Best Practices on Mobile-Friendly Websites

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Karen

Recently, clients have been asking us to build their site so it performs well on a mobile device.  Websites and mobile friendly is also currently a huge topic among designers and programmers. Since I write for non-techies, I’ll keep it simple. If you are a techie, I’ll post to links at the bottom from my sources.

There two options available at the moment.

1. Building one website and making it responsive to the device or platform its on so it adjusts into a readable or “friendly” format.

2. Building a separate website for cell phones and possibly other separate websites for other devices.

We here at AEC are choosing option #1, though we acknowledge there are times when a separate site could be warranted.

The downside of a separate mobile website is that it creates another set of content to keep up-to-date. Consequently (and for other reasons as well), many mobile sites present only a sub-set of the information on the main website. Someone will decide what “most mobile users will want to see,” and that’s all the mobile site will include to keep it easier to update. But too often the guesses are wrong about what content the mobile phone user is looking for. To quote Bruce Lawson, “you never know better than your users what content they want.”

Though, I would add “or how they want to view it.”

What bothers us about much of the mobile web and responsive web discussion is the idea that we can automatically anticipate how people want to view a website, so can remove that control from them. On the contrary, the most important part of any mobile website is that link over to the full website, just like the most important part of any “responsive” website is a link to cancel the responsive features.

 

Users want and need the two “cons” – content and control. Remove content by offering only the content you assume mobile users want, or remove control by assuming you know how users want to view that content, and you are delivering frustration to your users.

Want to read some more:

Why We Shouldn’t Make Separate Mobile Websites by Bruce Lawson

This article on Responsive Web Design by Ethan Harcotte from A List Apart (one of the most respected web design blogs) is considered one of the seminal statements. It’s a good reference if people want to read a bit more on the subject, though it gets a bit technical.

_____________

Responsive Websites

Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant with Almost Everything Communications. If you want to discuss mobile friendly or responsive sites, or other topics related to web development or internet marketing, call Karen at AEC at 510-527-9920.

Posted in internet marketing, WordPress Websites | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New WordPress Website for Oakland Self Help Publisher

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Karen
CBT_Self_Help_Therapy

New WordPress Website for CBT_Self_Help_Therapy

We at Almost Everything Communications (AEC) are pleased to announce the launch of a new WordPress Website for New Harbinger Publications in Oakland. This new site, called CBT  Self Help Therapy, is a membership / e-commerce / and e-learning site.

New Harbinger is a nearly 40 year publisher of Self Help and Psychology books that cover most topics on these subjects. Now they’ve turned one of their recent workbooks — Mind and Emotions, by Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning, and Patricia Zurita Ona — into an online workbook people can access from their privacy of their homes. The site allows individuals to participate in online interactive sessions in which they view videos & audio tapes, answer questions and receive feedback on where to focus their learning and on their progress.

The empowering premise of Matthew and Patrick’s work is that skill learning can lighten depression, reduce anxiety, lessen anger and relieve guilt and shame. The site, designed and programed by AEC, provides people with lessons they can work on their own or with the support of a therapist. We believe, as they do, that it will give many more people access to therapy.

Other collaborators for this project include Joe Seidler of Seidler Internet Marketing, who is a valuable expert when we are building online businesses, and Nancy Rosenberg of Frisco Graphics, who provided the bright and clean homepage design.

____________
WordPress Programmer, PHP ProgrammerTod Abbott, our AEC Sr. Programmer, and team are responsible for the creation this sophisticated e-learning website. Tod’s an expert in web information design, WordPress and PHP web development and has been the senior programmer at AEC for over 15 years. To discuss a web development project, contact Karen by phone at 510-527-9920.

Posted in internet marketing, socially-responsible businesses, WordPress Websites | Tagged | Leave a comment

Avoid These 10 Costly Website Mistakes in 2012

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Karen
10 Website Mistakes

Compelling, Non-Flash Site Design

Let’s start with some of the common and BIG website mistakes I see business owners make. These are the mistakes that will cost you money and limit or keep your sales results down.

1. Building Your Website in Flash – Flash programming is truly enticing for the beautiful, smooth, cinematic effect it can create. The downside is that it’s invisible to search engines and doesn’t work on many mobile phones (and can be difficult to use even on devices that can display Flash).

No small business should use Flash programming to build their website as no one will be able to find your site via search.

2. No Calls to Action – There should be something for visitors to DO on every page if they want to take the next step. Many small business websites overlook the importance of including a clear call to action. It could be as simple as calling you for a quote or downloading a relevant white paper. Even when I explain this to clients, it’s such an unfamiliar idea that most small business owners aren’t receptive. See Lockwood Electric with it’s Request a Quote button.

