Website Design trends for Small to Medium Business

The importance of having an attractive website that converts visitors into buyers and helps cleverly promote your small business is essential in these fiercely competitive times.
Your website has to capture a visitor’s attention, entice him or her to stay and browse around, create an interest in your product or service, and result in sales. For small businesses with limited time and budgets, design is an essential factor in both attracting and converting potential customers.
With this in mind, here are five current design trends that most small businesses can utilize to great effect.

1. Minimalist

While this web design style has been popular for some time, it’s worth revisiting as no small business owner wants to turn visitors away with a cluttered, overbearing and hard to navigate website.
Minimalist design effectively strips away the excess and helps the user concentrate squarely on the content. If a page has too many elements, the user will easily become confused about where to focus on, with many elements vying for attention.
With page weight now affecting your Google ( search engine position, it’s the perfect time to reassess how streamlined your design is.
There are several principles and steps you can follow to create a more minimalist design:

Go through your site and prune any unnecessary widgets or elements which aren’t serving a real purpose.

Make good use of whitespace, which is the space between different elements of a design. Used well, it will allow for easier scanning of your site and help frame the elements on each page.

With fewer elements, choosing the right color palette or accent color is critical. As color has great significance and meaning, it’s best to test how certain colors interact with each other.

Browse your site through the eyes of your visitors, evaluating if there is too much information, confusing or off-putting elements, or sufficient calls to action. Answering these types of questions truthfully will help you prioritize the essential elements.

A minimalist design doesn’t have to be bland and boring; it can easily be modern, fresh, sophisticated, elegant or refined, based solely on the details within the design.

2. Unique Photography

 

Two men shaking hands, a group of people in suits sharing a joke, the call center girl: these are all tired, clichéd images that litter thousands of business websites. These types of images fail to convey either information on the company or a sense of the site’s character, and are essentially meaningless.
Using custom photography or artwork whenever possible is recommended, though for small business owners, both time and budget are limited and stock photos are a relatively cheap and accessible resource.
So when choosing stock imagery, it’s best to keep in mind these four tips:

Research your competitors and industry and take note of the images used. You can then find a unique way to represent your product or service.

Avoid being too literal in your choice of imagery as abstract compositions often give a more dramatic and memorable effect.

Don’t always opt for the cheaper low-res image, as pixelated imagery devalues your overall design and looks unprofessional.

Veer away from the bland and predictable and let the images ‘break out of the box’.

Imaginative imagery will reinforce your brand message and add greater character to your website. So, when you must use stock imagery, do so with great care and take the time to find the right piece that will convey the true personality of your service or product.

3. Bold Typography

Web design at its core is about communication, and typography is a vital component of that. Great web typography helps bring order to information and creates a coherent, visually satisfying experience that engages the reader without their knowing.
A recent trend is the use of big, bold typography which helps to create contrast between other text while grabbing a user’s attention. Oversized text can help create hierarchy and ensure users understand your message loud and clear.
In order to utilize typography to create a bold statement, keep in mind the following tips:

1. Determine the single most important message you want to emphasize, as too many messages can lead to choice paralysis. Understand the qualities of the message you are trying to convey, and then look for typefaces that embody those qualities.
2. Choose a typeface that will match the character of your work. For instance, if your company embodies the feel of an Old Style font, you should consider Bembo, Garamond and Sabon. It will also greatly depend on what you want to convey with the type, because legibility is as important as the character of the type.
3. Give the typography the prominent position it deserves by surrounding it with a generous amount of whitespace. This will add emphasis and create even more focus on the typography.
4. Test out some of the various font replacement options such as Typekit or Typotheque. These allow you to license fonts to embed within your site, and help you to experiment with beautiful typography.

Typography is an art and the decisions you make are subjective; however, carefully selecting a typeface can make a huge difference to the quality of your design.

