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Simplifying Your Website Could Be the Best Decision Ever

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Content, Website Design, Websites (General).

By studying a range of websites, it makes it easier for you to begin to come to terms with things that are categorically wrong with so many. Often, a website can look as if it’s too crowded as if somebody has tried to put far too much information on the one page, and what is the result? A website that can be extremely off-putting.

Now, this isn’t to say that this approach will not always work for everyone, far from it. However, you need to really put some thought into all of this. After all, what do you prefer as an individual when you go to the website of any company? Do you prefer being able to land on there and feel stressed out as you simply have no idea where to look? Of course not, and who would?

That’s why the title of this blog is ‘Simplifying Your Website Could Be the Best Decision Ever’ because that statement does indeed speak the truth. In fact, it is now even more important than ever before thanks to the use of smartphones and tablets. Gone are the days where your only concern was how your website looked on a 17inch monitor and it has been replaced by something far smaller.

In other words, if your website is crowded, then how can you expect those individuals surfing it on their iPhone or whatever to then make sense of it all?

So, what could be your way forward? Well, there are several key points that are worth considering that may very well help you out of this rather difficult situation.

Use a Call to Action.

People no longer want to sit and wade through reams of information just to get to the reason why they are there in the first place. Instead, people are impatient and just want to get to that destination, so it makes sense for you to provide them with this call to action and make it as bold as possible.

This will actually increase the click-thru rate that you get and will actively encourage more people to do the action that you want them to do. It is actually crazy to think that a number of individuals will often bypass this and feel that they need to sell something over and over again. If that’s you, then stop it.

Reduce the Number of Pages.

Even if you have a lot to say, cut down on the number of pages. By simplifying things, you need to streamline as much as possible, so that’s where the likes of bullet points and bringing things together under common categories will work well.

For example, say you have a number of services. Some people would go ahead and have a different page for each service, but that is like web design suicide now. Instead, it would all go under the one banner of ‘Services’ with a brief summary of each thing all on the one page.

Don’t Get Fancy with Navigation.

There has been a recent trend to have all kinds of fanciful navigation methods, but that’s only going to complicate matters. This is especially true when they have included hidden menus because people will just get fed up trying to find something and go elsewhere.

The best approach is the old tried and trusted menu. People know what to expect, and they know how to work it so you really are onto a winner with this.

Be Careful with Typography.

There are a number of websites that seem to be in some kind of competition to use as many different fonts as possible on the one page. However, that’s just sore on the eyes and the website itself actually looks a mess.

You are best to stick to a rule whereby the fewer the number of fonts, the better it is. In general, try to have just two or three and mix it up by using some in bold, italics, or using h2, h3 and so on. There’s just no need to try to be all artistic like this as it just annoys people and makes your website look far more complicated than it actually is.

Remember the Text Size.

The final thing we will mention is the text size. It must be easy to read, and yet some people will have a font size that is far too small so that when it’s transferred to a smartphone it becomes impossible to ready it.

Increase the font size by a few points and cut back on the number of words instead so it no longer seems as cramped. Be succinct with what you are saying and get your point across as quickly as possible as that will only bode well for your potential conversion rates.

These are just a few things that we feel anybody should look at doing with their website, and it’s up to you as to which ones you need to use in order to make those changes. A simple website is a winning website and surely you want to be a winner?

Launching Your Website is a Key Moment

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, SEO, Tips, Website Design, Websites (General).

website launchIt’s not exactly rocket science to know that launching your website is going to prove to be a key moment, but even though this is obvious, it’s still amazing how many people do it wrong.

Now, you are probably sitting there wondering how you can go wrong with this kind of thing. Surely you just put the website live and that’s it?

Well, if you do believe that, then you are one of the many people that have just been missing out on the main point.

In order to get to this point, you need to have jumped through various hoops and got over a range of obstacles before you are in the position to launch your website. Thankfully, there are various tools that will often prove to be rather useful with all of this, so if you are at that point of getting ready to launch your site, then this could be an interesting post.

