Web Design Archives - Scout Design Co.

6 Signs It’s Time For a Website Redesign

December 14, 2022 by caitlin Leave a Comment

We all know how important it is to have a website these days. But did you know that (accordinig to Stanford) 75% of internet users judge the credibility of your business based on how your website looks and functions? It’s not enough just to have an online presence anymore – you need to have a killer website.

So, how do you know if your site is making the cut? Here are 6 surefire signs it may be time for a website redesign.

1. You’re embarrassed to send potential clients to your site.

Do you cringe inside just a little when someone asks for your website? Maybe you immediately start thinking about all its flaws… your bio photo is 5 years old, the services page is outdated, it’s super clunky to navigate. Your website is an extension of your brand and represents not only your business, but YOU as a business owner. If you’re not proud, excited, confident in sharing that URL, it’s time to consider a redesign.

2. Your website isn’t current with what you offer.

If your website has outdated or missing information you are at high risk of confusing (or worse, loosing!) potential buyers. It should be SUPER clear what you offer, who it helps and how to work with you. You should update your website as your offerings change.

3. Your website doesn’t reflect your level of expertise.
THIS IS A BIG ONE! Most of my clients are looking for a redesign because they’ve simply outgrown their current website. And that is absolutely fine! As your business evolves, your website should too! I often see a huge disconnect with how businesses are positioning themselves and how their website looks and functions. If you are charing premium prices and yet your website makes you look like a budget service provider… you’re loosing sales, period.

4. You’re getting inquiries from not-so-ideal clients.

I know you have a list of dream clients that you’re dying to work with. Clients that value the work that you do. Clients that trust your expertise and are easy to work with. If the inquiries you’re receiving aren’t from these clients… you’re not resonating with the right people. This is typically due to poor design, a lousy user experience and/or vague messaging.

5. Your site stats have seen better days.

What’s you bounce rate looking like? This is the amount of users that leave your site after visiting just one page. And let’s be honest…if people aren’t sticking around, they probably aren’t buying from you. A proper website strategy and user experience will increase the amount of time users spend on your site. This also increases the chance of them booking a call, signing up for your email list, reading more blog posts, etc.

6. Your website doesn’t have clear goals.

You can’t track your site’s performance if you don’t even know what you’re measuring. Your website should have a primary and a secondary goal. Primary goals usually consist of the more obvious actions: book a sales call, buy the product, enroll in the course. The thing that directly leads to money in your pocket. But not every visitor is going to be ready to make an investment. It’s important to warm up cold leads and build trust with those on the fence. A common secondary goal is signing up for your email list. By implementing a proper website strategy you can create a user experience/journey that leads visitors to the actions you want them to take.

so, is it time for a website redesign?

If so, reach out and see how we can help.

How to conduct a website audit

January 28, 2022 by caitlin Leave a Comment

A website audit is a wonderful way to evaluate the overall success of your website. I’m going to break down the important areas to look at and how you can improve them. You can perform a website audit yourself with my Website Audit Workbook.

What is a website audit?

A website audit is the process of analyzing your website to determine how well it’s performing. It allows you to see what’s working well and what areas could be changed or updated in order to work better. An audit dives deep into how your website looks and functions to viewers as well as what’s happening behind the scenes.

What can a website audit do for my business?

It’s important to do a website audit regularly to make sure your site is functioning properly and helping your business grow. You’ll usually just find some small tweaks that need to be made or it can help you come to the realization that it’s time to totally refresh your site. Some ways a website audit can help you:

rank better on Google.
book dream clients by connecting to the right people
raise your rates by looking more professional
increase your sales by making it super easy to buy

How to perform a website audit

There are 6 major areas I like to look at when when evaluating a website. Go through your website thoughtfully and consider:

The overall strategy and goal

Your website should have a primary goal and a secondary goal. Typically the primary goal is turning a visitor into a paying client. For example, booking your service, joining your course, buying your product, etc. Think of your secondary goal as the thing you’d like them to do if they don’t buy from you right now. Maybe you want them to sign up for your email list so you can continue to engage with them. With your goals in mind, make sure your website is allowing visitors to perform these actions – and easily.

Do you have a call to action on each page?
Do you have an opt-in form that’s impossible to miss?
Are you offering a free piece of valuable content as an incentive to join your email list?

If you’re a numbers person, check out your Google Analytics. Is your bounce rate (the percentage of people that leave after viewing only one page) over 70%? Is there a way you can keep people on your website longer? How many people are viewing your contact page vs actually sending in an inquiry? Are you happy with that conversion rate? If not, you may need to make easier and more obvious how to contact you.

Aesthetics

Despite the age-old advice, we all judge books by their covers. And potential clients will absolutely judge you and your business on how your website looks.

Your website is an extension of your brand and should look the part. Make sure you’re utilizing your brand colors and fonts and you have unique images that represent your business. The more you stand out the more likely you are to be remembered.

