In last week’s post, I talked a bit about what you should expect as part of the design process when having your website built or upgraded.

The design and layout of your site is only one side of the coin. Equally important is the technical stuff going on behind the scenes.

Search Engine Optimisation

If your designer doesn’t understand and implement at least some basic SEO, you’ll struggle to get new business through your website. And that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Search Engine Optimisation is a really big deal. In all its glory, it’s quite a complicated thing, made up of a combination of technical know-how, your content strategy, and link building. Your content and links are the side of things that you need to either look after yourself, or outsource to a copywriter. The technical side of it,  your web developer should look after as part of the initial site set up.

Don’t be afraid to ask some questions around this, and if the developer you were thinking of hiring isn’t sure what you’re talking about, they may not be the right person for the job.

Some of the SEO technicalities you could ask about are:

• Do all the pages include title tags and meta descriptions?
• Are the permalinks set up correctly?
• Do images all have ALT tags and meaningful names?
• Does the site include an XML sitemap?
• Has the robots.txt file been set up?
• If there was an existing site, have 301 directs been set up?

This list isn’t exhaustive, but make sure you work with a developer who has some understanding of SEO best practices.

Once your site is launched, you can run it through the following tool and let your designer know of any red flags that come up.

Site Speed

There are lots of factors that go into making your website load quickly. This is really important because if your site is taking ages to load, visitors are going to get fed up pretty quickly and move on.

Some aspects that help or hinder your site’s performance include:

• How the code is written
• The size of uploaded images
• No caching implemented

Code

Obviously touching and thinking about code is probably the last thing you want to think about. And that’s absolutely fine – after all, that’s why you’re hiring a developer to create your site for you.

There are tricks (such as minifying CSS and Javascript), that can help keep code bloat down. Some WordPress templates can be guilty of having way too much code, so it’s worth checking that your designer is working with a template that is created with well-considered coding practices.

Image Optimisation

When creating images for your website, it’s best to crop or resize them down the actual size they’ll be used on your site. For example, the image at the top of your blog might be around 800px wide. If you load an image that you find from a stock library, it will probably  be at least twice that wide.

Free tools like Pikmonkey or Canva are great to help you quickly create simple and effective visual marketing images. And as long as you know what you’re doing, you can make sure those images are correctly sized and created at the right resolution.

I’m thinking of putting together a tutorial to help you create images that Google will LOVE. If you would like me to do this, please register your interest here.

Caching

You can use a caching tool to help with your site speed. If you’re of a technical bent, here’s a quick lowndown on how it works.

The caching tool creates a static HTML version of the pages in your site. Without the caching taking place, the pages talk back and forth with the database, and this is what can slow the site down. Once a page has been cached once, that’s it. It will load quickly for all visitors. If you make any changes to the page, however, it will need to re-cache.

Plugins you can use (or ask your developer to include in your site):

• WP Super-Cache
• W3 Total Cache

In Conclusion

The technical build of your site is every bit as important as how it looks. SEO and Site Speed are two off the most important aspects that you need to feel confident in your designer with. However, there are other elements to also consider, and I’ll go into them in the next post. Stay tuned!

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Are  you looking for some help with your new or existing website? I’m offering a great price on website design and builds. Click the image below to find out more information, and book your spot.

You’re not alone.  I’ve been talking to business owners lately, finding out a bit more about their experiences shopping around for a website designer they can trust. Some common themes have emerged from these conversations:

• How much is a reasonable price?
• Should I be able to edit the site myself?
• How do I go about learning to update the website without paying for assistance?
• How do I articulate my vision to get a site that looks how I want it to look?

If this sounds like you, I want to help. 

I’m doing a series of posts around some of these concerns, to help you understand how the web design process should work. 

This post today is going to deal with the design and layout stage of your website.

Branding and planning consultation

Before diving headfirst into your project, your web designer really needs to understand your business. And beyond that, they need to find out what you’re going to be using your website for, as well as what your marketing approach is going to be.

A good conversation will include questions about your marketing plans and possibly budget. Talking money can be a little bit tricky, but your answers will inform the design process a bit further down the track. Why? Here are a couple of examples.

• If you want to spend your marketing time or money on an email campaign, you’re going to need a design that pulls your visitors to a place where they are happy to hand over their email address to you. It might include a landing page, and strategic calls to action
• On the other hand, a business that is going to work on a strong and regular SEO campaign would need a site that showcases their content. The layout of blog pages would be crucial, as well as strategic ways to then share the content on social media
• Knowing how much your monthly marketing spend is, the designer can then help you work out which are the best ways to invest that money (or your time, if you’re more a DIY type) based on your business goals
• Most good designers don’t work in isolation, and should have a network of professionals they can recommend to you for assistance with areas that are outside of their expertise

Talking about your website in a marketing context from the very beginning will help you to clarify WHY you want your website built, and HOW it’s going to support your business growth. It’s the one aspect of website creation that’s ignored (or minimised) by both designers and clients. And that’s crazy.