4. Clear Calls to Action

As a small business owner you want your visitors to complete a certain task when they land on your page. It could be to download, sign up or checkout, but these calls to action are one of the most important (and overlooked) elements in a small business website.
You want to grab your visitor’s attention and move him or her to take action. Crafting a clear, concise call to action is essential.
Here are four tips to keep in mind when designing a call-to-action button or advertisement:

1. Language: Keep the wording short and snappy (always start with a verb), but also explain the value behind the action the user is taking. In some instances it also helps to create a sense of urgency using words such as ‘now’, ‘hurry’ and ‘offer ends,’ with ‘free’ being the number one incentive.
2. Positioning: Ideally, calls to action should be above the fold, and be placed on every page of the site in a consistent position. For instance, Squarespace , not only has a large call-to-action button at the top of the page, but also has a slightly smaller button in the footer of every page.
3. Color: The color should make the call stand out from the rest of the design. Brighter, more contrasting colors usually work best for smaller buttons. For larger buttons, you may want to choose a less prominent color (but one that still stands out from your background), so as to balance out its size.
4. Size: The call-to-action button should be the largest button on any given page. You want it to be large enough to stand out without overwhelming the rest of the design

It’s vital you test different combination's of call-to-action buttons and see how each affects your conversion rates (see A/B Testing below). It’s also best to make sure they fit within your overall design.

5. A/B Testing

With competition growing fiercer online, it’s important for small businesses to have a website that converts visitors to buyers and creates a competitive edge. That’s why it is important to continually measure and improve site performance, usability and conversions.
One of the foremost ways of optimizing your web design is via A/B testing (sometimes referred to as split testing). An A/B test examines the effectiveness of one landing page over another. The two versions are randomly shown to site visitors to see which generates the best results. You then evaluate the performance of each and use the best version.
Various elements can be tested, including, layouts, copy, graphics, fonts, headlines, offers, icons, colors and more. Here are a few tips for A/B testing:

Clearly define your goal before beginning any test. For example, if you wanted to increase sign-ups, you might want to test the following: type of fields in the form, length of the form, and display of privacy policy.

Start with elements that will have the biggest impact for minimum effort. For instance, you could tweak the copy on your checkout button to see if conversions can be improved.

Don’t use A/B testing in isolation as this alone won’t give you a well-rounded picture of your users. Instead, use other feedback tools, such as Feedback Army or User Testing, in conjunction with A/B testing to get in-depth analysis of user behavior.

A/B testing won’t make a bad design great, but it will prove an effective aid in optimizing your current design’s usability and conversions until you decide to overhaul your website design completely.
These are just five web design trends that small businesses can take part in to enhance their websites. Which web design changes would make the most sense for your small business? contact Scream Media today on 021 559 0800 and one of our business consultants will assist you to make the right choice for  your business.

Is Google displaying the correct Sitelinks for your website?

When Google displays Sitelinks below your website listing in the search results, it's very likely that your website will get more clicks and more visitors. The majority of searchers click on the top 3 results. For that reason, getting more links in the top three results increases the number of clicks that your website will get.
Unfortunately, Google does not always display the right Sitelinks. This article explains how to check your Sitelinks and how to make sure that Google displays the right Sitelinks for your website.
How to check which Sitelinks Google displays for your website

It seems that Google only return Sitelinks when they are confident that the search query is looking for a specific site.
If you want to see the Sitelinks for your website, search Google for your domain name without the .co.za or for any other keyword for which your website is listed on the first position.
For example, if your domain name is "bluewidgets.com", search Google for "bluewidgets".

Which type of Sitelinks does Google display for your website?

If you search Google as explained above, Google will display one of the following Sitelinks below your listing:

1. Google shows up to eight text links that are identical to your website navigation links. If you see these links, the navigation of your website can be parsed by Google and it divides your website into separate categories. This is good.
   
   
2. Sitelinks that go to random pages on your website. If you get these links, the navigation of your website probably can't be parsed by Google and Google took the pages with the most backlinks for the Sitelinks. This is not so good.
   
   
3. Google does not display any Sitelinks. If Google does not display any Sitelinks for your website then it's very likely that your website is not search engine friendly and that your pages cannot be parsed correctly. This is bad.