Nothing screams “outdated website” more than traditional formatting and too much text. (Remember when every website had paragraphs of left aligned text and a sidebar with tiny images you could barely make out. Woof.)

Make sure you’re using a clean layout with plenty of white space – let your content breath! Try avoiding super long paragraphs. People won’t read them anyway. Instead, break up your content with images, graphics and headlines.

Messaging

Perhaps the most important part of your website is that it’s actually speaking to the right people. Your website is the place you’re making sales. If your message is not crystal clear you could be loosing clients.

This is going a bit into brand strategy and copywriting, but in short messaging answers the questions: what are you selling? and who is it for? If a viewer can’t figure out what you sell in less than 3 seconds, you may want to rework your messaging.

I always recommend touching on the feelings of your ideal audience in order to truly resonate with them. Realize that you’re not actually selling a solution to an external problem but the solution to an internal problem.

Let’s use a health coach as an example. The thing they’re selling is a health and wellness program around exercise and nutrition. The external problem they’re solving is maybe weight loss and increased energy. But the internal problem they’re solving is a lack of confidence or not feeling like the best version of yourself. Make sure you explain the benefits of your service and not just the features. Leather seats may be a nice feature on a new car, but the feeling of luxury is the benefit the customer is actually looking for. Making that shift in your message can make a huge impact on your sales.

User experience

User experience is key in making your visitors happy as well as making Google happy. (And the happier Google is, the higher you may rank in search results.) Confirm everything on your website is functioning properly. Check your contact forms, opt-in forms and broken links and ensure they’re working and redirecting as they should.

Make sure your website is easy to use and content is easy to digest. I recommend having no more than 5 items in your main navigation menu and utilizing plenty of headings and lists to make text skim-able. Other things you can do to make using your website easy:

Have social media links in your header or footer so viewers can engage with you further
Use a plugin that allows viewers to share your blog posts directly from your site
Include an FAQ section that educates potential clients further and tackles common hesitations
Make your contact page one click away
Make your price no more than 2 clicks away (if you share pricing on your site)
Make purchasing no more than 2 clicks away

SEO

We all want to be on that first page of Google, am I right? It’s not an easy feat, but there are some technical things you can do and avoid to give yourself the best chance. Definitely, absolutely, undoubtedly make sure your website is responsive and mobile-friendly. I can’t believe I even have to say it, but the number of websites I come across that require pinching and zooming to read on my phone… I swear.

Fun fact, Google will actually punish you if your site is not mobile responsive. You can also get dinged if you site loads slowly or you don’t have an SSL certificate (this means your address starts with https instead of http).

Ensuring your images are optimized/compressed to the correct sizes and have specified alt text will also keep Google happy. Alt text is the text that will appear in place of your image in the case it doesn’t load and is helpful for visually impaired visitors so they know what the image contains.

Use descriptive key words in the title and alt text of every image on your website.Key words are a major aspect of SEO and should be used throughout your content intentionally. If you want to read more about keywords and SEO, check out this blog post here. Key words should also appear in your meta descriptions.

The easiest way to find out if you even have a meta description is to Google your own website. Is there a short paragraph underneath the title? If not, you aren’t using meta descriptions and can be hurting your ranking. The Yoast plugin for WordPress makes it super simple to add one to each page as well as offers other tips on how you can improve your SEO.

Legal

The legalities of operating a website may be boring, but they are necessary and, fortunately, easy to take care of. Your website needs to have a Privacy Policy if you are collecting any personal information via a contact or opt-in form. Many times a Privacy Policy will cover cookies but it’s not a bad idea to have a banner addressing cookies as well. You also want to include a copyright in the footer of your website so all of your content, images and design are protected and can’t be used by anyone else without your permission.

Download the Website Audit Workbook

I’ve made it super simple to perform your own website audit. Download my free workbook and evaluate the key factors in each area of your website. You’ll end up with a score that lets you know exactly where you stand and easy improvements you can make today. If you’re interested in a fresh, new site I’d love to hear from you! Contact me to get the conversation started.

Download the Free Workbook

7 Things To Do Before Hiring a Web Designer

January 11, 2022 by caitlin Leave a Comment

So, you’re sick of your DIY website. You want to hire a web designer to help you create something beautiful and professional that actually gets you booking more clients. Wise choice. Your web designer should be able to assist and guide you in building your new site. But to get the most out of your investment, it’s up to you to show up prepared.

Before you hire a web designer, make sure you do the following:

Brand your business.

Branding is so important for your business. At a minimum, it encompasses the vision for your business, clarity on who your ideal client is and the essential visual elements that support your vision. You’ll need a primary logo, a color palette and fonts ready before you start designing your website. And if you have a moodboard too, even better.If you can work with a designer to create your branding – awesome! Many brand designers these days even offer alternatives to their full branding package where you can get the essentials at a lower price point. If you’re creatively inclined, you can try picking a color palette that suits your vibe and try DIYing your logo – just make sure it looks professional (no script font logos, please!)