Now, we are going to also skip past a few of the early stages such as getting the correct domain name and hosting, because those are common sense and you will have already done that. Instead, we are talking about taking things further and to the point where you are ready to unveil your master creation to the world.

After all, you want the great reveal to go well and not to just sink without a trace, don’t you?

The Key Tools to Move Forward.

As we said, we are skipping the hosting and domain name stuff, but we are going to jump right in just after that particular point and start with an SSL Certificate.

An SSL Certificate is going to help encrypt various aspects of your website and users are well aware that it gives them some added security, which is something that they love. You will see the padlock and the domain name starting with https rather than http as a sign that it does indeed have this certificate.

It used to be the case that it cost you money for this certificate, but that changed in late 2015 where it’s now free. As it costs you nothing, there’s no reason for you to not have it and some hosting companies provide it anyway, so you might not even have to do anything extra. However, the confidence it gives your users in visiting your website is well worth double checking.

Monitoring Tools.

If you thought that you put your website live and then that’s it, then think again. Instead, things can go wrong at any point even if it’s not your fault, and yet, you might not even be aware of it and, as a result, will be missing out on potential clients or customers.

That’s why we do recommend that you take full advantage of website monitoring tools that do this automatically and report back to you. They run constantly, so even if you are asleep then you can rest assured that this software is keeping a close eye on things. You will then be made aware of any issues when you log back on and can then take the appropriate action.

Error Tracking.

Even though you may have tested your website to the point of exhaustion, that doesn’t mean that you will have potentially caught all of the bugs and errors. That’s why it may be worth your while investing in error tracking tools that will let you know when users have encountered a problem.

This is important because you want to rectify those errors as quickly as possible since that user may have just decided to go elsewhere thanks to their bad experience. You don’t want that situation to replicate itself time and time again, do you?

There are several tools out there that can do this job, but do just double check how much they charge before signing up.

Web Analytics.

Finally, there are web analytics tools and we strongly recommend that you use them. They are going to provide you with so much information on how people are using your website allowing you to then make the appropriate changes in order to improve usability and reduce bounce rates.

Now, even if you are unsure as to what the different stats are telling you, it will at least put you in the picture of where people are coming from, what they are looking at, how they are getting there, and so many other rather useful snippets of information. It will also make it easier for you to create a marketing plan that will work all because of the details from these tools.

These are just the basic things that we recommend when you are going to be launching your website although there are others such as file storage and the ability to create emailing lists and send out bulk emails to those individuals. However, just launching your website without putting any kind of thought into it is just not an option at all and by doing this, you are just increasing your chances of things becoming a failure.

Consider and Understand the Importance of an SSL Certificate

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Hosting, SEO, Tips, Uncategorized, Website Design, Websites (General).

Your website security is important to you as well as your visitors. In today’s world of cyber-security, adding an SSL Certificate to your website can help protect you, protect your visitors, build trust, and as a little bonus – give you a little SEO rankings bump.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encrypts data to allow secure connections from a web server to a browser. The SSL helps to keep prying eyes from seeing the conversation between you and the website you would be doing business with. In the past, an SSL was commonly needed to protect credit card information, social security numbers, bank accounts, and any other personal sensitive information. It is always expected that any online store, bank, job application, or doctor’s online patient forms have the well-known green lock displayed next the website URL.

But there is nothing sensitive on my website. Why do I need an SSL?

There are added benefits to an SSL Certificate, as they are becoming more popular in today’s web. Customer experience is vital to any company. By adding an SSL to your website, are you building immediate trust with your potential clients. The moment someone visits a website that is proudly displaying the secure lock next to their URL, the visitor can see that you not only take your site and your security seriously, but you also value theirs.

Google recognizes the need for more vigilant cyber security and have started giving increased SEO rankings to those that are utilizing the tool. Google SEO standards are another can of worms, and this one step may not launch you from page 7 to #1, but using this tool that improves your site security and gives you a little boost in SEO is an easy win-win situation.

Here at Webfoot, we utilize the SSL certificate for many reasons, and we encourage everyone to do the same. We will soon require all clients hosting with Webfoot to have an SSL on their website.

