of time they take to create your website. Some of these processes can be done fast but they will need skills and knowledge, and this is what you will be paying for. What a designer can do has been learned over years and this is why you are going to pay for their services. If anyone could do the tasks, then there would not be specialists in web design. There are things such as eCommerce, opt-in membership and forums that need extra work and this means more money in the overall cost.

Skill Level Of The Designer

While it is possible to get a website for $150, the quality will be so far from what $1500 will get you. The difference between the two will be like a tricycle and a sport bike. Both might get you where you want to go but one will have better results and will get you there faster. A designer who charges you more is always willing to go an extra mile to provide all the extras and make sure that your website is in accordance to your needs and preferences. What you will get from them cannot be achieved through the cheap rates. When all is said and done, you will have a value for the added cost. Low rates will only lead you to a bogus designer who might be in the learning process and what you will get is a trial website that does nothing to help you achieve set goals.

Are You A Stubborn Client?

This is something people in the industry only like to whisper but let us be honest for a minute. If you will be calling the designer 50 million times in a day… well, it might not be 50 million but calling the designer multiple times to change this and improve that might just cost you a fortune. Website designers have developed the ‘skills’ to identify stubborn clients and just in case one tiptoes to their business, they will make sure they get paid for bothers and the stubbornness from the client asking for thousands of things changed every hour.

So, How Much Should It Cost?

The following are a few things that you might want to consider before you budget for a web design:

For A Blog

Should I Spend On a blog?

Well, if you have a blog that you use as a platform to share memories and photos with friends and family and do not earn anything from it, then this is not something you should spend more than a few hundred dollars on. The easiest way is to just grab one of those free themes and just leave the design at that. If you make money from your blog or you want to make money from it, then you will need to spend money to make more money.

Benefits Of A Professional Blog Design

If you want to attract more traffic, which will attract more advertisers and features on the big sites, then you will need the help of a professional design. It is possible that spending about $1500 now will earn you more than 5 times that money in a year. This should be motivation enough to get you going for a professionally designed blog.

Is Outsourcing A Good Idea?

After asking for quotes from designers, most people say that they will design their own blogs to save money. This leads to four possible outcomes:

– They will spend hours trying to work on the blog design and the sad part is that it will still look bad.

– They spend hours trying to figure out how things are done then give up and hire a designer.

– They hire a cheap designer who will give the bad quality designs and end up looking for a professional designer to fix the bad design

– They pay a designer after the DIY process because what they made for themselves is not what they really wanted.

All of these cases are a waste of time and money; something that could have been avoided if they decided to work with a professional designer in the first place. If you are a blogger, stick to your blogging lane and let professional designers do their work. You will thank yourself later for making this decision.

How Much Should You Spend?

You should spend anything between a couple of hundreds to a few thousand dollars. This will depend on what your blog gives you and the audience you have. Unless you have a blog that earns you a lot of money and has a huge following, you should not spend more than $5000 on it.

Business Websites

Do I need A Business Website?

In this technology era, a lot of consumers are finding businesses online and it would be a great disadvantage if you are not where people are looking. Whether you have a thousand outlets or a thousand workers, if you do not have a business website, there is a lot you are missing in the 21st century. That said, having a poor quality or outdated business website will actually do more harm than good. You might think that having any kind of website is better than not having online presence but the truth is that you will lose some customers who will look at your business as being cheap and disorganized.

Benefits Of A Business Website

A website can be used for a number of things such as teaching people, making appointments, making purchases, or providing contact information. There are two important things when dealing with a business website. 1. If your website is not leading to more sales, there is clearly something wrong with it. 2. If it leads to sales, you need to know how to make it work better for an improved customer experience that leads to more conversion.

What Do Businesses Need?

Most business owners spend time and energy worrying about the tiny things that do not actually matter like more space for the logo that pushes content down, menus that pop out in a certain way and many other things that do not really matter. While they worry about these things, they miss the bigger picture and this leads to visitors who leave as soon as they land on the website. If you do not have an idea of what your business website needs, it is time to talk to a professional web designer.

How Much Should It Cost?

Since business website have so many elements involved, it might be difficult to decide on a price. It is important that you budget a few thousand dollars for a professional website. To get a better picture of why you should spend that amount, put yourself in the shoes of your target customers and think of all the things you would want to see on a website. Keep in mind that though the customer wants a website that is easy to use, they want it to be professional. This can only be achieved by a professional website designer who will have all your needs and preferences in mind and still think about the expectation of the consumers in your line of business.

For professional results, it is a great idea to let a professional web designer handle the designing as you worry about other important things in your business.

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