Get professional photos.

Photos can seriously make or break your website. I have a whole blog post here all about why. If it’s in the budget, I highly recommend hiring a photographer and having a brand photo shoot. You’ll end up with a ton of high-quality images that are all on-brand and look consistent. You can also take photos yourself! You do not need fancy equipment and software to be a decent photographer – your iPhone camera will work just fine. Find a well lit location that fits your brand style and have a friend snap some photos of you (or set up a tripod with the timer feature). Stock photography can also be a great option if you’re looking to capture the essence of an industry or a style or a mood . Some of my favorite sources are:

Creative Market (paid)
Moyo Studio (paid)
Unsplash (free)
Pexels (free)

Know your goals.

Having clear goals for your website is so beneficial when developing a strategy. If your web designer knows what you’re trying to accomplish, they can create a user experience that helps you do just that. So, what do you want the user to do on your site? Send an inquiry? Book a call? Purchase your course? Think of a primary goal – the most important thing they could do- and a secondary goal. What would you like them to do if they aren’t quite ready to purchase or book? Maybe read some helpful blog articles? Or sign up for your email list?We want it to be very clear to the viewer what action they should take next.

Gather inspiration.

The web design process will be much smoother if you have an idea of what you want your site to look like. Sharing examples of sites you like is the best way to communicate to your designer what your preferences are and what you’re looking for. Look at other sites in your industry, favorite brands of yours and even Pinterest to gather inspiration. Make sure you’re clear why you like each site you’ve chosen. Is it the overall layout, the amount of white space, the way it uses color? Don’t be afraid to point out the things you don’t like either.

Write your copy.

In most cases, your web designer is not a copywriter. Working with a professional copywriter is your best bet for getting engaging content that will resonate with your ideal audience. But you can certainly write copy yourself too. Donald Miller’s book, Building a Storybrand, is an excellent guide on how to write content that actually connects to your audience. There are also tons of free resources online that can help you. Just type “How to Write an About Page” in Pinterest and see what I mean. PS. If you work with Scout on your new website, you’ll have access to our entire Resource Library full of detailed guides and workbooks to help your write your website content. This can often times be the most overwhelming part of the process for my clients and it’s my goal to make it easier for you while still having copy that “works”.

Create a freebie.

This depends on if you use email marketing in your business (which you should! Click here to read why). Building an email list is one of the best things you can do for your business – even if you don’t really plan on sending a newsletter regularly. A freebie, or lead magnet, is an incentive for your visitors to hand over their email address. Think of a piece of digital content you can share that will add value to your ideal client’s life. This can be a guide, a checklist, a free training, a discount, etc. Designing your freebie to look professional and match your branding is definitely a good idea. If you’ve worked with a brand designer, they’ll probably be able to do this for you. You can also give it a shot yourself in Illustrator or Canva. Many of my clients don’t have a freebie yet and may not have the time or ability to hire their brand designer to create one. So, I offer Freebie/PDF Design as an add-on service to my web design package.

Take care of the technical details.

This is the not-so-fun part about getting a new website up and running. Your web designer may offer to assist you with these tasks (I do!) but it’s good to know what’s coming. You’ll need to set up and pay for the following:

Domain name – check out Namecheap
Hosting account (if using WordPress)- my favorite is Siteground*.
Google Workspace (domain based email) – sign up here*.
Email marketing platform -Get 50% off my favorite FloDesk*. MailChimp is also a good free option to start with
CRM – this isn’t necessary , but a CRM allows you to track leads and manage projects as well as set up workflows to reply to inquirires and send confirmations on auto-pilot. I use and love Dubsado*. You can get 20% off using my link. Honeybook is another one I’ve heard great things about.
Calendar/booking – Book sales calls without sending a single email. Most CRMs include this type of feature, but if you aren’t using one Calendly is an awesome option.

And that’s it! I have a handy little checklist you can download below to help you organize and track this process. And if you’re ready to finally check “new website” off your to-do list, reach out!

Why Choose WordPress for Your Website

January 1, 2022 by caitlin Leave a Comment

SO WHAT IS WORDPRESS?

WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System), the most popular in fact. A CMS allows you to create, edit, organize and publish the content on your site through an online application. With a CMS you can add or delete pages from your site, you can edit text on your pages, you can change the images in your gallery, and much more, all without a single line of code. It’s a great tool allowing you to manage and maintain your website. And without any knowledge of HTML or CSS!

SO WHY CHOOSE WORDPRESS?

It’s so easy

There’s nothing worse than having to call up your developer (and pay them) to change something as simple as the address in your footer because your office relocated or to remove Ted from the employee page because he retired early and moved to Tampa. Through the WordPress Dashboard, right on your browser, you can make any content changes you need to. The interface is super user-friendly, organized and simple. You can edit your About page, publish a blog post, update your headshot, whatever your heart desires. I absolutely love this about WordPress. Because as your business grows and changes, so should your website. WordPress puts that power in your hands.