Your business marketing in relation to your website should be the foundation on which everything else is built.

Custom design

The look and feel of the site is where most designers focus their energy and creativity. Clients too, can also get caught up in getting the site to look a certain way.

Here’s a little secret. The look and feel is important, but only up to a point. Equally important is the user experience of your website visitors, and how you want them to navigate your website based on your marketing aims.

Good web design is a bit of a balancing act. On the one hand, the site needs to look unique, and match your business and branding. On the other hand, the layout needs to be simple and recognisable to your visitors. Good market research will help the designer to understand the type of site your visitors might expect to see based on your  industry.

Does that mean your site will look like the same as your competitors? Of course not. Colours, icons, photography and illustration are all elements that are used to create a branded site unique to your business.

However, a good designer will create a site that looks familiar and contemporary, and free of gimmicks.

If you feel unsure about any aspect of the design of your site, just ask. If there’s a good marketing or business reason for having something done a certain way, and it makes sense to you, go with it. If you get the impression the designer is flexing their creative muscles just for the sake of it, ask for a rework.

WordPress platform

A website built with a Content Management System (CMS) gives you the ability to update your site without ongoing assistance. A CMS puts you in the position of being able to make lots of changes and updates yourself. Independence and control over  your own website is a big deal, as paying someone to make every little change for you will add up very quickly.

If you spend any time talking to different designers and developers, they will more than likely argue the corner of the system they like the best, and are most familiar working with. And that’s absolutely fine. As with everything, there are pros and cons to all the different options, and no one solution is perfect. However, if you do insist on one thing, it’s that your site is built using a CMS.

I use WordPress for my site builds, because its the platform I’m most familiar with. I also think its pretty awesome because:

• It’s open source (which means it’s built and maintained by the people for the people) and has been around for quite some time now.
• There is a vast network of WordPress experts, developers, templates, plugins and resources that you can lean on to help with the development of your website as your business grows.
• Using WordPress means if I build a site for you today, you’re not tied to me going forward.
• If you need updates in the future and for some reason don’t want to enlist my help (sob!), that’s fine. You’ll have no trouble finding another designer or developer to help you out.

Bear in mind, although WordPress is a generic platform, each website is set up differently behind the scenes. Different templates are built using different logic. Whether your developer uses a template, or creates a custom theme, you will still need help in working out how all the pieces have been pulled together.

The WordPress platform and templates have made it easier for you to be in charge of your website, but you will need to invest some time in learning how it all works, if you want to take over the reigns.

Once your site is built, ask for documentation that explains how to make the updates you want to make. If the designer you’re talking to is a bit cagey about offering you that sort of information, you might want to think twice about working with them.

Responsive design

If you’re having a new site built in 2015 (or beyond), it needs to be mobile responsive. No ifs, no buts. If you like stats and graphs – I put together information here on some of the figures behind mobile device usage, and what it means for your business.

What is responsive design though? A responsive website should resize well on different devices. It’s also about thinking through button sizes and text size. If someone is scrolling through their site with one hand on their iPhone, are they able to easily press your carefully crafted Call to Action? Can they call you directly from the site, without needing to type your phone number?

The way the content is laid out is also crucial – a design the works well on a big screen might just not make sense when it’s stacked up to scroll through on a phone or tablet.

Before your site is launched, make sure you look at it across a few different devices, so you can feed back if you notice anything weird.

In Conclusion

When shopping around for someone to build your site for you, keep the following points in mind:

• Has the conversation touched on any of your marketing aims?
• Is the designer helping you to understand how you can use your website strategically?
• Will the website be built on a Content Management System?
• Will your website be mobile responsive?
• Does the design match your business and brand?
• Is the design layout simple to navigate and understand?

I’ll continue with another post next week around some of the technical red flags you should keep an eye out for. More than ever, your website needs to be SEO friendly, and not all designers and developers approach their website builds from this perspective.

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Are  you looking for some help with your new or existing website? I’m offering a great price on website design and builds through to the end of the year. Click the image below to find out more information, and book your spot.

If you haven’t spent time putting together your Services Page, or if you’ve just hastily thrown something together in the past, now is the time to sit down and really make this part of your website work for you. Services Pages easily fall in the top 3 most important pages of your website, so ignore it at your peril.

Your services page is the place where you outline what you’re offering, give visitors the chance to make an enquiry and then buy from you.

It doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming. Let’s break it down and see what sort of elements you should have on your Service page.

A logically organised page structure

Depending on the industry you’re in, you might offer more than one service. If this is the case, you really should have a page for each service you’re offering.

Bear in mind that not every visitor is going to be interested in every one of your services, so treat each service offering separately. This keeps your message clear and makes for easy navigation from a user point for view.

Additionally, this approach is also great for SEO. Instead of trying to cram everything into a single page, having a separate page for each of your services means that they all have:

• a unique page title
• different meta description
• keyword-rich content with relevant images.

It might seem like a bit of extra work, but as with all things web-related, you get back as much as you put in.

