Web Design by Salelynn

5 Tips to Make Your Business Website User-Friendly

Mark D — Thu, 02 May 2019 18:57:13 +0000

When creating a website for your business, there are certain things to keep in mind from a design perspective that can make or break your site. Even if you do not plan to spend a fortune on your site, paying attention to each of these items you will ensure that the final product is something of which you can be proud.

Here are 5 tips for designing your business website, even on a budget:

Tip #1: Make sure your Web site loads in 5 seconds or less: Have you ever tried to view a Web site only to find that it takes 10 or 20 seconds to come up on your screen? Unless it has been recommended by a friend or you have some other burning desire to visit the site, you probably likely gave up and moved on. The first 5 seconds is very important in terms of the attention span of your visitor. During that period, you need your site to load and for the visitor to be able to “get” what your site is about. If it takes longer than this, your visitors will run out of patience and leave. Tip: if you want to show off a long flash presentation, try featuring it on a page other than the home page.

Tip #2: Limit the menu bar to 5 options: Your Web site needs to be singular in purpose and focused in appearance. If your site is trying to be all things to all people, it will end up being of value to almost nobody. The simplicity and focus of your site design is reflected in your navigation and symbolized on your home page by your menu options. If you believe your site requires more than five menu options, make some of them sub-menus that are available only after the user selects one of the five main options.

Tip #3: Make clearly visible a call to action: Ever shopped at an IKEA? Their stores have a non-traditional layout that allows you to look around freely and yet literally leads you from one section to another, right on through to the multiple cash registers and food goodies waiting for you at the end of your path. Let this serve as a model for how to set up your Web site: on every page, you need to make it abundantly clear to your site visitors just exactly what it is you want them to do. Do you want them to contact you? Order your product or service? Add a comment to your Web site? Whatever it is, make this call to action very easy to spot both textually and graphically from anywhere on the site.

Tip #4: Provide free and clear access to additional help options: You do not want to lose sales (or visits, or whatever your goal for your visitors maybe be) just because you failed to give someone the chance to ask a question. Just as with your call to action, make it clear to visitors that no matter where they are on your site they can easily locate help via phone, e-mail, live chat, call back, user forum, or knowledge database. Hint: present the various options in a prioritized manner depending upon anticipated user needs.

Tip #5: Show consistency among other design elements: The look-and-feel of your site as a whole is really just a combination of all of its individual components. Pay close attention to every detailed component of your new site. Use appropriate colors and graphics, pay attention to font size, make sure your messaging is readable and makes sense, and make sure images look crisp and appealing. Items that you think are minor might form the basis for whether someone chooses to stay on your site or find that of a competitor.

Whether you are designing your own site or hiring a professional designer, pay attention to these items and you will have a winning site for your business.

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3 Hard Truths about Building Your Online Reputation (And How to Correct Them)

Mark D — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 18:05:44 +0000

Your brand reputation makes or breaks your growth, especially in 2023. No one likes hearing that, but business owners need tough love sometimes. Reputation marketing—a smoothie of reputation management and brand marketing—dominates today’s market, and it’s no surprise why: A majority of consumers (including you!) consult ratings, reviews, and word-of-mouth before making any buying decision… even if it’s for a $5 coffee. You could have an incredible online presence and killer marketing, but if you don’t fine tune your reputation, you’ll find yourself wondering where it all went wrong.

Focusing on building your brand reputation sounds fun, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, there are some hard truths that most businesses forget. Before they know it, they’re left burned out and confused.

The Truth About Reputation Building

When a business first learns about reputation marketing, they study it with rose-colored glasses. They focus only on the fun parts and assume that’s all there is to it! They’ll throw some reviews on their website, respond to a few comments, and then stop thinking they have a few and thats all they need. This approach may come from a good place, but it’s naïve. Why?

Because customer service does NOT build your reputation. As much as we wish it were that simple, reputation marketing requires a bit more fine tuning. Otherwise, we’d all have a successful brand, right?

Today, we’re going to cover three HUGE mistakes you’ll probably make when first getting your feet wet in reputation marketing. Then, we’ll review how to correct them fast and start leveraging your reputation properly. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was your reputation.

