One of the challenges of this design was to make it visually appealing, effective for both club members and site visitors, yet extremely easy to maintain, long-term.

That meant building the site using WordPress, since this popular content management system (CMS) makes it easy for anyone with the appropriate password to log in and make changes from any computer, at any time.

I chose The SmallBiz WordPress Theme from Expand2Web, a very versatile theme with a built-in user guide and great support.  It’s a favorite of mine anyway, but I knew that even if I weren’t available, this company would quickly and professionally handle any website issues.

Another challenge was to use the existing online directory system that the club subscribes to, if possible – and I found a way to pull data from that directory onto several pages of the new site (especially the Leadership and Member pages.)  That way, when the club updates Member info on their official Rotary database, it automatically displays the correct info on this website as well.

The Columbia Sunrise Southwest Rotary website is a work in progress, since members are still sending in photos and information from past events, but I thank them for the opportunity to build their new site!

The post Sunrise Southwest Rotary Website Launched appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

Don’t build a site without having a clear goal in mind – and then don’t forget to pop the question!

I’ve seen many websites that are absolutely stunning or very impressive, design-wise.  And of course many websites are terrific sources of information; most of us do research online before making major buying decisions.

But all the time and expense of building a truly attractive and useful website is wasted if you don’t engage the site visitor.  You need to move them along in the sales process.  You don’t want them to visit your website, read all your advice, then call your competitor for the actual job, right?

So a truly successful website encourages people to take that next step.  You give someone a compelling reason to respond to your proposition – to make the call or give you their email address – then you ask them to do it.

Otherwise it’s like spending a fortune on a marriage proposal – romantic setting, gourmet meal, bottle of wine, beautiful ring – and forgetting to ask “Will you marry me?”

Please contact me about your web design or redesign project – remember I offer a free website assessment if you have an existing site – and let’s see what we can do to make your site more profitable!

The post Successful Websites – Ask for Action appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

That’s right.  Most of us want to know who we’re dealing with.  Unless you’re big enough to have your brand become a household name, you’re going to have to deal with the fact that people do business with people.  They don’t do business with anonymous websites (at least they don’t like to).

This doesn’t mean you have to share that embarrassing high school yearbook photo or disclose your home address.

What is does mean is that you share a little more about your background, your passions, and your credentials.  How much you share, and the way you do it, depends on how formal your website is.

For example, check out graphic designer Andrew Reifman’s About page – you get a feel for his personality as well as his design skills.

Your About page can include:

• industry or trade associations, memberships
• press releases, favorable press mentions, other social proof
• stories of how you got started in your business, or your company’s history
• photos of you/your store
• your company’s vision, guarantee, goals
• testimonials

Remember, what your About page is really doing is reassuring people that you’re credible – a legitimate business, someone who’s not going to rip them off.  If you were one of your prospective clients, what would you want to know?

And please, if you haven’t checked out MY about page – do so!

The post Successful Websites – Don’t Be Shy appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

Keep Web Design and Navigation Simple

The most basic, most important key to an effective website is to make it easy for site visitors to understand 3 things:

1. what you do;
2. who you do it for; and
3. why they should have YOU do it.

People who can’t figure that out – quickly! – move on to the next website.

This means you don’t need expensive, high-end graphics.  You don’t need animation.  You don’t need for every page to appear in the navigation.

The website template pictured to the right looks cool, doesn’t it?

But look how complicated it is!  There are navigation links in those circles on the left and above the top blue area.  Some of the icons (to the right of the map image) are navigation links too.

Then that little email icon is hanging way outside the main part of the site, on the lower left… why is that?

You’ll get a lot more business from your website if you and/or your web designer focus on making it as easy as possible for website visitors to get the information they came for.

The post Successful Websites – Keep It Simple appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

I had LOTS of concerns by this point.  The idealistic part of me wanted to tell them what was wrong with their approach and their budget.  The practical part of me wanted to just move on to the next client, since they’d already made up their minds.

So I said “No, thank you.”

This is what I wish they’d understood; what I would have liked to have told them.

I think your approach is wrong and it’s woefully underfunded.

Let me use an analogy that might make sense.

Joe wants to go to California – he’s going to a convention, and decides to take his family to Disney World too.

He decides to buy a car for the trip – even though he doesn’t know how far away California IS and what the roads are like.

He decides he needs a BMW, but only has the budget for a Ford Focus.

He doesn’t budget for the trip itself – for gas or oil or meals or hotels.

Based on the evidence I’ve seen so far, your web design committee is doing something similar.

You have two goals (destinations) – more members for your association, and more customers for the members. You’re trying to please two groups of people. What they need, and what it will take to achieve each goal, is very different.

You’ve made a decision that a website – with very specific pages, functions and software – is how to get there, even though there are many ways to use the Internet to reach those goals.

You don’t have the budget for such an extensive site.

Plus you’ve asked me to use directory software that may not be compatible with a content management system such as WordPress.  I can’t even find a price for that software – you have to talk to a sales rep to get it. (Remember that old saying, if you have to ask the price, you probably can’t afford it?)