IT’S INCREDIBLY FUNCTIONAL

I have yet to reach a standstill with WordPress- if I can think it up, I can make it happen. Once known as purely a blogging platform, WordPress is now capable of anything and makes up a majority of CMS based sites on the web today. That includes large dynamic websites, online stores, portfolios, as well as plenty of blogs.

This extensive functionality is in a large part due to the thousands of plugins that are available to use on your WordPress website. A plugin is a small bit of software, developed by a third party, that seamlessly integrates with WordPress to add a feature to your site or enhance an existing one. There are tons of free plugins (as well as premium/paid ones) that offer a variety of different features. For example, contact forms. The easiest way to add a contact form to your website is by using a plugin. It takes care of all the code and functions, you simply insert it on your Contact page. Image sliders are another common website feature that can easily be added through the use of a plugin. Load it up with your favorite photos, insert the plugin shortcode on your page and boom, you got a slider.

Plugins can also come in the uber convenient form of a widget. Widgets are extremely helpful in organizing and structuring your website. Your blog’s sidebar is a perfect example. You may choose to include a brief bio of yourself, a link to your social media profiles, a list of your blog categories, and a promo of one or two of your most popular posts. All of these things can be added through the use of a widget. You can also remove sections or rearrange their order at anytime by simply dragging and dropping them into place.

Plugins can can also add logistic aspects to your site, like Google analytics and social media integration, as well as behind the scenes aspects like speed and security. The functionality plugins allow is limitless and can truly take your website to the next level.

IT’S VERY AFFORDABLE

WordPress is an open-source CMS which means it was created by a community of developers and continues to be worked on by hundreds of different people from all over the world. It’s code is up for grabs for anyone who wants to get their hands on it. Anyone is allowed to use the code, modify it, build on it and redistribute it anyway they’d like. (This allows all those awesome plugins to exist.)

Due to this nature, the use of WordPress is absolutely free. It doesn’t cost a thing to download and install WordPress. There are also countless free themes, plugins, and widgets available for use. But (sorry, there’s a catch) you do have to provide your own hosting. You may have heard the term “self-hosted WordPress” and this is what it’s referring to. Fortunately, hosting costs won’t break the bank. Providers like SiteGround and Bluehost offer great service and affordable rates. Including the cost of monthly hosting (and a domain you need to renew annually) WordPress is still one of the most affordable ways to get online.

IT’S SEO FRIENDLY

Potential clients need to be able to find you online, no doubt. The code used in WordPress is some solid, high-end stuff and therefore it’s easily found and read by search engines like Google. Boosting your SEO even more is painless with a little help from the Yoast SEO plugin. (There are several other SEO plugins to choose from, but Yoast is just my favorite.) Yoast allows you to specify SEO for each post and page. It tells you exactly what to do in order to rank higher and gives you immediate feedback on how well you’re doing so you can improve.

IT’S FOREVER GETTING BETTER

Remember all those developers around the world I mentioned who are constantly working on WordPress code? Thanks to those lovely people, WordPress is always getting better. They’re making it faster, stronger, and easier to use each and every day. Updates are released regularly to make sure that you’re always running the latest version. Your Dashboard will notify you automatically when updates are available and you can install them with the click of a button.

I could continue to geek out about WordPress all day, but I believe I’ve left you with the jist you need. If you still have questions, I’d love to answer them! Leave a comment or contact me!

SEO Basics for Your WordPress Website

January 19, 2020 by caitlin Leave a Comment

SEO is a powerful tool that can increase your site traffic and boost your sales, but it’s not as intimidating as you may think. By simply posting good, thorough and thoughtful content, you will find that you are implementing SEO best practices without even trying. However, there are some classic SEO basics that are worth learning about.

Keywords

The largest and most important component of SEO are SEO keywords. These are the words and/or phrases that Google looks for in your site’s content. Simply put, they are what your target audience is typing in their search bar. It’s important that each page and/or post on your site has a key word or phrase that it primarily focuses on. Consider what it is your business does and what words stick out to describe that most clearly. Be specific. What is your ideal audience searching for on Google? This focus should be made clear and prevalent in 4 areas of your page content.

TITLE

The title of your page or post is what will show up on a Google search result page as well as in the top of your browser tab. If your keyword is not in your page title, you have a very slim chance of Google finding you.

URL

The URL is a web page’s address. Each and every page on your site has a unique URL. For example, my home page is www.scout-designco.com. If you view my Signature Brand page, you are at www.scout-designco.com/signature-brand. This is a specifically important area if your business blogs. Every post on your site lives at a unique URL, giving you many opportunities to boost your SEO.