3. No Keep in Touch Buttons – Prospects usually need to be exposed to your brand seven times before they buy from you. Therefore it’s important to start a relationship with people who visit your site. Have an email newsletter people can sign up for if they want to keep in touch.

Consider using Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google + and Twitter. Talk to your marketing person about which of these are a good fit for your industry. I recommend the email newsletter to nearly all businesses. Check out this recent article of mine on placement of social media / blog icons.

4. Not Using Keywords – Business people have become increasingly savvy about keywords and tell me using keywords on their site is important to them. I consider using keywords the major foundational step to make your site findable on Google.

Just to be clear, by “using keywords” here, I’m not talking about using the actual “keyword” html tag, but locating the important words or phrases your potential customers are likely to search for, and being sure those appear in important places throughout your site. If you want to know more, look at this previous post on Search Engine Optimization or SEO for Short.

5. No Links from other Websites – This important strategy scares business owners. One of the most significant ways that Google measures the value of your site is by the number of other sites linking to it.

At the very least, be sure to get a few inbound links for your website like those from organizations you work with and people you refer business to. (Stay away from those services that offers 100 links for $99 as those links are spammy and not beneficial.)

6. Over Investing in Your Website – I think the cause of over investing in the website is perfectionism and business anxiety. By over investing, I mean spending more than two to four months getting your website up or over investing money in the site that you most likely need for other aspects of your business.

Let’s look at perfectionism first. Websites are always works in progress – so it’s more important to get it up so it can start working for your business. Perfectionism is a delay tactic.

The same about over investing money on a website. If you are in a design profession you do need an amazing site design. Other businesses need a polished website with good design. For nearly all businesses, content is actually the most important aspect of the website. Be sure to have money for search engine optimization and good content on the site.

7. Under Investing in Your Website – This message is for the folks who run a successful business but are using an out-dated or unprofessional looking website. Successful businesses hamper their growth when they go without or keep on with a site that looks lame, has weak content or isn’t optimized.

You can say all your business comes from word of mouth but these days most prospects are looking at your website to assess you before they call you. So transform an out-of -date site that is hurting your marketing.

8. No White Lettering on a Dark Background – Black sites can be slick and compelling but be sure to use a light background color and dark lettering for the content. Otherwise, you site can be hard to read and people may be going away without reading.

9. Skimpy Copy & Too Lengthy Copy – This relates to what I said earlier about content being the most significant aspect of a website. You want to use your website to attract the right clients to you. Answering peoples’ questions about your service and product shows you care and understand them.

Too lengthy copy looks like your thinking is sloppy — it can also scare people away. You want to show you can be concise and to the point but at the same time paint a complete picture. If you are unsure, hire a web copywriter to help you.

10. No Testimonials – Testimonials help people cement their buying decisions and also can say things you can’t say about yourself. I recommend them for all businesses but especially service businesses where so much of what you are selling is the experience of working with you. Some businesses just attract testimonials, others need to ask for them. Again, ask for them or have a marketing consultant or staff person ask for the company.

That’s 10 for you! Your company or organizational website is your key marketing tool. Make a point to seek out a marketing savvy web person who can help you implement these ideas on your website for better marketing results.

Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant and Principal at Almost Everything Communications. The firm specializes in helping small and medium businesses thrive on the internet. Call 510-527-9920 for assistance with web development, web design and internet traffic building.

 

Posted in internet marketing, WordPress Websites | 1 Comment

Are your Social Media Icons Getting the Short Shaft?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Karen

Social Media Icons & Sign Up BoxHow often do you go to a website and see teeny, tiny social media icons or even none at all? Often the blog button is nothing more than a button on the main navigation. Visitors can’t see that this is where new content is going.

This reminds me of website navigation in the 90’s and early 2000′s. Remember how designers would make the navigation buttons subtle, hidden, and teeny, tiny — in the interests of design elegance. Back then, we at AEC were pushing for upfront & elegant navigation as it’s conducive to people clicking around the website and reading more.

The same is true for the email sign up box and social media icons. If you are committed to social media and inbound marketing, you want to the links and sign ups to be prominent on your site.

In the above photo you see the fun website of  TV host / health  / wellness / eco-consciousness coach Giselle Achecar. I didn’t design this site but I like the style and the prominent social media.

Social Media Icons and Sign Up BoxOn the left is Chick Boss Premier Jewelry. I consulted on the plan for this website and handle their blog and social media. Each page has a call to action for their online store, their Facebook, Twitter and email newsletter. That’s because we want every site visitor to keep in touch and go to the store once they’ve gotten to know us.