How to get better Sitelinks

Google generates the Sitelinks for your website based on your website navigation and based on the links that point to your website.
If Google shows the wrong Sitelinks or no Sitelinks at all for your website then you should work on your website navigation:

• Avoid JavaScript and Flash navigation and try to use regular links as often as possible.
  
  
• If you use images for your website navigation, make sure that the images contain alternative texts that allow Google to categorize your links.

If your website has a clear navigation, it will be much easier to get Sitelinks for your website.
Do not use too many navigation links and make it easy for web surfers and search engines to find out which pages of your website are the most important pages. The better a web page is linked, the more likely it is that it will appear in the Sitelinks.

Site links can make your website listings on Google's result pages more attractive. However, they have nothing to do with the position that your website gets in Google. If you want to get high rankings on Google for the keywords of your choice, you must make sure that your website has both optimised content and good backlinks.

Get more traffic to your website with Twitter

Twitter is a brilliant way to drive targeted visitors to your Web site. You should not forget about other traffic sources but using Twitter is totally free and will definitely acquire a few more targeted visitors to your site. You got me right, I said free targeted visitors in the last sentence.
Nothing is better than a never endless stream of visitors. There are lots of ways for you getting free traffic to your Web site. But there is a huge difference between free traffic and targeted traffic. You could have heard about traffic generating websites sending out tons of people to your homepage. These offers are good to give your traffic stats a push but you will not actually generate a sale or find a prospect for your product. Visitors delivered to you by free traffic Websites will usually leave your Internet site within a few moments.
Targeted visitors instead are interested in the items or information you are offering on your Web site, prepared to break out their credit card!
What you will need in first place is a twitter account, naturally. I recommend avoid using your own twitter account. If you are having different niche sites create a single twitter account for each niche Web site you have. Please don’t leave the default twitter background and avatar, choose an avatar and background image that fits your product or info best, as it will show your followers that you care about your account.
The next step to do is to deliver content – business relevant good content. The majority of the content you will provide is created by others and will never include references to your own stuff. This may sound strange to you, but here I explain why we will do it.
Make sure to provide best content to your followers and unless you write loads of crappy content or outsource your article writing you just don’t have the cash and time to write all that quality content yourself in a short period of time. When you tweet your own stuff only on every occasion you will seem to be a spammer. Individuals will stop following you when you behave like a spammer. Incidentally, tweets are what the short communications are called that you send out with your Twitter account.
Second part of the process is to build a landing page or helpful blog post about your business. This part will be the most significant and you really must ensure to supply good articles. But where will you find all the business relevant content ? Either you can out source this to a professional copy writer or you can add an RSS feed to your landing page or blog post. (this is not nearly as effective as unique content written for your business)  Ensure to pick out high quality RSS feed content. That will make your followers trust you. When they trust whatever you tell them it will encourage them to click your links sooner or later. The links you place in your landing page or blog post is the origin to monetize the traffic you are receiving from Twitter. The MOST IMPORTANT idea behind this is that you place links to your products or service you would like to share or sell. The writing in the displayed link should contain a strong anchor text that will call to action and make them click the link that will lead them to your cash site. Here you offer your product or information you want to sell or share.
So, the most important thing is to place a link to your money site at the end of your landing page or blog post. Ensure the link incorporates a strong call to action. The final section of this action will be to build up an email address from your visitors or to get in touch through a contact form or to even make the sale. Because now you are have a targeted visitor on your Web site seeking information. To catch their email address offer a free of charge business relevant ebook or report through an optin form. Once you have your visitors email address you can add it to your email list and feed them with any information or products of your choosing any time you like.
Every tweet you are posting must be of very high quality and so your followers believe in you. When people trust you enough they will make your tweets go viral and at this moment in time magic happens.
So, the most significant thing is to place a link to your income site at the in the text of your landing page or web log post. Make certain the link contains a powerful call to action.
That just about is it. The great thing about this is you will not have to spend tons of money to get rolling. Contact Scream Media today, we will set up your blog or landing page, write your content and post your tweets.