DESCRIPTION

Your page description, also referred to as a meta description, displays on a Google search results page right under the page title. This description can be customized and should include at least one instance of your keyword. If you don’t customize the description, Google will use the fist 160 words of your page’s content. So make sure your keyword shows up in your first paragraph too

CONTENT + HEADING

The content of your page is really what’s selling Google on your authority. It’s important your keyword(s) shows up multiple times, but be careful not to overuse them. Use your keyword(s) naturally when writing content. Google has caught on to the common scheme of “keyword-stuffing” to promote result rankings and you can actually be penalized if Google finds you guilty of overusing your keyword(s). If you’re writing focused and thoughtful content, implementing your keyword(s) will come second nature.

Google also appreciates well structured content. The use of headings and subheadings (and tags) really help to organize your content and make it easier for Google to crawl your page. If you use a keyword in a heading or subheading, even better!

PHOTOS

Photos are the easiest way to unintentionally ruin your SEO. By forgetting to optimize your site images, you’ll miss out on some huge ranking potential. Google is pretty genius at reading your website, but it doesn’t quite possess the ability to comprehend what’s going on in a photo. Every image on your website should be given a specific alt title and alt text to help Google understand what it’s looking at. The alt title is what will appear when a user hovers over an image. It’s also the title that will be used if a user pins your photo to Pinterest directly from your website. The alt text is like a description. It’s also the text that will appear if your site won’t display your image for some reason. Both the alt title and alt text of an image can easily be edited through your WordPress Media Library.
Good Image Title = “beautiful-beach-southern-california”
Bad Image Title =”beach”
Even Worse Image Title = “IMG-123”

Inbound Links

An inbound link (or backlink) is a link to your web site located on another website. Simply put, it is a referral – someone recommending your website to others. Inbound links are great for SEO! Google considers these referrals quite seriously, especially if they are coming from reputable and relevant websites.
Perhaps the easiest way to gain inbound links is to create share-worthy content. This is especially important for bloggers who create fresh content regularly. If your posts contain valuable information, it’s more likely your readers will share it with others. Every share or re-post on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest count towards inbound links to your site. Every blogger mentioning you (and linking to you!) in their posts, count towards your inbound links. Make sure it’s easy for others to share your content by using hard-to-miss social sharing buttons on your posts and pages. While social media sites do help to boost your SEO, referrals coming from a direct source carry a bit more weight. Your mom sharing your latest post on her Facebook page is great, but a blogger in your same industry mentioning you in a post of their own is gold.

User Experience + Performance

While not weighted as heavily, the infrastructure and operation of your website should still be considered in your SEO strategy. If you hire a professional web designer, these factors should almost fall into place seamlessly.

SITEMAP

A sitemap is a list of your website’s pages that are accessible to users and search engine crawlers. A sitemap is an important first step in the architecture of your website’s design and should later be translated into a page of it’s own on your site. (This page is typically hidden.) This is beneficial in helping search engines find your content quickly and easily.. * If you’re using the SEO Yoast plugin on WordPress, creating a sitemap cannot be easier. SEO > XML SITEMAPS > ENABLED.

NAVIGATION

A clear and easy to navigate website makes Google (and your viewers) very happy. Keep your navigation simple. Your main menu should include 4 – 6 top level pages and no more than 2 sub levels. If your website has more than 6 top level pages, consider using a secondary menu in the sidebar or footer of your site. This helps to keep your main menu clean and simple, but lets search engines know there are still important pages to be indexed as “top level”.

SITE SPEED

Page speed is how long it takes for each page of your site to fully load, images and all. The quicker your site loads, the better it’s user experience and the happier you make search engines. You can make sure your site is speedy by using appropriately sized images (no more than twice the size it appears), deleting any images and/or files your site no longer uses, and deleting any unused plugins in WordPress. Consider enabling a caching system. This allows browsers to cache your site (store it’s information) so upon a viewer re-visiting your site, the entire page doesn’t need to be loaded all over again. (You can do this through your web host or the use of a plugin like WP Super Cache.)

FRESH CONTENT

Search engines favor websites that get a lot of attention. If you are a blogger, make sure you are posting regularly (at least once a month). If content marketing isn’t a strategy you implement in your business, you’re not off the hook! Be sure you are updating your page’s copy and images. Introduce new headlines and promotions seasonally, swap out images as older ones become less relevant, use social media feeds to tie in fresh content. If you let your website sit dormant for too long, Google will be become just as uninterested in it as you are.

MOBILE RESPONSIVE

It should be no surprise that your website needs to be mobile friendly. Over half of Google searches now come from a mobile device. If your website isn’t mobile responsive you are losing out big time. And not only that, but Google will actually penalize your SEO ranking if you don’t meet their mobile responsive standards. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to make sure these expectations are met. Nearly all WordPress themes for purchase are now mobile responsive and if you hire a professional web designer, they should most certainly make sure you’re looking good on every screen size. It’s common sense and best practice. If you’re not sure whether or not your website is optimized for smaller devices, you can check here.