And the icing on the cake? You can structure a call to action around the specific service on each page. More on this below.

Use headings and subheadings

The content on your services page needs to be easily read and digested. Your potential clients don’t want to be overwhelmed or confused by all the options you throw at them.

Keep that logical head working, and break it down nicely. Use headings to quickly make it clear what it is you’re offering. Visitors will appreciate the clarity, and Google will also reward you. Who doesn’t love a bit of Google recognition?

• Use subheadings, bullet points and images to further flesh out what you do.
• Icons are great for giving a quick visual summary.
• Include a quick sentence or two overview for those who are skim reading.
• Finish up with a couple of paragraphs to really expand on what you offer and how it can help your target market.

By being as unambiguous as possible, you’ll weed out potential time wasters. Those people who are truly interested in the service you are selling will stick around and keep reading. Which leads us to….

Clear Calls to Action

I’ve talked about Calls to Action before, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s because they are super-important. Visitors to your website need to be told what to do next, and as the website owner, it’s your job to help guide them through your site to where you  and they want to end up.

If they’re serious about the buying process (and hopefully if they’ve come this far, they are), you need to make it easy for them. Use boxes to tell them where to go and what to do. If your selling process includes emails and a quote, send them across to your contact page. If you prefer phone calls, that’s what you should tell them to do.

Also, don’t just have your CTA once on the page. Have it twice. Once at the top, and again at the bottom. That way they don’t have to scroll up or down looking for what to do next (and possibly giving up and moving on to your competitor instead).

Include lead magnets

A lead magnet is just a fancy word for a downloadable that you offer in exchange for email addresses. Service-based businesses can find it a bit more tricky to make the sale directly from the website. As your service isn’t tangible, and often costs more than a straight shopping cart sale, trust and relationships are key in the sales process.

Use your lead magnets to get your visitors’ contact details, and then include them in your carefully nurtured email marketing campaign. Through regular email contact, you can create a much stronger relationship and be front of mind when they are ready to make that purchasing decision.

To recap

• A separate services page for each service offering
• Clear layout using headings/subheadings and bullet points
• Use image and icons to visually summarise your offering (don’t forget to fill in your alt tags!)
• Clear Calls to Action
• Include lead magnets

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Are  you looking for some help with your new or existing website? I’m offering a great price on website design and builds through to the end of the year. Click the image below to find out more information, and book your spot.

Think of a CTA as instruction for what you want your visitors to do. It’s a bit of a catch-all term for any number of different purposes. You might want your visitor to buy something, download something, move to another page on your site, get more information, or contact you. In essence, it’s the next step that you want a visitor to your site to take.

Including Call to Actions in any business communication is Marketing 101, but not everyone who runs their own business is a marketing expert. And even if you know what a CTA is, are you using them effectively on your website?

Why does your website need CTAs?

Thinking about your website simply as an online business card is – to be frank – a big waste of time and money. It’s all very well having lots of lovely text talking about all the lovely things your business offers, all sitting on lovingly designed web pages. But what is your website doing?

Take a moment to think about it from the perspective of visitors to your site.

• Assuming they want to buy from you right this minute, how do they go about doing that?
• Do you have the facility on your site to allow them to purchase, or is there a process that you go through first – contact, quote, and then sale. If so…spell it out. Don’t make them guess, or hunt around.
• Are you offering a short-term promotion? Make sure you have that offer front and centre.
• Are you busy collecting emails for a long-term marketing plan? Guide your visitors through to the landing page that you set up for that purpose.

What about you and your business? Where in your marketing plan does your website fit? How are you using it to bring in money to your business? The answer to some of these questions will give you the clue to how you can start adding useful CTAs to your website.

Where should you place Call to Actions?

The answer to that is: it depends. But if we’re stripping it back to basics, there are a few key places that you should always have CTA buttons on your website.

Instead of trying to explain something that is actually visual, I’ve put together some cheatsheets for ideas on where to put CTAs on your website.

Click Here to Download Your Cheat Sheet >>

How should your Call To Action look?

You can create links or buttons, but I would recommend going for buttons. Use contrasting colours so they stand out against the rest of your site.

Try to look at your site objectively, as if you were a new visitor. Are your eyes drawn to the CTA buttons as you skim the page? Better yet, get someone to visit your site and give you feedback on how much the buttons jump out. If you need help with deciding on good contrast colours, visit a website like Adobe Kuler and select complementary colours. Plug in your site and brand colours and you’ll get suggestions on good colours that will stand out without clashing.

Ideally you would only have one Call to Action per page, but realistically that’s not necessarily achievable. If you’re using your header and/or footer to encourage visitors to do something more (and you should be), they will be on every page by default. Just bear in mind that if you have too many buttons asking your visitors to do too many things, you’ll probably just cause overwhelm and confusion, resulting in them doing nothing.

What should your CTA say?