Get Noticed, Get Read and Get Customers - content writing for your website

Your website’s content will get noticed, get read and get customers if you use your headline and first paragraph to let readers know what is in it for them. Here I’ll introduce you to some techniques you can use to make that happen.


Never Stop Marketing – Every Page is a Marketing Page
Visitors may first enter your site through almost any page. And for various reasons no matter what you do, many will not read more than one page. Therefore, to maximize response you must treat every page as a marketing page. So add adverts to where they will be seen.
But only a small percentage of readers will respond when first seeing even quality adverts. You’ll have to work a bit harder for the rest of your readers. You’ll have to use your pages’ content to make them consider a marketing offer (perhaps another day). You must prove that you (and your brand) are expert at delivering what’s wanted, and can be trusted. To do that, your page must first be read.
Who is Your Site for… and What Do They Want?
When you’re busy creating content, it’s easy to forget that your website exists to sell your products and services to particular groups of people. And even if you would never forget such a thing – can the same be said for everyone who writes for you?
As well researched and expert as you are in your field, it can be hard to put yourself in the position of your targeted visitors who, when they come, will spare just a few seconds to find a reason to read the content.
When constructing an argument or presenting a product, it seems logical to first present the building blocks of your case before giving the end result. The end results should be something that will make your readers’ lives better. But…
People Buy Benefits Not Features
If you want readers to read on, you must spell out the benefits before describing and explaining the features.
Features are the characteristics of what you’re selling. Benefits are the things that those features will do for you.
For example, people don’t buy light bulbs for features like being long lasting, bright and cheap. People buy light bulbs for benefits like saving money or the planet and helping them do things in what would otherwise be darkness.
Your Headline is the Most Important Part of Your Content
If your headline does not promise something of interest, then your article won’t get read and you’ll struggle to sell. This is because most visitors arrive at a page, read a headline and then make a decision to stay or go.
Also, if a page is linked to from elsewhere on your own site or others then your headline is likely to be used for the link. When reading headlines, potential readers are looking for what a page might do for them. They are looking for benefits and if your headline does not deliver, they are gone.
Here are a few guidelines for headline writing:

• Promise benefits – tell readers what the content will do for them.
• Don’t be clever or obscure and don’t make the reader think too much.
• Don’t be ironic because most readers won’t know you are being ironic.
• Don’t force readers to read the story in order to understand the headline.
• Try asking a question about a problem and entice with the solution.

Your First Paragraph is the Second Most Important Part of Your Content
Make your first paragraph (aka the lead or the stand first) as succinct, clear and uncluttered as it can possibly be.
If a visitor has been interested enough in your headline to read on, the next thing they will read is your opening paragraph where you have to give the same benefits with a little more detail.
You can’t explain everything with your first paragraph. So find the most important idea you want to put across, explain what it is and perhaps begin to elaborate on it.
For example, this article’s lead is:
“Your content will get noticed, get read and get customers if you use your headlines and first paragraphs to let readers know what is in it for them. Here we’ll introduce you to some techniques you can use to make that happen.”
It starts with a benefit:
“…get noticed, get read and get customers…”
…and then comes a summary of how to achieve that:
“…if you use your headline and first paragraph to tell readers what is in it for them”
Then the second sentence repeats the benefit with some detail about how this will be achieved:
“…we’ll introduce you to some techniques you can use to make that happen”.
Hopefully we’ve achieved what this first paragraph set out to do and in the future no visitors to your site will leave without you having done everything you can to get them to read on and reach your marketing.