There seems to be no money in the budget to market the site on an ongoing basis. If you want it to be found for all the search terms you mentioned, that does not happen automatically – you need to pay for search engine optimization or advertising.  That’s several hundred dollars a month, minimum.

In my professional opinion, you need to back way up. Start over. You should be talking to professional web marketers (not just people who build websites) – and asking questions such as, “We’d like to use the Internet to accomplish these goals. This is our budget. What do you suggest we do?”

I’m afraid that if you don’t, in six months from now you’ll be looking for a “web designer” again, only you’ll be $2000 poorer.

Just in case you’re wondering, I’d suggest a smaller, more focused website and an aggressive Facebook marketing campaign.

The post Unsolicited Feedback to a Web Design Prospect appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

It’s a staggering number, but that’s one way of looking at the results of a survey done last year in the UK by 1&1 Internet.  They interviewed 2000 adults, and found that 46 percent of consumers cancelled plans to spend with a business after finding a poor quality website.

37 percent of consumers walked away completely – did not spend any money at all with the company in question.  An additional 9 percent chose to spend less.

All because the website was perceived as being of poor quality.

Oliver Mauss, the CEO of 1&1 Internet Ltd. explained that “… keeping an ugly or badly functioning website online can comprise a risk to sales revenue. Consumers have ever higher expectations, and it is essential that every company website inspires confidence.”

34 percent of consumers felt that, in general, the small business websites they see are “tired” and “unimpressive.”  41 percent of consumers find errors such as typos or broken links.

Nearly half of consumers – 49 percent – felt that having a bad website made a worse impression on them than not having a website at all.

(What makes a bad website?  Well, if you have to ask, it probably needs at least some improvement.  Request a free Web Assessment and I’ll give you some insight.)

If your site is more than a few years old, or if it was cheaply done, there’s a good chance that it’s costing you money.  (However, price is no guarantee of performance; I’ve redesigned $10,000 sites that looked “cool” but didn’t get the phone to ring.)

Mauss concluded that “Businesses that invest carefully in their web experience will see higher levels of customer spend, retention and referral.”

Economizing on your website is a false economy, since the risk of driving away prospective customers is so large.  A quality website leads to more sales, and some web designers will work with you on pricing or payment to make it easier to fit the initial investment into your budget.

I’d be delighted to talk with you about a site redesign; please contact me, no obligation!

The post Poor Website, Poor Sales – 46% Fewer Customers appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

This is the website and logo I created for her new compliance service for registered investment advisers.

If you’d like a WordPress website for your business, please contact me!

The post Simple WordPress Website | Adviser Compliance Services appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

Go to your PAGE (at this time you can’t do this from your personal profile page, only from a business page) and insert your cursor in the Status window.

Click the icon in the lower-left of the sharing tool.  It’ll look something like this:

Once you click on the little clock, it will ask you to choose the year, month, day and time you want the post to appear.  You can backdate posts, or schedule up to six months in advance.

Click here for the instructions, straight from Facebook.

It’s really pretty easy, and definitely a handy feature!

The post How to Schedule a Post for Facebook appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

• Think of writing a blog post as an interview.  Say your favorite journalist is going to ask you five questions about your business. What are the questions, and how would you answer?
  Pretend you’re just talking to the reporter and write whatever you’d say.
  No editing at first – just write.  THEN clean it up a bit to make it easy to read, and voila! you have a blog post.
• If a computer screen is too intimidating, get out the ol’ #2 pencil and a piece of paper.  Jot down a headline and maybe 5 bullet points.  Once you have an outline, it’s not too hard to just fill in the blanks.
• Lists make great blog posts. What parent of a school-age child wouldn’t appreciate ”10 Easy Ways to Get Your Kids to Do Their Homework”?
• Go to Google News and search these top newspapers for the topic of your possible blog post.  You’ll probably find several good articles written by professional journalists.  Print them out, study what they say and how they say it. You’ll probably get some great ideas.
• Comment on something you’ve read in another article, in the news, on a website, in an industry publication. You don’t have to come up with the idea – just reference what you read and voice your own opinion.

Finally  – give yourself permission to just do it.  You’ve got to trust that people will relate to what you write.  These days, adding fresh content to your website is too doggoned important – it’s just part of what you need to do when you market your business online.

You don’t have to write an epic, and you don’t have to sound like a technical writer.  Keep it short, keep it simple, make it easy to understand – and hit the PUBLISH button.

The post How to Write a Blog Post If You’re Not a Writer appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.

It’s actually quite simple.  As much as you can, make sure people “get” what your site is about, what you offer, who it’s for.  Right away.  Obviously.  On the home page.  Make it self-evident.  So much so that someone who has no idea who you are and what you do can still land on your site’s home page and say “Oh he’s a painter.”

And it should ALSO be obvious – require little to no thinking – what to do next.  Where the navigation is.  What can be clicked on.  Where to start.  What that link means.  How to reach you.

When you’re creating a web site, your job is to make it as easy as possible for website visitors to GET what you what them to do – WITHOUT MAKING THEM THINK!

The post Don’t Make Me Think – Web Usability appeared first on Web Design Columbia MO.