Try to avoid cliché terms like ‘Subcribe Now’, or ‘Click here’ that don’t really tell anyone anything. Think of what it is that you’re asking that person to do when they click the button, and then use words to describe that.

Some examples:

• Get A Free Quote
• Add To Cart
• Buy Now
• Sign up for Weekly Tips
• Download Cheat Sheet
• Join The Forum

In summary

• A Call to Action is an instruction to ask your website visitors to do something, to take an action
• Use them as part of your overall marketing strategy
• Make them stand out through colour and placement on the web page
• Use words that are specific, not generic

Do you have any more ideas around Call to Action? Share your ideas and feedback in the comments below!

It seems obvious that the majority of people own and use smartphones. What may be less obvious is that purchases, and research for purchases, are increasingly being done on mobile devices.

If you use your website for any business-related activity at all, you need it to be mobile friendly. Even if you’re a bricks and mortar store – your customers are probably finding you through their internet research.

I drummed up some info and data around this topic, partly to create some fun graphics (designer-geek), but mainly to see how the move to browsing on devices affects business owners. And to explore what we should all be thinking about with our website designs.

A caveat however….I’m not a statistician, and I’ve done my research through internet searches. I’ve tried to keep the sources relevant and current, but I can’t  verify for their absolute accuracy.

With that in mind…let’s get going.

Percentage of population who own smartphones

Sources: Percentage of worldwide & USA smartphone users; Percentage of Australians owning a smartphone

To be honest, this surprised me a little. I thought it would be higher than this. Anyway….that aside, the key takeaway here is that lots and lots of people have smartphones!

Mobile usage trends

In 2014, mobile internet usage outdid desktop for the first time.

Global internet searches on desktop vs mobile

What this means for you:

• Your potential clients and customers are more than likely on their devices while they are searching for what it is you offer
• If your business doesn’t have a mobile friendly website, you are creating a barrier preventing them from purchasing from you
• Stuck for ideas for your site? This article discussing website features for your small business site has some tips to help you convert visitors into leads and then clients or customers

Mobile friendly websites for e-commerce and retail businesses

A survey completed by Google and Nielsen looked at consumers’ mobile habits in the online shopping process. They looked across a number of specific industries including restaurants, electronics and travel. Let’s have a little look at how it breaks down:

Use of mobile devices for online shopping research

93% of people who used mobile to research, go on to make a purchase

What this means for you:

• If your site appears on your potential customer’s search journey, you have a strong chance of converting that visit into a sale
• If your site isn’t mobile friendly, you are driving customers (and profits) away
• Your site must have clear and easy navigation – if a visitor to your site wants to purchase something, make it easy for them to do it right then and there

74% use search as their starting point

What this means for you:

• You need to rank organically – understand how SEO works and how to apply it, or make sure that your web designer does this for you
• Consider using PPC ads if appropriate for your business – be there in front of potential  customers when they are looking for you
• Keep search terms relevant – there’s no point ranking on page 1 of Google for a search term that’s not really key to your business. You’ll attract visitors, but they won’t be the right sort of visitor

69% expect bricks and mortar business to be within 5 miles

What this means for you:

• If you have a physical shop, optimise your site and SEO focus to target customers local to your business
• Utilise Google location extensions – set up your address and contact details

59% of consumers use their mobile device to do research throughout the purchase process

What this means for you:

• Consumers visit business websites on average 6 times in their purchase process
• Your site, therefore, needs to work well on mobiles and desktops
• If you don’t have a mobile friendly website, more than half of potential customers will be turned off or move on to your competitor

55% want to purchase within an hour, 83% want to purchase within a day

What this means for you:

• Your site needs to be easy to purchase from, whether the user is on desktop or mobile
• Ensure your site is logical so that they can easily access checkout and purchase options
• Make it easy for them to find your contact details and address if you have a physical space you are sending them to
• Ensure you have a Click-to-call link working on your site – this article explains how to add the snippet of code

Mobile friendly websites for service-based businesses

Source: 55% of purchases, conversions or actions take place within an hour

What this means for you:

• Make it easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for on your site
• Have clear Call To Actions to capitalise on the impulsive nature of their visit
• Consider using pops-up and email opt-ins to get their details and maintain contact with them
• Rethink long, complicated forms, as they will probably lose interest, or get frustrated, and move on

Source: 77 percent of mobile searches occur at home or work—even if a PC is nearby and readily available

What this means for you:

• Users are doing searches on their mobile devices because it’s easier and more convenient for them
• Your site needs to be responsive to their mobile experience
• Cut down on clutter, always consider your site design from a mobile as well as desktop experience

Source: Mobile now accounts for 44.8% of ad impressions, 50% of clicks, 46% of spend and 43% of conversions

What this means for you:

• Design your ads to be clean, easy to read on small devices, and with a clear CTA

Source: Nearly half of all emails are opened on smartphones and tablets

What this means for you:

• If you’re running any sort of email campaign, your email design needs to work well on mobile devices
• Check any templates or designs you are using to ensure they work well on different devices

Source: 91% of smartphone users access their emails at least once a day

What this means for you:

• Make  sure all emails being sent as part of your marketing campaign are mobile optimised
• Consider user experience on emails in the same way as your main site
• Use Call-To-Actions to encourage your subscribers to interact with your site
• Keep the layout clear, uncluttered and logical

In conclusion

In answer to the question at the very top of this post, clearly we have to say a resounding YES. Whether you’re selling goods or services, you have to respond to the browsing habits of your consumers and clients, by having a mobile friendly website.