Need help with content writing? Contact Scream Media today. Our team of professional content writers are waiting for your Call - 021 5590800 

Website Design

Each day thousands οf nеw websites appear οn thе web. Each one οf thеm іѕ trying tο drive more traffic towards thеіr website bу implementing ɡοοԁ web design, information rich content, аnԁ interactivity. Small businesses frοm асrοѕѕ thе globe hаνе already joined thе web аnԁ using іt effectively tο reach out nеw markets аnԁ more business. Thе first thing thаt a web surfer visiting уουr pages notices οn уουr website іѕ thе Design.
Design іѕ a рƖаn tο ԁο something. In terms οf web, design іѕ thе way a website іѕ represented οn thе screen. Thіѕ includes thе layout οf thе whole webpage, colors, images, placement οf items, аnԁ thе whole scheme tightly bounded together. Thе purpose οf аnу design іѕ tο mаkе thе resulting product a more usable, effective, аnԁ efficient way tο ԁο thе job. In terms οf web design, thіѕ means thаt thе purpose ѕhουƖԁ bе tο mаkе thе website more usable, more goal-oriented аnԁ efficient іn terms οf using thе available resources. Thеrе аrе ѕοmе common ɡοοԁ practices thаt аrе οftеn advised tο web designers, thеѕе tips аrе аƖѕο useful fοr small business website owners ѕο thаt thеу саn mаkе sure thаt thеіr web design follows thе basic web design principles.
Colors
Colors аrе very іmрοrtаnt aspect οf аnу design scheme whether іt іѕ thе design οf a skyscraper, a car οr a website. Using thе rіɡht combination οf colors саn mаkе уουr website more usable аnԁ hence more goal-oriented. On thе οthеr hand using a bаԁ combination οf colors саn hаνе thе adverse affects οf mаkіnɡ уουr website nοt usable аnԁ far away frοm achieving thе goals.
Easy Navigational Structure
People generally ԁο nοt spend much time looking аt a website, ѕο іf thеу cant find thе information thеу needed іn thе first few seconds thеу аrе probably going tο leave уουr website аnԁ ɡο elsewhere. Sο іt іѕ іmрοrtаnt thаt уου рƖасе аƖƖ уουr іmрοrtаnt links аt a visible spot thаt саn bе easily seen whеn a user opens уουr pages.
Typography
Typography аƖѕο plays a very іmрοrtаnt role іn аnу design. Using thе rіɡht combination οf fonts аnԁ using thе rіɡht sizes саn mаkе a simple web document look elegant аnԁ pleasant. Thе fonts ѕhουƖԁ bе сhοοѕе based οn thе criteria thаt thеу ѕhουƖԁ look pretty іn large аѕ well аѕ small sizes. Thе font size уου υѕе οn уουr web design ѕhουƖԁ bе nеіthеr tοο small nοr tοο large.
Power Tools
Thеrе аrе lots οf things thаt people mіɡht want tο ԁο whеn thеу arrive οn уουr website. Fοr example thеу mіɡht want tο search уουr website fοr specific information. Fοr thаt уου provide thеm a search box conveniently located. Thеу mіɡht want tο share уουr website wіth thеіr friends οn social networks, ѕο уου ѕhουƖԁ hаνе buttons fοr thаt tοο. Mаkе sure thаt іt becomes easier fοr thе users tο υѕе уουr website іn thеіr οwn style.
Once уοu hаνе uploaded уοur website аnԁ іtѕ working, you still  need tο collect user feedback οn уουr website tο see іf thеrе іѕ аnу feature thаt уουr visitors wουƖԁ Ɩіkе tο see οn уοur website.