Implementing SEO best practices doesn’t have to be difficult. I include most of these basics in all of my web projects and offer SEO consultations for all of my clients. If you work with a professional in developing your site and do your part in writing authentic and valuable content, you will find that these strategies simply fall into place and your website is liked by Google and other search engines alike.

How to Choose SEO Keywords

March 12, 2019 by caitlin Leave a Comment

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the number of visitors to your website through organic search results.

The goal with SEO is to be found by your ideal audience as they search the internet for what you offer.

Good SEO = High ranking on Google search results

Google’s mission is to provide the best results for any given search. And it defines what websites are best by their relevance and authority.

An SEO strategy involves making improvements (boosting relevance and authority) to each page and post on your website. These improvements then increase your ranking and hopefully bring more traffic to your site.

What is an SEO keyword?

There are several factors that contribute to a successful SEO strategy. Check out my blog post here to read about these factors and how to implement them into your site.

Authority can take time to establish. Google wants to see that you know what you’re talking about. This is typically determined by the quantity and quality of backlinks – other sites linking to yours – but relevance can be determined by you through the use of keywords.

An SEO keyword is the key word(s) and/or phrase(s) that define what your web content is about. Essentially, the words a user types into their google search bar. Keywords are important in building relevance because they connect you to your client’s need.

How to Choose SEO keywords?

When choosing SEO keywords, it’s important that you think like your ideal audience. Put yourself in their shoes. What exactly are they searching for?

Say you run an online jewelry boutique. Your audience probably isn’t searching for “jewelry boutique”. They’re searching for “gold earrings”, “silver bracelet”, “diamond necklace”.

The keyword “jewelry boutique” is also way too general. Chances are you’ll be lost in the sea of millions of websites Google matches with that term. The more specific you can be with your SEO keywords the better. You’ll improve your chances of ranking higher and get higher quality traffic to your site.

Don’t forget, each page and post on your website can have its own unique keyword(s). You’re not stuck with choosing just one! But how do you know if your choosing the right ones?

Step One: Brainstorm a master list

Think of every keyword that your audience may possibly search for. These can be general and more specific. Get it all out.

Consider words that relate to your service, your title and your location. Think about any specialities you offer that your audience may include in their search. Combine and alternate these phrases.

For example, if your a florist in West Hartford, Connecticut, some ideas would be “flowers”, “floral arrangements”, “florist, “West Hartford”, “CT”.

Step Two: Do Some Research

You can do some preliminary research to see what exactly people are searching for by what auto populates in the search field. Take one of your more general keywords, for example “florist”, and type it into the search bar in Google. You’ll see that “florist west hartford” comes up; it’s a popular keyword. Great!

Now search “west hartford florist” and you’ll get some good insight. The word “delivery” was added; it’s something a lot of people are searching for. If you offer delivery in your business, make sure you add this keyword to your list and use it often in your website content. You’ll also notice “flower nursery” and the zip code “06107” are popular alternative search terms for “florist” and “west hartford”. Make sure your using them in your website content as well.

We can take this a step further even. Try typing in “florist for” and see what comes up. The word “wedding” makes a frequent appearance. We also see “funeral” and “valentines day”. If these occasions match the services you offer, boom! Add these keywords to your list!

We can also use preliminary research to eliminate some keywords that may not work well in our favor. For example, if we type in “flowers” you’ll see a lot of search terms that are completely unrelated to your florist business. Cross this keyword off your list.

In addition to what auto populates in the search bar, use the “searches related to” feature at the bottom of the search results page. For “florist for wedding” we can see people are also searching for “wedding flowers ideas”, “affordable wedding florist” and so on. Include any new words you discover into your keyword list and try to think of how you can incorporate them into your content.

Pinterest is also a great resource to gain some insight into effective SEO keywords – if you use Pinterest in your marketing. The search suggestions can provide you with some great ideas for future blog posts.

Let’s say you write a blog about interior design. You’ll notice if you search “interior design” a list of additional keywords shows up. “Apartment” is the first, and most searched, term. When you click that and you’ll get another list. Keep going and you’ll see that a lot of Pinterest users are searching for how to decorate their apartment on a budget. By writing a blog post on that subject you can gain a lot of traffic to your website.

SEO keyword research example on Pinterst

Step Three: Get Specific

Now that you have a pretty solid list of SEO keywords, it’s time to make them as specific as you can. Really get in the head of your target audience and think like they would. What styles are they attracted to? How much are they willing to spend? What speciality are they interested in? Dig deep here to truly connect your dream client to you.

Some ideas for our florist example could be:

“farmhouse wedding flowers ct”

“rustic barn wedding floral arrangement”

“wedding flowers under $1000”

These phrases may not auto populate in Google, but that’s OK! That actually means you’re facing less competition in the search results. Ultimately, you want high quality traffic to your website. That means people that are likely to purchase from you. By narrowing down your keywords you will have a higher chance of ranking for exactly what your audience is looking for.