The same is true for the email sign up box and social media icons. If you are committed to social media and inbound marketing, you want to the SM links and blog and email sign ups to be prominent on your site. And it can look great!

Have a site you like that does this well? Want to share how you’ve done this on your site–drop me a line in the comments section below!

Also, here’s a blog post from Hubspot with 50…yes, 50 social media icons in different styles to rock your web design.

Internet Marketing Consultant Karen NierlichKaren Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant in Albany, CA. She and others at AEC help clients thrive on the internet through website development, design and inbound marketing consulting. See the Almost Everything Communications portfolio.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in blogs, internet marketing | Tagged , | 4 Comments

WordPress Websites for Artists, Musicians, Writers & Healers

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Karen

WordPress Website for ArtistsI’m often asked what is the best way to set up an inexpensive website for artists as many of my friends are artists on a tight budget, etc. I’m going to show you how we’ve accomplished this for some of our friends who have needed an inexpensive but attractive and functional website.

Artist’s Website Requirements

1. Updates/ Social Media/ Blog. Usually the artist, musician, writer, or healer wants to be able to update their website themselves. Sometimes they want a blog, FB and Twitter icons set up so they can promote their website. This is the main reason I recommend WordPress Websites. WordPress is a blogging platform,  it’s easy to update, and it’s easy to add links to FB, Twitter and other social media and plugins that allow for sharing.

2. Aesthetics As artists, musicians, healers we usually have some aesthetic requirements! We want the site to look great and be personalized to match our art. There are 1,000′s of WordPress templates, and they are easy to customize so that’s another reason I choose WordPress for artist friends.

Samples of WordPress Websites for Artists, Musicians, Writers & Healers

WordPress Website for artistsAsma Salehi is a painter friend of mine. About a year ago she translated a children’s book she remembered from her childhood in Afghanistan and we set up this WordPress website at that time. The site is flexible so she’ll be able to use it to promote her different art projects moving forward. Under $1000.

Stories of Seniors This fun blog about seniors and elders is written by my sister. The design isn’t custom like the other samples. It’s actually a free WordPress template she selected. This site needed no design work making it the most inexpensive. Under $500.

Psychotherapy for Pregnancy Loss with Donna Rothert - Donna had an existing site but was ready for a different look and feel. She selected colors and artwork and we discussed the site outline together. She had hosting and a domain already which she sent over. We at Almost Everything Communications set up the template and designed the header. For her we loaded the content and the links and made some small changes to the existing keywords. Cost about $1000.

Journal of a Moss Enthusiast is my own art blog about moss. Tod, our Senior Programmer & my husband, put this WordPress Website together for me. I picked the font, photo, and wrote the text. It has a blog sign up and social media buttons so people can follow my blog. Under $1000.

Polarity Wellness is a bodywork & tarot (and more) business from Miriam Jacobs. She designed the banner with guidelines from us. We did the WordPress set up and trained her to update the site and blog. See the cool rotating tarot cards. Under $800.00

Prices and Process

Websites for artistsI listed the prices above. These projects I do as hourly projects as each client needs different amounts of design work, planning and set up help.

Inexpensive WordPress Website Software Set Up would look something like this:

  • Hosting and domain(s) purchased by client
  • Client outlines site and writes content
  • Client picks a free WordPress Template and any photos they’d like to add
  • Client gets .5-1.5 hour(s) of training on WordPress, Blogging (optional) &  Use of Keywords
  • Installation of relevant plugins, Google Analytics and social media icons and links.
Websites for artists

Karen Nierlich

 

Karen Nierlich is a internet marketing consultant for Almost Everything Communications. She enjoys consulting with clients about marketing strategies, blogging, keywords and much more. She is also a photographer and you can see her work at www.iheartmoss.com.

 

 

 

Notes about Free or Nearly Free Websites: Often artist look at one of those website tonight packages you can find on GoDaddy.com or Yahoo.com. Frankly, I haven’t set up one of those site and so I don’t know so much about it. However, when I do see those websites they usually look canned or very dull and they usually can’t be optimized.  Meaning you usually can’t place keywords on the site to help people find your site on search engines. I know this is the case for iWebsites* from Mac.

*I recommend iWebsites only for weddings, events and family photos. These sites look good but can’t be optimized. So they are perfect when your audience is only your friends and family.