Any other ideas around this? Please feel free to comment below!

Before you get bogged down in colours, fonts and photography, make sure that your site includes – at the very least – these 5 essential website features.

1. Mobile friendly

Do you remember the last time you landed on an annoying website while browsing on your phone? Chances are you had to scroll from left to right to read the text, or needed to zoom in and out.

Can you also remember what you did next? I bet you gave up and moved on to another website, one more compatible with your mobile browsing experience.

What you experienced was the frustration of landing on a non-responsive website.

Don’t be the owner of that website.

If you want to ensure that all your potential clients and customers stick around once they’ve found your site, you need to assume that their first point of contact is going to be while they’re browsing on a device.

Don’t just listen to me however. You know it’s serious when Google release an update to their algorithm. Very recently – in April 2015 – they introduced a big new change. In essence, the upshot is that if your website doesn’t play well on devices, it will be penalised.

Take the mobile friendly test and see if your site is ticking the right boxes.

2. Call to action above the fold

When a visitor arrives to your website, you want to catch their attention straight away. To do this you need a clear Call to Action (often abbreviated to CTA) sitting above the fold.

That’s all well and good, you say. But what does that even mean? Let’s break it down:

• A Call to Action is a piece of text, or an image, that prompts your visitor to take some sort of action
• Above the fold is the top part of your website, the bit you can see before starting to scroll down.

This is why many websites have a big banner, image or slideshow at the very top of the home page. It’s not just there to look pretty, it’s a way of cleverly using that valuable space and saying ‘look at me’ and then saying ‘do this, or do that!’

Your website will probably have CTAs sprinkled throughout, but even if you only put a CTA in one place, make sure it’s there at the very top of your home page.

3. Clear and easy navigation

Your small business website exists for a reason, and that reason is to help you land clients, or to sell your product.

If your visitors are faced with umpteen choices of buttons to click, or chunks of text to read, they’re going to get distracted, give up, and move on to your competitor’s site. A site which is stealing your clients with its simple design and clear, easy navigation.

What do we mean by clear and easy navigation?

Think of your website like a map to buried treasure. You want to help your visitor find the gold that they’re looking for, and that you know you can provide to them. Make sure that wherever they land on your site, they can pick up the relevant trail quickly and easily.

In practical terms, we’re talking about:

• The menu bar across the top of your site
• The Call to Action on the banner
• The easy breakdown of your products or services on the home page
• Using each page on your site to talk clearly about one specific aspect of your business
• Providing the answers to the questions you think your visitor will have (products, prices, testimonials, contact info)

Visit your site as if you’re a potential client to your business (or better yet, ask someone else to do it for you), and see if it’s easy to find the buried treasure. If not, you might need to do some tweaking.

4. Testimonials

People love what you do, right? So don’t be shy about getting that feedback and using it to promote yourself.

There are a number of ways you can integrate testimonials into your site:

• An entire page dedicated to testimonials
• Snippets or quotes next to the product or service you are offering
• One section of a longer introductory page
• Some combination of all of the above

However you choose to integrate them, make sure you get them up on your site. Knowing that you have happy customers and clients can give your visitors confidence that you are the best business for their needs.

If you can get permission, use photos of actual people. It adds a touch of authenticity. And if you work with big name clients, make that clear!

5. Contact information

Whether it’s as simple as an email address or phone number, or a whole form asking for key details to enable you to follow up, make sure you are easily contactable.

A  ‘Contact’ page is obviously essential, but also have your details in the header and footer of the site. That way, no matter where your visitor is on their journey through your website, they can contact you as impulsively and quickly as they like.

Once it was all over and done with, I got to thinking about the organisation that went into the day, and how in many ways it was similar to certain aspects of organisation for my business. I don’t wear a special dress every day to sit down and do my clients’ work (but I do get out of my pajamas – a girl has to have standards). Other aspects, though, they were a little familiar.

Have a contingency plan

We live in Sydney, planned our wedding for Spring, and decided to have an outdoor ceremony looking over the harbour. What could possibly go wrong?

For the entire month leading up to the big day, it pretty much rained every single day. Often torrential downpours that lasted for hours and turned the streets into small streams.  It dawned on us that we were going to need a Plan B, in case the rain didn’t relent.

The morning of the wedding arrived. At 5am it started raining a little, working itself to a downpour of biblical proportions by 9am. I was out the front of my hairdresser, coiffed and made-up, under an umbrella waiting for a taxi, when I called my partner and we agreed to activate Plan B. We had organised beforehand what this Plan B would look like. A quick round of phonecalls and Facebook updates, and all the guests were informed. At 12pm, we were married without a single hair on the giant ball of hairspray perched on my head becoming even slightly damp.