Why You Need to Opt for Responsive Web Design

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Responsive Design, SEO, Website Design, Websites (General).

It would be wrong to suggest that ‘responsive web design’ is a buzz term because it has now been around for two years and ever since Google made a huge shift towards mobile and tablet usage. However, there are still various websites that just do not incorporate this into its design and that, in this day and age, is a major sin.

Now, just for those few that may still be unaware as to what this means, it’s basically design that can be viewed on any device and the design will fit their screen. This was a huge change when it came out because prior to that, people with access to the Internet via their phones were left with having to scroll all over the page simply because things just wouldn’t fit.

That has all changed now, and there are a number of reasons as to why this approach has to be adopted by you for your very own website.

It Helps Your SEO.

Anything that is beneficial to your SEO attempts has to be adopted by you especially when you consider that Google changed things so that your website would be downgraded in search results via tablets and smartphones.

If your site uses this responsive web design, then your organic search traffic should increase as you will surpass those websites that are competition to you but where they have not adopted this approach at this time. Considering the difference that just a few places can make to the traffic you receive, this is something that is well worth thinking about.

It Increases Your Market.

Another reason is that it is going to increase your market as you are no longer excluding people simply because of the device that they are using.

Who would stay on a website via their smartphone when all they see are a jumble of words and images that just don’t make sense. There is no chance that they will stay there on your website and attempt to scroll around when there are various websites offering the same thing and a more pleasant viewing experience.

Considering that it’s getting to the point where the majority of traffic is going to be from tablets or smartphones, then ignoring it reduces your market and can you afford to do that?

It Boosts Sharing.

At the same time, the fact that your website becomes accessible to anybody, no matter the viewing device, is going to increase the chances of your content being shared since nobody is excluded. Also, using this design is going to save you money in the long-term. There’s no longer any need to have one website for laptops and another one for mobile devices as it’s all built into the same thing.

This then means that your completed site can be live in a shorter period of time as there is only the one set of rules, images, and content to deal with.

It Improves Usability.

Usability is one of the main things that is going to either make or break your website because if it’s not good enough, then people will go elsewhere.

This is something that responsive web design excels at simply because it takes everybody into consideration and provides them with the exact same experience no matter their device. Exclusion is the complete opposite of usability and that’s something worth keeping in mind when you are thinking about the design aspect.

Just think about your own feelings when you go to a website with your smartphone, as there’s a pretty good chance you have done this, and how you react when things are just not working out the way you thought.

What do you do?

The chances are you become fed up and click off onto another website, so why would you not then make sure that your own website is not doing the same thing for other people?

It’s not even as if it costs you a huge sum of money to have this design incorporated. It’s all second nature since it was introduced two years ago and it’s largely just assumed that this has to be included in the design brief.

Responsive web design was, at one point, seen as a potential passing fad, but it is certainly here to stay. If your website does not have this kind of design, then it’s about time you put in the effort and got things changed. You will reap the rewards of doing so in next to no time and this alone will have made it all worth your while.

New Year. New Look

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Branding, Website Design, Websites (General), WordPress.

Webfoot is proud to announce that it has launched its newly redesigned website. 

How long has it been since you last made changes to your website or even added new content? The ever changing search algorithms know. Do you know if you do not change content, design, or the structure of your website on a continual schedule you become less relevant to the search engines and in turn you are found less often when paying customers are looking for your particular services or products. Our website at Webfoot is no different so we have just completed our new website redesign with all the current and latest enhancements.

Is It Time For You To Redesign?

To stay current and keep a fresh look your site should be changed or redesigned every 12 to 24 months. This may sound rather often but to keep pace with the ever changing web it is important to stay relevant and noticed by the search engines. Is your site mobile friendly? Do you know that the SEO algorithms used by Google and others change a few times a year? Are the latest security updates applied to your site? To keep up with the always changing requirements for a successful website is a full time job. Are you working full time on your site? Today’s business world is online and your website is impacting your business. It is up to you whether that impact is helping or hurting. If it has been some time since you last updated or redesigned your site call now and trust the proven experts at Webfoot Designs to get your website back in business.