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7 Great Tips To Make Your Website The Best Experience For Your Clients by @XLConsultingGro

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by Elaine Slatter | Featured Contributor

We’ve all done this, clicked on a website and spent so much time trying to find out basic information, we click off, leaving totally frustrated.  Many businesses make the mistake of putting together a website that is more about their own idea of what it should look like instead of being optimized for future clients.  Here are seven tips to help you make your website a great user experience.

Keep It Simple

You only have six seconds to engage your website visitor, so make it count by making your home page simple and easy to navigate.  Get rid of all the clutter.  Be clear on what problems you can solve for your future clients.  What makes you unique and how you can help solve their issues.  This clarification is part of your strategy in developing your brand pillars.

Create A “Call To Action”

A Call to Action (CTA) is where you direct your visitor to take an action.  What would your action message be?  This message depends on the focus you are trying to achieve.  For startups, it would be different than it is for established businesses.

For example, popular yoga wear brand Lululemon is a business that has already established the ‘like, know and trust factor’ (other than that hiccup a few years ago with the transparent yoga pants!)  Because they are established and have loyal customers, they can concentrate on offering new products and product line extensions. Lululemon know that’s what their clients are looking for.

When Kate Hudson started her Fabletics brand of athletic wear, she focused on a different Call To Action, which she still uses to-day.   The Fabletics Call To Action is based on “Become a VIP member and get special offers.”  The focus for Fabletics when they started up was to offer it’s members “value” yoga/active wear.  The Fabletics price points underscore “value”.  This is a different focus and call to action than the more luxury brand, Lululemon.

Each company has positioned itself with it’s own unique Call To Action.

Free Offers In Return For Email Addresses

If you are offering courses or consulting services, an easy way to get sign-ups for your email list is to offer something “free”.   This could be any one of the following:

A free checklist

A free downloadable e-book

A free “how to” guide

An Easy To Follow Menu Bar

A menu bar should be clear and logical and cover essential elements.   Visitors want to know you.   An ‘About Us’ page showcases you and your team, showcases your experience, tells your story, all in a clear and inviting way.  This will create the ‘trust’ factor.

A ‘contact us’ page is also essential.  Don’t make your clients chase all over your website to find out how to contact you.  In addition to a stand-alone contact us page, your contact info can go right on your home page.

Testimonials – Also essential for creating the “trust” factor.  If you have extensive testimonials, list them on a separate page, so they can be found easily from your menu bar.

Content Is King

Your website can look the prettiest or coolest on the planet, but if the content isn’t there, then within a few seconds of frustration, your visitor will click off quickly.  Are you providing valuable content? Content is a great tool for service-oriented businesses to demonstrate value.  A consistent blog strategy that you share everywhere is a platform for your content.

Choice of Images And Videos Is Important

It’s true, we are all very visual.  The first things that we react to on a website are the pictures and videos.  Are they engaging, do they speak to your audience, do they tell a story?  Can your viewers relate?  It’s one of the single most important parts of your website because it’s key to the client experience and first-time engagement.

Ask For Or Develop Your Wireframe Before Coding

A wireframe shows the navigation, the columns, the placing of the home page elements and is a blueprint for your website.  A wireframe can also show the images for the homepage and titles of the columns, and either sample text or real text.   Once the wireframe is complete you can test this with your clients. Have you hit the highlights of what a customer would want to find out when they land on your site?  Feedback at this stage is important so adjustments can be made before coding begins.

Once your website is finished in a ‘test’ environment, send it out to your tribe of colleagues for their critical analysis before you publish to the world.  You are looking for feedback.  Incorporating the feedback will make your website the best experience for your future clients.

If you aren’t sure if your website is the best experience for your clients, contact us for a free website checkup.

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Elaine SlatterElaine Slatter is a Small Business Expert, founder of  XL Consulting Group and author of the popular book, “Fabulous Fempreneurship”, a complete business guide for women.  XL Consulting Group helps entrepreneurs with market planning, strategy, branding, web design and social media. She has over 30 years of executive business and marketing experience and is ready to help you rocket your business to success.  Elaine is passionate about mentoring women to become successful women entrepreneurs.   To find out more, visit XL Consulting Group or join the Fabulous Fempreneurship mastermind.

You can connect with Elaine on social media at:  Facebook Group | Twitter | Facebook

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5 Biggest Website Marketing Mistakes of All Time by Monika Beck @SuccessHarbor

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5 Biggest Website Marketing Mistakes of All Time

by Monika Beck | Featured Contributor

Prepare your company for success by learning from others’ mistakes. Avoid these common website marketing pitfalls.

Developing and maintaining an online presence can seem like a daunting task. However, faced with so many options, it’s crucial that your company is able to stand out from the competition.

There are so many ways to market your company online, from search engines and social media to websites and blogs. Because of the number of options, benchmarking your success can seem overwhelming. Luckily, you can identify any gaps by asking yourself if you have made any of these common website marketing mistakes.

1.  Your customers can’t find you

In order to grow your business, you need to find potential customers. Search engine optimization (SEO) brings customers to you. The basis for SEO involves selecting keywords customers will search for and then incorporating these phrases into your website and online content. Start by researching common keywords connected to your products and services and use them wherever you market yourself online.

2.  You don’t play to the strengths of social media

The power of social media platforms stem from their ability to engage users. Unlike passive advertising channels, creating a Facebook page or Twitter account gives you the opportunity to have a conversation with your customers. In addition to demonstrating the value of your business, think through how you can encourage feedback and discussion with your posts and updates.