Of course, by then the rain had stopped, but it didn’t really matter. Plan B was actually very lovely, and no-one had to squidge through soaking wet grass.

Business lesson: have a back up plan.

What will you do if some key part of your workflow is disrupted, disabled or otherwise stops working?

• Your internet provider goes on strike? Are you mobile and able to move to a cafe with Wifi? Or do you have an emergency dongle to use?
• Your computer dies suddenly. Do you have a backup machine? Do you know local places to go where you can borrow a computer while it’s being repaired?
• Are your working files accessible from the cloud in case you need to move location?
• Do you have reliable people to outsource to if you fall sick, or just have an influx of more work than you can handle?

Outsource to the professionals

As I mentioned, our wedding was quite small and simple, so we didn’t go to the extreme of hiring a wedding planner. We covered most of the details ourselves, but got in the professionals to help out with the key elements of our day.

Our celebrant was brilliant (and obviously you cannot get married without one, no chance of doing a DIY marrying of yourself). But beyond doing the legal duties, she helped us to source a reception venue, gave us ideas to organise our Plan B, and then stepped up to fantastically when we had to activate said Plan B. What that meant was once we made the decision, she took care of the details and we just had to focus on getting ready and getting there.

(As a total aside, if you’re getting married and need a celebrant, I totally recommend Kerry at Unforgettable Ceremonies)

I was tempted to go DIY on things like flowers, but decided that I just wasn’t going to have time. We had friends and relatives arriving from overseas, and I had work commitments to get finished right up until a couple of days before the wedding. In the end I asked a friend who is a florist to help me with ideas, she found me a great florist here in Sydney, and I left it in their capable hands. The flowers were beautiful and I didn’t have that extra stress in the lead up.

I’m a terrible cook, so I didn’t even entertain the thought of a DIY cake. Luckily we have a generous and talented friend who made the most scrumptious mud-cake that got completely devoured.

Business lesson: outsource the stuff that you don’t need to do.

• Are there admin tasks you can hire someone else to do for you – freeing up your time to work on core business activities that require your specific experience and expertise?
• It’s tempting to DIY all your design, writing and web-stuff, but is it actually costing you money in the long run?
• Unless your business is accounting, leave that heavy lifting to someone qualified. I promise it will save you tonnes of money.

Use new technology

Part of the low-key approach to our wedding organisation was to do away with traditional save-the-date card and invitations. Our wedding party was small, so this worked for us – but I don’t see why it also couldn’t work for a bigger group.

I used Facebook, texts, emails and old-fashioned phonecalls to alert everyone that we indeed were finally taking the plunge.

Instead of designing, printing and posting invitations, I put together a quick website. Using a WordPress template, the only really work that I needed to do was some custom illustration to make it feel more ‘ours’. It took me a couple of afternoons to put together, and then people were able to let us know if they were coming, and we were easily able to provide them with all the details.

Business lesson: investigate new technology

• There are always new apps, websites and ideas to try out. Getting the balance right between trying new stuff, and falling down the wormhole on a regular basis can be tricky. However, it’s worth it to find a tool that really helps your workflow
• Think outside the box for ways to grow your business, promote your content, or gain new clients.

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If you’re interested in seeing the finished website, I’ve added it to my portfolio. No need to let hard work go to waste!

Have you had some major life event that kind of chimed with how you run your business? Or is it just me – a weirdo who truly can’t swich off?

Choosing a font to use in your designs can be tricky. It’s worth spending some time getting it right though, as that choice can make or break your design.

One of the first things I do when coming up with a new concept, is look for a selection of fonts that are going to work for that particular design. If you’re looking for a bit of help on using that awesome font you’ve just discovered, I’ve written some tips before about how to incorporate fonts into your designs – from using a limited font selection, and being consistent while using that selection.

However, unless you’re doing graphic design a lot for other people, you probably don’t have a huge library at your disposal. Luckily, the the days of needing to pay loads of money to purchase from a smallish pool of available fonts are gone. The availability of free fonts has exploded in the last few years which is great news for small business owners who are looking to do some of their own visual marketing.

So, here is a collection of my favourite go-to places. Most of these are font foundries that offer licenses to use their fonts for free and on any project, but be sure to check the conditions that usually come with the font.

Some of the font creators just ask for a small donation, which isn’t too much to ask. Be nice and donate something to help them keep helping you.

Font Squirrel

Font Squirrel is usually the first place I head to if I’m looking for something different to my existing collection. They are a firm favourite with designers, and with good reason – plenty of options, wide range and selection, and generally free to use on any project.

1001 free fonts

This is actually a new one to me, I just discovered it while researching this post. At quick glance, it looks like a good selection. I’ll be bookmarking to return and see what’s on offer.