Step Four: Use your keywords

The only way for Google to know you want to rank for these keywords is for you to use them throughout your website. Decide which keyword(s) will be your focus for each page on your site. You’ll probably want to use several for your homepage. Make sure your chosen keyword(s) is used in all the right places including the page title, url, and image alt text. You’ll also want to use your keyword throughout the body text on the page. Be sure you use the word frequently but naturally. Google has gotten pretty smart over the years and can tell if your keyword “stuffing”, or over using the term in order to gain rank.

In my SEO Basics blog post I cover all the areas in which you should be inserting your keywords.

If your website is on WordPress I highly recommend installing the Yoast SEO plugin. The plugin grades each page of your site based on how well you are implementing your chosen keyword. It even offers suggestions for you to improve.

By strategically choosing effective keywords for your ideal audience you’ll establish relevance for what they are searching for. A keyword focused strategy is also helpful in gaining authority which will boost your ranking even higher. The more you show up in search results (with valuable content!) the more likely others are to share it. The more shares and backlinks you have the more credible you are in the eyes of Google.

Why You Need High Quality Photos on Your Website

March 10, 2019 by caitlin Leave a Comment

So much goes into creating a drool-worthy website. It’s important you hire a web designer who understands your vision and can bring your dream to life. You leave them in charge of some pretty big decisions. But there’s an aspect of your website you can’t hold your designer responsible for. One very important thing you need to take care of first (and trust me they will love you for it!). And that’s your website images.

The images on your website can make or break your site’s design, no matter how talented your designer is. By getting on the ball with high-quality photos you’ll be doing yourself and your business some serious favors.

You’ll look like a professional.

It takes mere seconds to develop a first impression of someone, and your website is no different. Your website is a powerful tool in creating the “image” you would like your business to portray. Fuzzy photos in poor lighting don’t exactly give off a professional vibe – they scream amaturer. Would you buy a product or service from an amatuer? Then you can’t expect others to either. A sharp, bright, styled headshot will help you gain more trust from your audience than a selfie on your couch ever could. It’s not difficult to tell the difference between genuine effort and simply winging it when it comes to photography. Intentional photos with direction and purpose will have you looking like a pro.

You’ll maintain a consistent brand.

Good branding is vital to the life of your business. And the number one component to good branding is consistency. Consumers are much more visual than they’ve ever been. With social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, photos are a must have for your business and your brand. Your website photos are a perfect opportunity to hone in on that “image” of yours. Consistent brand photos require more than just a common subject matter. There’s things like composition, lighting, contrast, and temperature to consider. Say you run a luxury spa resort. You want well lit photos with cool pastel colors and a neat, clean balance to them. Or maybe you’re a rustic, hipster coffee shop in Downtown. So you want a warmer, darker, more textured tone to your images. Maybe have fun with asymmetrical layouts and cropping off-center. Use your images to develop consistency, become recognizable and attract your ideal customer.

Your website dreams are more likely to come true.

There’s no way you can hand your designer small, dark, pixelated pictures and expect the gorgeous full width image slider you’ve been jonesing for. It’s not going to happen. Your web designer is probably a genius, but they’re not a magician. You’re investing hard earned cash into your website with the end goal to attract customers and make money. I’m sure you have a high standard in mind, especially with all the website candy out there inspiring you. The better your images the more your designer has to work with and the more potential greatness your website will have.

A huge trend in web design right now is large imagery as backgrounds. And it’s beautiful. Check out the sites for Polite Provisions or Just Bean. Effective use of good photos can take your site’s design to the next level and your business along with it. And if you’re selling a product of any kind, you better bet you need to pay attention to photography. Check out apple.com for example. Stunning, right? I bet you want some high-quality photos now- and probably an Apple Watch.

Keys to a High Quality Photo

So how exactly do you know if your images are up to par? There are a few key factors to keep in mind when choosing or taking pictures for your site.

Resolution

Resolution refers to the number of pixels in an image. The more pixels your photo has the higher its “quality”. More pixels make for sharper, more defined and more detailed images. This also means you can increase the size of the photo without it loosing any of its quality and becoming blurry or distorted. Resolution can be measured by the size of the original image or by its DPI. The ideal resolution for web imagery is 72 dpi. (For prints, it’s 300 dpi.)

Lighting

Just as important as resolution is good lighting. Lighting obviously will make your image brighter or darker but it also controls the tone and mood of your shots and can affect the colors and luminosity. Although your designer can probably manipulate lighting effects with Photoshop or other editing tools, it’s a good idea to present them with well lit photos. The better shape your images are in initially, the better they can become with effects. Natural light is by far the best, but artificial lighting can do the trick if you’re using bright white bulbs.