 

Posted in blogs, WordPress Websites | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

WordPress Website for Berkeley Retail Business

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Karen
Berkeley WordPress Website

WordPress Website for Berkeley Secret Garden

My WordPress Website Team and I were delighted when we got the referral to work with Berkeley Secret Garden (BSG), a Berkeley retail business that specializes in equipment and supplies for indoor gardening. Knowing that BSG has one of the most unique storefronts in Berkeley (even for Berkeley), we knew we’d get the opportunity to do some fun and creative design for them.

The owner at Berkeley Secret Garden and I quickly agreed we wanted to replicate the blue & purple sunburst with the flowers and butterfly from his store facade for the website design. The font for the banner is called Sketch Rockwell. It’s by Artill Fonts, in the category of handwritten at Urban Fonts. The butterfly is hand drawn by our graphic design staff to match the one on the store facade.

Businesses like BSG have attracted and maintained loyal clientele over the years by having personality and not being afraid to show it. In addition to the unique storefront, the people who work at Berkeley Secret Garden are indoor growing experts and really into plants. The owner also owns 3 dogs and often day-sits other dogs. So a visit to the store includes being greeted by a large but friendly dog. The website includes a page of profiles of the employees AND photos of the dogs.

Finally, this site for Berkeley Secret Garden is a WordPress website because it’s an ideal platform for a local business. It’s ideal for blogging and installing other social media, using keywords for search engine optimization and for quick and easy in-house updates. Here’s the first blog post. Regular blog posts help grow website traffic.

WordPress Blog Post about Compost Tea

First BSG WordPress Blog Post about Compost Tea

Posted in blogs, internet marketing, WordPress Websites | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

WordPress Website for Remodeling Contractors Organization

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Karen

Contractors Website

In the San Francisco Bay Area, NARI (Nat’l Ass. of Remodeling Industry professionals) is a powerful organization that helps professionals in the remodeling industry such as contractors, architects, and interior designers, etc. Their new WordPress website has a modern design, a member database, an online membership application, online payments, a blog to help grow traffic to the site and lots of photos of member’s award-winning projects.

One of the challenges for the project was to create a homepage design that balanced the Board’s desire for a clean and elegant design with the need to have a website that was highly informative and represented the organizations’ multiple goals.

Goals for the website included information for homeowners looking for a contractor or other remodeling professional, information for members about upcoming event and information for prospective members who’d want to be impressed by the caliber and activities of current members. The Board also wanted space to recognize sponsors and carry ads. Viewing the website you can probably see how these goals are incorporated into the homepage design.

Here’s a table that shows how the organizations’ goals are carried out on the homepage:

Homeowner’s seeking a Contractor: Red “Find a Remodeler” Button in top right, banner in the middle with 2 projects and quotes from satisfied homeowners. Repeat of “Find a Remodeler” button below events.

Members’s Looking for Event Information: Event information front and center. Event button first on right on main navigation.

Prospective Members’s Looking for NARI Information: Image of Annual Golf Tournament with quote about efficacy of NARI networking, letter from the President to prospective members, join button on main navigation and join button for vendors as well.

Remodeling Contractor's Directory

Among the new elements on this feature rich site is the members directory or “Find A Remodeler” section. Here homeowners and members can search for NARI members by selecting a remodeling need like historical restoration, kitchen baths, or architects and see results for that category. They can also search by name, or type in a category or a city to search on. We’ve built several organizational directories. We’ve come to prefer this layout with the categories down the left side and the results on the right side.

Another goal for the group was to build traffic to the site and potentially generate traffic for their member websites. Each month they publish a email newsletter that goes out to members. In the future, they’ll be publishing the newsletter articles to the blog and seeding each post with relevant keywords. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that publishing content regularly to your blog can help grow traffic and reinforce the keywords on your website.

Internet Marketing Consultant Karen NierlichIf your organization is looking for a better website in 2012, please give me a call. Almost Everything Communications works  with organizations such as trades groups, non-profits, Chambers of commerce to build interactive and informative WordPress websites that attract new members and make it easy to connect and communicate.

 

 

 

 

Posted in WordPress Websites | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“The Compound Effect,” a Success Book I Recommend

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Karen

The Compound Effect business success bookThe Compound Effect by Darren Hardy is a success book I recommend without reservations.

I’ve probably read over a dozen books about success; this one contains none of the annoying, obtuse, illogical, bizarre parts I’ve had to apologize for in other success books. Hardy’s book contains all the advice you’ll find in other success books…honestly it’s amazing how the advice is so similar book to book. However this book is very concise and easy to read.