Google Fonts

Taking over the internet, one piece at a time, in the last few years Google entered the font fray with a huge selection of web-friendly fonts.

These fonts can be downloaded to use on traditional print projects, but they’re also easy to use across websites. It’s a great move forward from the days of only being  able to select from a handful of (boring) fonts. Or, pasting in funky headings as images files  – which is a terrible idea from an SEO and site-loading perspective.

DaFont

These guys have been around for a while, and not all their fonts are free, but it’s still a good place to check in if you’re struggling to find something you like in your existing library.

A curated selection of fonts

This post is a good one to bookmark, as it hones in on specific fonts that the author likes and recommends.

I could do something similar, but figured  – why reinvent the wheel?

Do you have any go-to font libraries that you would recommend?

The good news is that it’s really easy to stay on top of this.

1. ALT tags

What are ALT tags?

ALT tags are a readable description of the images on your web page.

They are the little snippet of HTML code that go alongside images that you upload to your site. If you manually code your site, an ALT tag looks something like this:

<img src=”image/my-cute-cat.png” alt=”illustration of cat”>

If you have a WordPress site, filling in your Alt tags is really easy.

ALT Tags & SEO

It’s important to make your website accessible to as wide a range of users as possible, including visually impaired visitors who may access it via screen readers. That’s just good internet manners.

As a bonus, Google also rewards proper use of ALT tags, as it helps their spiders to crawl your site more easily.

So, what are some good practices when filling out your image ALT tags?

Keep the text short

Don’t use long sentences or huge, descriptive phrases. Really look at the image objectively, and come up with a succinct description.

Be descriptive

You don’t need to literally describe what’s in the image, but write it in a way to describe it in context.

Avoid keyword stuffing

In the past, SEO cheaters have tried exploiting this loophole by keyword stuffing. It doesn’t work anymore, and you will more than likely get penalised for trying it. That’s not to say don’t use a keyword that is relevant for your page, just use it in a natural way, if it’s appropriate for the image.

Try to mention the page topic

This is a little tricky, so only do so if appropriate. First and foremost, write the ALT tag for the people visiting your site. If you can mention your page topic in a natural way, then do so. In fact, using this approach may help you to select images that are relevant and add context to the page they’re on, rather than just using them as filler, which is a good practice of its own.

Google Guidelines Example

Bad: alt=””

Better: alt=”dog”

Best: alt=”Dog waiting for walk”

Avoid: alt=”dog, dog walking, dog sitting, pet, pets”

2. File names

Write SEO-friendly file names

You can generate plenty of traffic back to your site via image-based search engines, like Google Images. To increase your SEO-ability, don’t leave your file names generic (such as IMG342234.jpg), but give them a short title describing what they are.

• Create a file name using a term you want that image to rank for in Google Images search. Don’t just copy and paste your ALT tag (or vice versa), take a few extra moments to write a unique file name.
• If it’s natural to use your keyword in the file name, then do it, but don’t force the issue.
• If your business location is important or relevant, include the location in the file name.
• Use hyphens in your file name to help with readability for Google.

Add context

You’ll get extra SEO points if the text surrounding your image uses similar and related keywords.

If you’re writing a blog post about walking dogs in your pet sitting business, and you’ve created or sourced an image that’s relevant, it will all hang together naturally.

Google Guidelines Example

Bad: filename = “DSC2349384238.jpg”

Better: filename=”dog.jpg”

Best: filename=”sad-dog-ready-for-walk.jpg”  (Hyphens are read as spaces by Google, whereas using underscores will read as one long word.)

Avoid: filename=”sad_dog_ready_for_walk.jpg”

3. File size

Page load times matter. A site that chugs along, taking forever to load, is not going to encourage anyone to stick around. The biggest culprit is poorly optimised image files.

The good news is that it’s easy to keep your images small in size but big in quality. There are even free tools to help you do so.

Free tools

Image Optimizer

No frills site, and easy to use. Upload your image or link to an image url.

Smush it

Gives the ability to upload multiple files or URL links, and will provide you with a zip file of your optimised images. Quick, easy to use, and great for working with multiple image files.

This one is also available as a WordPress plug in.

Awesome tool alert!

Once you’ve finished optimising your images, and reuploaded the smaller versions, why not check out how your site is doing?

Feed the bot is a great tool to give you loads of feedback on how your site is doing. Run before and afters as you work on optimising your site, and see how your changes are making improvements.

Reduce the number of images on your website

Decorative images

Some decorative images (such as buttons), can be coloured and shaped through code, rather than using image files. Speak to your web designer to help you with this, or if you’re a bit code savvy you could maybe do it yourself.

Fonts

Similarly, if you want to use a ‘fancy’ font, pick something that’s embeddable through code, such as Google fonts. Don’t even think about creating image files for your headings from the text.

Background images

If you’re using a background wallpaper image, really consider whether it is  necessary. Can your design work without it? If so, ditch it and your site will speed up.