Composition

Composition is the placement of objects and elements in an image. The composition of your photos should be interesting and intentional. Keep in mind the Rule of Thirds, a common rule of thumb with photographers. Instead of centering your subject, try aligning it to one side. Also consider the background of your image and the balance of colors, patterns, and textures. Try different techniques with framing and angels. Cropping can be a powerful way to help focus on your main subject. An overhead angle (like in the oh so popular flatlay) can add a different point of view and interest to the shot.

Aspect Ratio (Size)

Aspect ratio is the size relationship of your image in reference to length and width. An aspect ratio of 1:1 is a square image while an aspect ratio of 16:9 would be more short and wide. This is important to keep in mind when deciding what images you want to use where. Like that gorgeous full width image slider you can’t live without. It’s not going to work with square images. And it’s not going to work with portrait shots. You’re going to need something that is much wider than it is tall, like a 16:9. The actual aspect ratio of your images isn’t really important as long as you understand that sizing and orientation make a difference on how your photos can be used. Best practice: give your designer as many images as you can in various sizes so they have more room to work with.

How to Get High Quality Images

So how do you get your hands of some high-quality photos?

Take them yourself.

You do not need fancy equipment and software to be a decent photographer. Your iPhone camera will work perfectly. Brainstorm ideas for images that will work for your brand and your site and go experiment! Remember to take shots in a naturally, well lit location and consider composition. You can even play around with some editing effects in an easy to use, free app like VSCO or Google Photos if you’re feeling brave.

Hire a Photographer.

This is the most expensive option, but a professional photographer will be well worth the cost. By hiring a photographer you’re guaranteed a high-quality outcome. They can help you in your direction and intention and even come up with some bright ideas you never thought of.

Stock Photography.

Stock photography can be a great option in certain cases. The downside is your images aren’t personal to you and your business – but that’s not always a bad thing. I wouldn’t recommend sticking a stock photo of some rando on your About Me page (that might be identity theft), but if you’re looking more to capture the essence of an industry or a style or a mood then stock photography is an excellent and affordable option.

iStock and Shutterstock each have millions of photos in a ton of different categories and industries. Images range from $10-$30 each and are yours forever. Creative Market is another fabulous resource for stock images. They tend to fall in the same price range but cater to a more creative audience. If you’re looking for styled layouts and flatlays, this is your place. There’s even some free options in the stock photography realm. Sites like Unsplash (my favorite!), IMFree, and Death to the Stock Photo are some great resources.

If you want a killer website, you need high-quality photos. Talk to your designer and collaborate to determine what will work best for your site. Whether it’s your time or money, site photography is an investment you won’t regret.

How to Set Up Your Domain and Hosting

February 11, 2017 by caitlin Leave a Comment

Sign Up for Hosting

1. Begin by going to siteground.com and click Get Started under Web Hosting.

2. Next choose a plan. The “StartUp” plan is generally enough space for a small to medium sized business. If your website is rather large (more than 15 pages), you expect high traffic (more than 10,000 visitors a month), or you plan on hosting more than one site, then I would up to the “GrowBig” plan.

3. Next, register your domain. You can choose anything you’d like for your domain and choose its extension (.com, .net, etc.) If your domain is already taken, they will inform you and recommend something different and similar instead.

If you already have a domain purchased through someone else, choose the “I already have a domain name” button and enter your domain.

4. On the next page, you’ll set up your Site Ground account and enter your payment information.

5. Then review your Purchase Information. Keep in mind that although SiteGround lists their prices as a monthly expense, you will be paying upfront for the entirety of your plan. You can choose a longer plan for a cheaper rate. The Site Scanner extra service probably isn’t necessary. If you’re working with a web developer, they should be setting up security measures on their end. If they do recommend using Site Scanner, you can always add that to your account later.

6. Finally, click Pay Now and you’re hosted!

Install WordPress

If you’re using WordPress as your website platform, you’ll need to install it onto your site. SiteGround makes this super easy for you. After your purchase is completed, you should be redirected to your Account page.

1. In the top menu choose “Websites”.

2. Under here click the orange “cPanel” button.

3. Under AUTO INSTALLERS click the WordPress icon.

4. Then click blue “Install” tab.

5. Under Site Settings name your Site and enter a custom description if you wish. You can also leave this field as is, the “site description” is not usually visible anywhere on your website. Leave Enable Multisite unchecked.

6. Under Admin Account create a username and password and enter you email. When creating a username and password, remember that you’ll need to share it with your web designer. Once your project is complete, you’ll be able to change your password.

7. Under Admin Account create a username and password and enter you email. When creating a username and password, remember that you’ll need to share it with your web designer. Once your project is complete, you’ll be able to change your password.

8. Keep everything else as is and click Install.

9. Once installed, you’ll see an Administrative URL link to access the backend of your new site. In the future you can log in to your site at www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin.

You’re done!