Effective social media accounts make a connection between your brand and the needs and interests of your customers.

If a customer decided to like your Facebook page or follow your Twitter account, you already have an invested audience. Content on your social media page should be of value to your customers on its own. Build your brand by engaging customers instead of directly selling them products.

3.  You don’t create reasons to visit your site

Websites require content to bring in more traffic. Blogs are a simple, but effective way to generate regular updates on your website, creating more reasons for customers to visit your site.

Starting a blog from scratch can seem daunting, but understanding the basics can give you a head start.

Website content should be continual and relevant. Evaluate your time and resources and set goal to post a new blog each week or multiple times each month.

4.  You don’t have a plan

Even if you have all the tools readily available, you still need to make sure all your efforts come together to accomplish your goals. Developing parameters and plans gives your work focus and reduces wasted time and effort.

Plans clarify what you are trying to accomplish and what actions will help you achieve your goals.

5.  You don’t measure your success

Similar to not having a plan, not measuring your success makes it difficult to determine how you are performing. Using analytical tools allows you to track your performance and see what is working and what isn’t creating value for your company.

Remember: your website is your company

Your online presence is a vital component of your brand and your business. When you create content on a website or post an update on social media, you are communicating important information about your company. Avoiding these common mistakes is one vital step to building an effective brand and creating a strong online presence.

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Savvy web designer with a twist – Monika Beck with Webene – San Diego, CA.

Monika-Beck-AuthorMonika Beck is passionate about website design, web programming, ecommerce, and building businesses. She is a serial entrepreneur and the cofounder of Success Harbor a website dedicated to help entrepreneurs succeed. Success Harbor interviews successful entrepreneurs and publishes topics relevant to business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Monika started Success Harbor with her cofounder in order to ease the life of entrepreneurs through original research, tips and unique content. Monika is also cofounder of Webene, a website design and online marketing firm based in San Diego, CA. Webene specializes in mobile-friendly responsive websites built on the WordPress platform. Monika loves playing classical music on the piano.

7 Simple Ways to Spruce Up Your About by @monikamundell

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7 Simple Ways to Spruce Up Your About Page

by Monika Mundell

Have you ever visited a website and fell head over heels in love with the person, after stalking her about page? Did you immediately compare your about page to hers, resulting in a guilt-ladden shame attack, followed by a Netflix binge-watching session and carb overload?

Yeah. I know. Comparisonitis sucks.
How do I know? I’ve been there. Gah!

The good news? These 7 simple ways will help you spruce up your about page and put a stop to website shame.

This is important…

Because you’re smart, but your peeps won’t know that unless you give them a reason to believe. You’re busy too.

You just.don’t.have the time to scour social media for a simple solution that works.

All you need right now is a friendly nudge from a word nerd like me to help you get the job done. Stat.

Deal? OK, let’s make you irresistible—on the page that matters most.

This is going to be fun. I promise.

1. Disrupt with intent.

The first thing you want to do is to disrupt website visitors with a headline that grabs their attention.

How? Well what do people usually expect when they visit an about page? Your story, right?

So we’re not going to give them what they expect—at least not right away. For now, let’s just settle on a kick-ass headline that interrupts the reader’s expectations.

2. Blast ‘em with heart.

Next, you want to blast ‘em with heart. So unscrew that magnificent head of yours for a moment and settle into your heart space instead.

Great, engaging copy is conversational. Dripping with emotional intent and words that take the reader on an journey.

You can do that by meeting the reader where she’s at: Her problem, pain, the frustration she feels, the fear and anxiety that keeps her awake at 2am, tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning.

3. Skip the BLAH and make ‘em scream RAH!

At this stage, the reader doesn’t really care about you. She just wants to know what you can do for her (WIIFM).

Give her what she wants.

4. Dial up your personality. Rock your infectious charm.

Seriously, rock your persona. You’re not serving anyone hiding that gorgeous personality because you’re afraid people won’t like you.

We freaking love you! So show us your special sauce. Come out of that closet. BOOM!

5. Simple beats clever.

Keep your copy clear, concise and easy to comprehend so that a 12-year old will get you. Got a teenager on stand by? Grab him / her and read your copy out loud.

If they get you, you’re good to publish. If not, edit, trim, nip and tuck that baby until it makes sense.

6. Showcase your awesome sauce.

Awesome sauce = your expertise. What’s your shazang—your easy genius?

Tell us. This is a time to list those fabulous results you’ve achieved, the things you stand for and the things you don’t accept.

7. The 1-step close.

So the last thing we want to do is to give your reader a reason to believe in you. How? Invite her to snack from your buffet of services by giving her an opportunity to:

A: Download your fabulous lead magnet (freebie).
B: Request a complimentary strategy session.
C: Present a low-cost tripwire ($7-20).

Give her one option. Not three. One call to action. And make sure that the offer is clearly presented. Tell her what to do next… click the image below, fill out the form, call me at this number.

And there you have it. Your shame-free irresistible sparkly new about page.

Now I want to hear from you. Tell me, in the comments below. What’s been your biggest aha takeaway?

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@monikamundell Monika Mundell is the chief unicorn at www.monikamundell.com. Her special gifts include throwing glitter bombs and rainbow-coloured sparkles—with shameless abandon, drinking green smoothies, googling things before making them, and cruise-hopping because she can.

She teaches women how to follow the call of their hearts by helping them simplify sales, with copy that sells. Her FREE 3-Day UNBLAH ME class breathes fresh life into the about pages of business women and turns them into irresistible weapons of mass seduction.