Another approach is to cut out the middle of the background image (that is never visible behind the website pages), and make it a flat colour, or even transparent. This will cut down dramatically on the image file size.

4. Image type

Use the correct image file

There are 3 common image files types you can use when creating an image file – JPGs, PNGs and GIFs.

Which should you use? The answer is: it depends.

JPG images are able to be compressed considerably, giving you high quality images with a low file size. If your image is complex (e.g. a photograph), keep your file as a JPG.

Every time you save a JPG over the top of itself, the image quality degrades a little bit. Always keep the original and save smaller versions separately each time.

PNGs retain quality better, but their file size can be bigger as well. Use for small, decorative images (e.g. icons and buttons), or illustrations created from a vector program.

GIFs will give you a smaller file size than a PNG, but are generally worse quality. Don’t use GIFs for photographs, stick to using them for simple images in the same way as PNGs.

Do you make sure your images are optimised before uploading them to your site? Have I missed any vital tips here?

Visual marketing – as the term probably suggests – is using visual content to help reinforce your brand identity and message, across your marketing efforts.

There are lots of ways to go about this, and lately I’ve noticed a huge rise in small business owners using Canva to create blog headers, and graphics for their social media platforms. It really is great way to add visual identity to your brand message.

However, the approach many small business owners are taking could actually be doing unintentional harm to their brand and message.

The Canva approach

Canva offers lots of pre-existing design elements for you to choose between. Many of them are free, the rest are really cheap. It’s a process that’s gives you design freedom without you needing to spend time learning how to use difficult (and expensive) software. It also handily circumvents that challengeing moment of staring at a blank page and wondering where on earth to begin.

In short: it’s easy and it’s fun.

The downside is that everyone else is using the same elements and the same approach. The result? Visual content that is not necessarily linked to your brand, but to the Canva brand.

Time and again, across various social media channels, I’ve seen business owners create visual content. The responses from their friends and followers often follow some variation of the below comments:

“Love your visual. You created it using Canva right?”

“Ah..I see you’ve discovered Canva! It’s great, isn’t it?”

“Awesome graphic. I love Canva too! It’s so easy to use.”

How is Canva diluting your brand?

To me, the immediate thought that springs to mind is that this just proves how visually literate you all are. Canva has an identifiable design aesthetic, and most people seem to be able to recognise it.

The point of visual marketing is to create imagery that connects back to your brand. In the same way that you want your blog’s voice to be consistent and reflective of your brand, your visuals need to fulfil the same role. If you’re creating visual marketing that is readily identifiable as ‘Canva’ rather than you, you’re wasting that opportunity to connect visually with your readers and followers.

I’m not for one second advocating not using Canva, or creating your own materials. But make sure you’re adding value to your brand while doing so, not diluting your brand.

How to use Canva to promote YOUR brand (not theirs)

Brand identity is generally built using some basic foundational elements. Keep these consistent, and your visual marketing materials will be a much closer reflection of your brand and business.

1. Keep fonts consistent.

Fonts are really important.

It may seem like a little thing, but picking fonts is one of the key ingredients in your design and brand identity. Stick to the fonts already used on your marketing materials and website.

If you’re not sure what they are, go back and ask the designer which fonts they used. You may not have access to the same ones, but some research on Google fonts or Font Squirrel, and you’ll be able to find an equivalent that closely matches.

For example, if your website is using handwritten fonts, and has a crafty feel, then creating (popular and trendy) retro-themed marketing material isn’t going to match your brand or reinforce your identity.

2. Colours

Stick to your brand’s colour palette.

Use the colours in your logo and the colours on your website. You can create tints of those colours to increase your options. This tool can help you create some darker and lighter tints of your existing brand colours.

If you feel like you need more colours, spend some time one day using a colour palette mixer to create your own custom palette. Try to end up with a maximum of 6 colours, together with some tints.

Once you’ve decided on these colours, save them down somewhere and use them as your reference. And then stick to them!

Keep in mind, that fewer colours often work better in designs, so you might be best just sticking to the 2 or 3 colours in your logo and website.

3. Gather your own design materials

Canva is great and has a wide range of pre-existing elements for you to use, but you don’t have to be restricted by what is on offer. You can also upload your own design elements.

We’ve got a Pinterest board of Freebies that we’ve been collecting from various place on the internet, that is updated regularly. It’s a board of illustrations, icons and fonts. Follow ours, or start your own.

Start your own library of brand-relevant illustrations and photos. Be strategic in what you collect, keeping your brand, your industry and your audience in mind.

4. Keep your range narrow

It’s tempting, when faced with a smorgasboard of options such as offered on Canva, to want to try and use everything. My best advice is to resist that temptation.

Think about your brand, and its identity. Get your fonts decided, pick your colours and then set up some templates. Think about how you can keep them consistent, and then try to work within those guidelines and constrictions. It might feel less ‘creative’, but it will make your brand message much stronger.

Canva has created a really clever, easy-to-use tool, to help you take charge of your own visual marketing. Use it to your advantage, and reinforce your brand identity.