SEO critical steps for ranking

There are a variety of misconceptions surrounding search engine optimization today. One big misconception that many website owners have is that once they have their site set up and they submit it to search engines, they’ll get traffic right away. The truth is that there is a lot more to bringing traffic to your website. Search engine optimization is a task that is ongoing and it does take quite a bit of work. Instead of submitting your site to the search engines right away, here are a few critical steps to great SEO that you should take first.
Step #1 – Research Your Keywords
One of the important steps you need to take for great SEO before you submit your site to the search engines is to research your keywords. No doubt, you already know what the topic of your site is all about. It is important that you choose the right keywords now before you submit your site. When you select keywords, keep in mind criteria that the search engines have for keywords. Look for niche keywords instead of keywords that are so broad you’ll never rank well with them.
Step #2 – Improve Your Title Tags
Another step to take before submitting to the search engines is improving your title tags. One of the biggest things that will determine your score within the search engines is the appearance of keywords in the title tags. Do not go with title tags that don’t use your keywords. Your title tags should be keyword rich, which can help you ensure that you get strong rankings when your site is submitted to the search engines.
Step #3 – Check Out Your Site Technology
Take some time to check out your site technology before submitting your site to the search engines as well. Some technology built into sites can end up confusing the spiders that crawl through websites. Image maps, CGI scripts, frames, and other types of technology may not be understood by many of the spiders out there. Go through your site carefully and ensure that technology is not holding you back from getting high rankings in the search engines.
Step #4 – Check for Errors
Checking your website for errors is also going to be a critical step to great SEO. It’s a good idea to use a site maintenance tool to make sure that you catch any errors before you start bringing customers to your website. Any errors in HTML can end up causing problems for search engine spiders. Not only can errors cause problems with spiders, but they can also be frustrating to site a user, which means they may leave your site. Now is the time to ensure that any errors are taken care of.

Each of these steps is essential to the success of your website. Before you submit your website to the search engines, go through these steps and ensure that your site is ready. For professional advise on SEO contact Scream Media today - make sure your SEEN on the web.

Choosing a Domain Name

There are two ways of selecting a domain name. You can choose the domain name first and use it as your organization name or vice versa. Most of the old organizations prefer to retain their brand name in their URL.
Many startup organizations select their URL first and then name their organization. This is because of the non availability of the perfect URL.
Your website URL is your online identity that is visible to millions of internet users. It impacts your organization name, website SEO and future business endeavors. All these factors should be taken into consideration before selecting a URL.
Boost Your Website SEO with the Following Domain Selection Tips:

1. Choose a Keyword Rich Domain Name: A keyword rich URL is a bonus for any website. It helps boost ranking in the search engine results pages. If the desired keyword rich URL is not available, you can add a prefix or a suffix to the keyword. A URL which contains a combination of keywords helps in drawing more traffic to the website.
2. Include Hyphens in the Domain Name: Search engines can distinguish between hyphenated keywords very easily. This helps in ranking better in search results pages. Hyphenated keywords in the URL are a good option if the desired keyword rich URL is not available. There is one pitfall in using hyphens in the URL. Your website visitor can land on the competitor’s website if they forget to add the hyphens. Webmasters should include hyphens as a last option to obtain the perfect domain name.
3. Select A Top Level Domain Name: A website URL should be selected based on the geographical location of the customers. If your website caters to the customers at a global level, a dot-com domain is suitable for you. If the dot-com domain is not available, you can opt between dot-net and dot-org. If your organization is based in United Kingdom, your top level domain should be dot-co-dot-uk. A non-profit organization should opt for dot-org as their top level domain.
4. Purchase a New Domain Name: A domain name should be researched well before purchasing. It is an important to get a URL related to your niche.

Tips for purchasing a new URL:

• The name should be easy to spell & remember.
• URL’s are inexpensive. You can register multiple keywords rich URL and redirect them to the main domain. As a result, a lot of traffic will be directed to the main site.
• Make sure that you are not infringing another organizations brand name.
• If your organization belongs to a particular region, Purchase a geo specific URL. This helps in capturing the target audience.

Purchase an Aged Domain Name:

• Always check the background of an aged domain before purchasing it. Aged domains can give your website SEO a good boost. Tips for purchasing an aged URL:
• Check the domain age. This will give you an idea of how old the domain is. Google gives a lot of importance to aged domains in search results pages. Your chances of ranking well improve with the age of the domain name.
• Note the page rank of the aged domain. As the page rank increases, the importance of the domain increases.
• Calculate the number of backlinks of the aged domain. An aged domain should have a few hundred backlinks. If the backlinks are not sufficient or are of poor quality, move on to purchasing another aged domain.

A good domain name should not exceed 67 characters. Look for a reputed service provider to host your URL. Register your URL for a few years instead of one year. Your website will leave a good and lasting impression on Google.

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