A good website in many cases can spell the difference between a viable business enterprise and a failed disaster. It is true that a poorly laid out website can actually drive the firm or sole proprietor’s potential customers away.

With so many competitors only a mouse click away, the website in question needs to be both attractive, easy to use, and cutting edge all at once.

Ensure that the Price List is Easily Available

Customers can not purchase a company’s products or services if they are not easily able to figure out what they cost. A business or individual ought to go out of their way to ensure that it is simple for any visitors to the site to reference and understand their price list.

There are websites which actually try to conceal their price lists for their various goods. They will not give a price until a customer selects the order or buy button. Sometimes, they even make the potential customer wait until an account has been set up on the site to divulge this critical information.

Whatever the logic behind these types of actions truly is, they only harm the prospects of the seller in the end. If the visitor is only window shopping and wants to write down the price for possibly coming back to purchase it later, be sure that he or she will not hunt around the website for a long time looking for it. Rather, he or she will just go to another e-commerce website instead, one where the seller is upfront with his or her pricing information.

Remember that numerous Internet experts have claimed that the typical Internet surfer possesses the same attention span as a flea does.

Offer Both Descriptions and Pictures for All Products and Services

There has been a raging debate on this topic where company websites are concerned. On the one hand, web designers are told to keep it brief, as they will only get a few minutes, or seconds even, to impress the surfer enough that he or she stays on the website.

On the other, experts recommend that products be well described, and have pictures as well, in order to thoroughly impress a potential client. There is a happy medium ground which will meet both objectives.

Amazon proves to be an effective example of the way that this can be properly and effectively accomplished. They put up a short description, a small thumbnail type of picture, the cost of the item, and a link to see more information on the item, as well as to purchase it.

The point is that Amazon does have a full product description page for all items somewhere on the website. This sort of description and picture process is critical for a successful website. In particular, if the product being considered has many competitors offering it, or proves to be fairly expensive, then this becomes even more important.

Put simply, these product descriptions and pictures are like salesmen pushing a certain product to a walk in customer. On the top of this description page, as well as at the bottom, the vendor should have an Order Now or Buy button.

The key is to make it as simple as possible for the potential customers to complete the sale once they are convinced.

Make It Simple for Customers to Browse the Website However They Would Prefer

There are all too many websites which lock the visitor into a pre-arranged sales pitch. First, the user is forced to read the authoring company or individual’s introduction on the product itself. Once the tiring tome is completely read, a link to the next page magically appears at the bottom of this particular web page.

The message on the second page must be endured before the user is allowed to move forward, once again. Although the individual might have already chosen to purchase the product, he or she is simply not allowed to skip all of the propaganda to get to the checkout page. This is too much like a high pressure salesman tactic, and it certainly leaves a negative impression on any visitor.

Simple to Use and Intuitive Navigation

If the navigation of a website is not simple and straightforward for the visitor to figure out, then the website usability factor is particularly low. This will likely discourage anyone who might simply wish to buy an item on impulse.

A golden rule to run a company or sole proprietor website by is that the customer must not ever be made to click his or her way through numerous pages before he or she is permitted to get to the download or buy now buttons. This is the fastest way to drive away a good portion of the visitors who came to the website looking to purchase a good or service in the first place.

Keeping the Website Simple, Staying Away From Flash, and Appropriate Use of Colours

Complex websites do nothing to help a business’ cause with Internet surfers. When they are not able to quickly and easily find the features and products that they are seeking, they are likely to simply go to a competitor’s site which is easier to understand. Staying away from the use of flash is a related point.

Since everyone is using a different specification of computer and Internet connection speed, the business should avoid flashy websites which look good in theory, but in practice, may keep a potential customer from being able to quickly access the website, or even require that he or she downloads missing plug ins along the way.

A last point to consider concerns the colours used on a website. One thing that ought to be remembered for certain involves avoiding colours which clash. Do not use a dark colour on a black background, for example. This could make it hard for some users to distinguish the text from the background. Once again, anything that makes it more difficult for the user is likely to cause them to disengage and leave the site.

Conclusion

The best thing that a business’ website can possibly do is to make the majority of important links easily available from literally each and every page of their website.

In simply putting them up on the navigation bar, this is most easily achieved. Businesses must never forget that truly great customer service over the Internet begins with an simple to use website. And having a readily available and reliable business website starts with finding a trusted e-commerce hosting provider.

How the business or sole proprietor designs and maintains their website will certainly determine if a given visitor will turn into a buying customer, or go on to become the customer of a competitor, instead.

The post Is Your Web Design Driving Customers Away? appeared first on REMDigital | UK.

But taking a closer look at what the platform actually has to offer, you may find that going down this untrodden path in your marketing approach can be of great advantage to your business in more ways than one.

Reason #1 – reach 500 million users across the world

Yes, that’s right- the number of Gen Z-ers and Millennials on TikTok right now has reached a staggering 500 million. The platform has gained a lot of traction in a very short space of time, and the upward trend doesn’t show signs of slowing, given the uniqueness of its content and its tailored appeal to younger age groups.

Reason #2 – take over Generation Z’s favourite platform

The platform being so particularly appealing to Gen Z should be anything but discouraging. What better way to get the attention of this age group, to whom websites like Facebook and Twitter are completely alien, outdated concepts? If you are looking to advertise a product aimed at this age group, look no further: if you can find a better way of getting the attention of a modern-day 13-year old, I’m sure parents would love to hear it.

Reason #3 – advertise in a way that’s highly (cost-) effective

One of the main appeals of the platform is the ease with which all users can create and upload content, whether that’s a dance video, a funny meme or just a random thought. Within minutes  you can have created a snappy 60-second video to market your product in a clear and engaging way, which won’t require any spending on technical equipment or special effects.

Reason #4 – experiment with a vast range of ways to promote your brand

Likewise, the average TikTok user will make their way through a very broad range of video content in one sitting. One of the platform’s most striking features is its versatility, meaning there are many different forms your advertisement can take – whether that’s in-feed native content, a brand takeover, a hashtag challenge or branded lenses – which will allow you to actively engage your customers with your brand in so many ways.

Reason #5 – YOU are priority

Unlike on other social media platforms like Twitter, advertisement spaces on TikTok are limited in number, so you can rest assured that once you’ve claimed your spot, you won’t have to worry about your brand message getting drowned out in a chaos of countless other products.

It is clear to see why more and more business are taking the step of advertising on TikTok- all of these factors combined make for a unique opportunity to promote your brand in a way that won’t go unnoticed.

The post 5 Reasons You Should Be Using TikTok To Promote Your Business appeared first on REMDigital | UK.

When you need a website, the question is, who do you go to? Where do you begin? The number of web designers and agencies are growing daily. To make your choice simpler, always look out for the below and ask many questions.

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – Is the process of getting a website ranked high on Google search results for specific keywords. There are primarily two sides to this:

1. On-page
2. Off-page

On-page SEO is all about your actual website:

• Content rich
• Clean, using search engine readable code
• Fast loading for all users
• Optimised Server
• No duplicate content
• Dynamic Sitemaps
• Strong Internal link structure
• Optimised Images
• etc.

You might have fancy moving objects on a website, accordions, tabbed content etc. but if search engines can’t read it, then you might be missing out on potential customers.

Another important point: When replacing an existing website with a new website, always have Google friendly redirects in place. Otherwise you could lose search rankings, and more.

Mobile Responsive

There are almost a billion mobile web users. A website should be fluid in it’s design. Work for all devices. Work on a Retina display Macbook, Android Phone, iPad mini and more devices all from one design. And the experience should be the same for all users. The website should be easy to use and navigate.

Future Proof / Modular

There is always items and functionality that everyone misses when a website goes live – because you didn’t think about it before or maybe something new was released in your industry that requires a chance on the website etc.

The issue comes when you need this new functionality. If a website is not modular based/future proof, you will generally have to folk out £100’s for the simple custom functionality. If the website is built well, a good developer will do it at no charge.

No Monthly Rental Fees / Full ownership

Many organisations charge a client a monthly rental fee (in addition to hosting costs) and reserve all ownership rights to the website. If the client deicides to leave the developers, they will switch off the website and the client has to start from nothing. A good developer will give full ownership of the website to the client and if they want to move elsewhere, provide them will all the files.

Tracking / CRO Tools

There is no limit to how good a website can be. There is no perfect website. With the aid of CRO (Conversion optimisation) tools, a website can constantly be improved. Having these tools in place, can make a huge difference over the year when a new website launches.

Secure

It’s never been more important to keep a website secure. Keep everything updated and secure. Potentially using IP locks on admin pages and and more.

Social Media

We all know the importance of Social Media. Integrate it at all levels of the website through means such as share buttons, widgets, social comments and more.

Blog

A blog is important. Keeps your website fresh, updated and encourages a community spirit. Blog posts show up on the search engine results pages regularly. Also tells your users you’re active.

Conclusion

Above are only some of the things you should look out for when looking for a web developer for your website. Contact REMDigital today to find out what we can do for you.

The post What Makes a Good Website? appeared first on REMDigital | UK.

Differences

Google use an indexing strategy which index the desktop friendly version as both desktop and mobile friendly versions without differentiating them. Therefore, when it comes to the ranking, websites are ranked on the basis of the desktop version despite of the fact that if a page is mobile friendly.

Some websites, when viewed on mobile show a different version compared to the desktop counterpart. As a result mobile users may not see what they’re looking for. This creates an issue as more people are using mobile devices.

Who is affected?

Gary Illyes and Paul Haahr from Google have stated there will be minimal changes in rankings with this initial update.

Sites who have a separate mobile site will suffer the most. On the other hand, those who only have a desktop site will experience minimum changes. Ideally speaking, it’s about time you grab a responsive site in order to function optimally.

Content and Links

Content is important for both standard and responsive sites. This new update will rank a site based on its mobile accessibility and not having the appropriate level of content will lead to a negative impact with the update.

Same will be the case for the depth of links available on both versions. Mobile sites generally display a lower number of links and so it’s necessary to manage them for search visibility.

Structured Data

Structured data is a highly predictable and organised form of data (see Schema.org) allowing search engines to understand data on a page. Structured markup should be identical on both versions of the site otherwise you could lose any rich snippets currently featured on the search results page.

Accelerated Mobile Pages

The new update won’t change anything for existing Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) however this could be more relevant in future updates of Google’s mobile-first index.

The post How to Prepare For Google’s Mobile-First Index appeared first on REMDigital | UK.

Keep the same look across all your profiles

This means, try and keep all the profiles have the same look, colour scheme, profile picture, address, website and description. For example, our profiles:

• Twitter: @remdigitaluk
• Facebook: @remdigitaluk
• Instagram: @remdigitaluk

Keep it human

Many brands don’t post about the everyday life of their business and work in fear of being perceived as a unprofessional establishment. You want your users to relate to your business interact with the posts. If you’re moving offices, then post about it and tell a story by showing pictures and videos of the process.

Don’t slack

Keep your profiles active. Post daily and keep your users engaged. Interact with your followers and reply to their comments. having a million followers on your social profiles if like having a million pounds in Monopoly money if you don’t utilise it and benefit your brand from it. Keep active.

The post 3 Beginner Tips When Setting Up Your Social Profiles appeared first on REMDigital | UK.

The post A Good Content Marketing Strategy Can Double Your Sales appeared first on REMDigital | UK.