Does your electrical contractor company rely on customers finding you on Google?
If so, there are a number of critical steps you need to take. Missing the mark here can put your business at serious long term risk.
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Don't take choosing a design and development company lightly. There are many reputable and talented companies, but the bad ones are a dime a dozen. Below are a few quick tips to help you make your provider decision a bit easier. Whether you've got a six figure web project or your nephew is helping you make a blog, take a look.
Even the most beautiful website imaginable won't be worth it if it's not bringing in business. For most companies, getting found by customers online really is paramount. So how can a business owner make sure that his or her site shows up when a customer does a search? Enter SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialists.
If you’re thinking about hiring a SEO specialist to increase your organic search reach, check if your web design and development team does it first.
SEO Specialists are technically-inclined writers who know how to create (and spread) awesome content throughout the web. They also know a thing or two about search engines and keywords. However, most SEO gurus aren't masters of HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Is this a problem? It could be. Not knowing how to design a website can actually put an independent SEO specialist at a great disadvantage.
Sure, they could use a DIY site builder instead of building it custom, but there are drawbacks there to consider. What really works is when the two disciplines of web design/development and SEO are implemented hand-in-hand. When a site is built from the ground up with search engine best practices in mind, and it has a ongoing content creation strategy in place, it has a better chance of getting found by customers and generating business. So if possible, try to keep your SEO and your web design and development all under one roof. Here are four key reasons why:
Custom websites are not just about visuals. They're about making sure your site exactly fits your business needs.
These days you only have about three seconds to impress a visitor and keep them on your site. Once they’re interested, you’ll need to guide them through a natural progression to fulfill their needs and maintain their interest.
- “Can I create my own website?”
- "Should I use that software I heard about on the radio?"
- “How hard could it possibly be?”
- "Maybe I can get my [insert younger relative] to do it?"
People inevitably ask these questions when launching (or re-vamping) their business website. Sure you can use an online site builder --- but if you don't have a ton of time, don't have a marketing background, and don't have experience in design, functionality, and best practices --- you'll probably want to invest in a custom web site created by professionals.
We all know a kick-ass website when we see one. Whether it's because of awesome imagery, helpful video content, compeling text, addicting interactivity, a noble mission, or some combination of all of those, some sites are just more memorable than others. In redesigning websites we often see examples that need a hell of lot of help. So to switch it up we thought it might be fun to do a short countdown of websites that we think really kick ass. Let's get to it.
In January 2016, Reeves Reed Arboretum came to us needing a website facelift. Their old site wasn’t cutting it anymore. It didn’t work properly on cell phones and tablets, and it didn’t do everything a modern site should. They needed something that would
"Playing hard to get: good for dating, bad for business."
If someone is searching for your business, or looking for a local service that you provide, you better do everything you can to be in those results. You have a few options.
Way too many business owners think they can get away with using the content of their brochures to fill up their website. They’ll have a Home page, an About Us page, a Services page, and a Contact Us. In 2016, this won’t cut it. To really stand out you must invest significant time and energy into the actual content of your site --- text, images, video, funnel, etc.
Here's why we don't use Wordpress.
When I started this company in 2008, I was asked to design websites because I have creative and graphic design ability. I didn't know how to build websites so I ventured toward Wordpress. And why not.. it's free! You can pick from tons of free themes and customize the site as you wish! All of the code was yours too... but as a graphic artist, it was very time consuming trying to figure out how to write it how Wordpress wanted me to write it... it was so difficult making my graphics come to life on a website using Wordpress's tools.. and the clients who wanted me, didn't want to pick from a theme.. they wanted something custom. So I had to figure out how to write code for myself.. with my own content management system.