Mistake #1: Relying on Paid and Dishonest Reviews

When you think of a business that PAYS for good reviews, what’s your immediate perception of them? Are they honest and offer a great product, or are they dishonest and use money to trick the market? If you’re like us, you probably think Option B. Whenever we suspect that a business paid for reviews, we’re immediately turned off from them, and we bet you feel the same way. So, no matter how tempting it feels, DON’T DO IT. In addition to the negative public perception the online giants like Google, Bing and more will penalize you for paying for positive reviews and it will ultimately hurt your search rankings.

The Solution

Deep down, most of us believe reviews and ratings should be earned, not paid for. Why? Because EARNING positive feedback shows you’re playing fair and genuinely want to connect with your audience.

The best way to do this is simple: Be honest and consistent with your service, then gently nudge your audience to add honest feedback. That way, your audience will trust you, and you’ll effectively tune your strategy to your customers’ wants. If they leave positive reviews, share them on your website and social media!

Mistake #2: Deleting, Ignoring, or Arguing with Criticism

As you grow your audience online, you’ll inevitably encounter some not-so-nice comments and feedback. Frankly, some of it will be downright mean, and you may feel an itch to “prove them wrong.” In our experience, this is the WORST strategy possible. Whether the writer had ill will or offered helpful criticism, NEVER try to silence or argue with it.

The Solution

Instead, if a customer leaves a critical (or even nasty) comment, respond to them with grace, patience, and understanding. Show them your genuine desire to understand their problem and solve it. Even if the commenter has NO intention of listening to you, your kind response will accomplish two things: One, you’ll free yourself from the emotion and move on sooner. Two, if other prospects or customers notice your kind response, they’ll see you as more professional and trustworthy.

Mistake #3: Enthusiastic but Inconsistent Posting

As you embark on your reputation building journey, you’ll probably feel pumped up and ready to invest hours and hours on it… at first. If you’re not careful, you could charge into your reputation project without any strategy, which will only lead to dozens of exciting posts at the beginning, followed by weeks of radio silence because you ran out of ideas. Don’t be that entrepreneur.

The Solution

Instead, the secret is in the strategy. Plan out your reputation build MONTHS in advance, even if it’s just a rough sketch. Doing this is KEY to avoiding the “excitement trap” and posting inconsistently. Anyone can make an account and post for a few weeks, but prospects are drawn to the brands that post for months and years without fail. Consistency is the name of the game, so prepare yourself before taking action. Your sanity and audience will thank you.

With enough practice and commitment, you’ll begin to see your reputation take form. If you would like help building your online reputation let us know. We have a proven method to not only build your reputation and help you get more reviews but we market those reviews in way that brings you more customers which will then bring you more reviews and help you make more money.

The post 3 Hard Truths about Building Your Online Reputation (And How to Correct Them) appeared first on Web Design by Salelynn.

5 Proven Reasons You Should Invest in a Website

Mark D — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 18:00:17 +0000

Every business, regardless of size, needs a website. It’s not just a terrific tool to advertise your goods or services; it also gives potential customers access to information about your company and makes it simple for them to make purchases. Also, having a website can improve your online visibility and enable you to connect with more people.

5 Statics On Investing In a Website

Here are 5 reasons that illustrate the usual return on investment for companies who spend money on a website:
1. Businesses reported an average 3.5 times return on investment (ROI) within a year of creating their website, according to a Clutch survey.
2. According to HubSpot research, companies that have websites generate twice as many leads as those who don’t.
3. A survey by the Small Business Administration found that companies investing in websites typically got a return of $2 for every $1 spent.
4. According to a survey by Website Builder Expert, companies with websites typically see a 25% increase in revenue.
5. According to a 99 Companies survey, firms who have websites see an average of 50% more clients overall.

Having a website is essential for any business especially in 2023. Not having a website is detrimental to any business that wants to survive, compete or grow in their industry and market. Investing in a website has a proven positive effect on the success of company or organization.

Salelynn Marketing can help you create the perfect website for your business. They offer affordable website design services and a wide range of digital marketing services that can help you reach more customers and increase your visibility online. Whether you are a small business or a large corporation
Finding a reputable, experienced company that can produce a website that is both aesthetically pleasing and search engine optimization-optimized is crucial when thinking about website design (SEO). Our digital marketing firm called Salelynn Marketing, with offices in Lawrenceville and Duluth, Georgia, focuses on building inexpensive websites that are tailored to your company’s needs.

Salelynn Marketing can create a website that meets all of your needs. Contact use today and get started on creating the perfect website for your business.

Contact us at https://Salelynn.com or 678-433-9680

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