The chapters are titled The Compound Effect in Action, Choices, Habits, Momentum, Influences and Acceleration. For me, Habits was the most influential at this time. I’ve had a lot of success scheduling activities into my week and developing routines. I’ve talked about routines making things happen in this blog. I exercise several times a week, have daily family dinners, write 3 blogs (struggle with that a bit) because they are scheduled into my day and week and month. Some high achievers schedule their whole year in advance. I’ve worked with people like that and it’s something Dan Kennedy (motivational author) says he does.

I was inspired to adjust my routines by The Compound Effect. The larger % of my routines are around health and family life. After reading the book, I decided to get up 45 m earlier so I could do my health routine earlier and have an hour for an 8 am work routine before the start of my work day. That hour is for blogging and improving my website traffic. Then I check our bank accounts and the work voice mail and get to work on following up with prospects and then ongoing projects.

I hope you’ll make time to buy a copy of The Compound Effect and read it. If you do, please leave a message here for me and other readers about what you found most helpful for where you are now.

__________

WordPress Website Berkeley

Karen Nierlich

Karen Nierlich is with Almost Everything Communications, a 15 year old web design and development firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. She loves to talk about marketing and success. She works with small and medium business owners who want to thrive using the power of the internet.
Posted in business success books | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

WordPress Website for Berkeley Contractor

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Karen
WordPress Website Reuvekamp Builders Berkeley

Reuvekamp Builders Berkeley

We recently launched a new WordPress Website for contractor Jeff Reuvekamp at Reuvekamp Builders of Berkeley and Orinda. Jeff wanted a site he and his staff could update in-house. Also, he’d invested in some professional quality photographs of his work and wanted to show them off to full effect.

When clients have excellent photos and want them to be the focal point, we go for a minimalist and clean design. That way the design doesn’t compete with the photos. In this case the colors are white, beige, with small amounts of royal blue and very small amounts of deep red. On the homepage, you’ll find a rotating photo gallery and inside the WordPress site has a photo gallery organized by project type ie. kitchens, baths, exteriors.

His photos however have lots of color. In Berkeley, he’s had the opportunity to work on many of the elegant craftsman and shingled bungalows that abound. There homeowners want to replace or restore the shingles, wooden windows, wooden stairs, built in book shelves and tile fireplaces. His woodwork is traditional with a contemporary twist. Out in Orinda, you’ll find all styles of houses from Mediterranean, ranch to contemporary / modern. Of course, these houses also benefits from Jeff Reuvekamp’s attention to wood, metal, tile details.

Jeff was a pleasure to work with. He and his staff are well-organized, timely and easy to talk with. Do take a look at the amazing wood work on Reuvekamp Builders, Berkeley & Orinda.

——————-

WordPress Website Berkeley

Karen Nierlich

Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant with the web design and development firm Almost Everything Communications (AEC) in Albany next to Berkeley. If your firm is ready for a new website or website redesign, feel free to call her at 510-527-9920.

Posted in WordPress Websites | Tagged , | Leave a comment

What is the Google Algorithm?

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Karen

When I’m getting to know new clients we often have a conversation in which I explain the Google Algorithm. Here’s how it goes:

Google’s Top Secret Algorithm (meaning rubric or formula)

Google keeps the algorithm secret that it uses to rank websites and decide which websites get the top spots on search engine results.  It’s a secret for a good reason. Web people are constantly trying to “game” Google and find ways to to get better results for the obvious reason that higher rankings equals more traffic and more business to their websites or clients. Additionally, Google is constantly tweaking and making big and small changes to ensure that worthwhile website content come up high.

Nevertheless, web marketers do research on what works on Google so the following list of what Google likes or the Google Algorithm is based on what works:

-Unique Page Titles & Descriptions on Each Page

(every page or main page search engine optimized with unique keywords)

-Frequently Updated Content

-Number of Pages on The Website

-Links from other Websites to your website; also called back links or inbound links.

(hey, Google is a computer it’s looking at things it can count. It’s judging popularity by how many sites are linking to you.) Non-techies sometimes think links on their site are helpful to their own site. They’re not, though they are helpful to other sites and can be helpful if you exchange links with others…so that people link to you and you to them.)

-Company mentions on Social Media

- Starting sometime last year Google started counting how often your website is mentioned on social media.

-Age of the Domain Name…

older domains have more credence with Google as do domains that are payed for 12 months or more.

This list covers several of the most important ways the Google Algorithm measures the quality of your site. There are others…in fact the Google website says there are 200 factors and that they change those factors some daily.

internet marketing consultant Berkeley

Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant who helps small and medium size business clients thrive on the internet. If you are planning a new site, and want a high level of customer service and feedback on what works online, contact Almost Everything Communications (AEC) at 510-527-9920.

Posted in internet marketing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment