Is WordPress Good for Ecommerce? Exploring Its Viability
So, you’re thinking about setting up an online shop. You’ve heard of WordPress, but is WordPress good for ecommerce? After all, it’s not exactly known for online stores, right? That’s where things get interesting. WordPress itself isn’t an ecommerce platform.
It’s a powerful content management system (CMS) that, with the right tools, can be molded to fit your needs — including selling online. This is where WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin, enters the scene.
WordPress & WooCommerce: A Powerful Ecommerce Duo
Think of WordPress as the foundation of your house, and WooCommerce as the toolkit that transforms it into a bustling shop. This open-source plugin gives you the power to list products, manage inventory, handle payments, and much more. You’ll be able to do all of this within the familiar WordPress environment.
Why Choose WordPress for Your Ecommerce Venture?
Let’s talk about why WordPress is a good option for many online sellers.
1. Cost-Effective & Flexible
WordPress is free to download and use. You can customize it without spending a dime on the software itself. You will, however, need to factor in expenses for WordPress hosting, a domain name, and potentially some premium themes or plugins. However, compared to some other ecommerce platforms, your startup costs are still relatively low.
WooCommerce Payments, for example, charge a standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for ecommerce businesses based in the US.
2. It’s Your Shop – You Call the Shots
With a WordPress website, you have complete control. This means you have complete control over your customer data, your design, your content, and how you run your business. You’ll never have to worry about a third-party platform dictating your terms or suddenly shutting you down.
3. SEO-Friendly From the Get-Go
WordPress is built with SEO in mind. The CMS platform itself is structured for search engine visibility. With plugins like Yoast SEO, you can fine-tune your website content, optimize product pages for ecommerce SEO, and improve your chances of ranking higher on search results pages. Hire an agency like SEO Locale that offers ecommerce SEO services to get you ranking on Google.
4. A Theme for Every Style
Want a sleek, minimalist shop or a vibrant, colorful storefront? WordPress offers thousands of themes, both free and premium. You can easily add one of these themes so you can customize the look and feel of your online store to match your brand.
There are over 9,000 themes to choose from, with 1,200 geared specifically towards online selling. You’ll have no shortage of options to make your ecommerce store unique.
5. A Plugin for (Almost) Everything
Need to integrate social media sharing? Add customer reviews? Implement email marketing? There’s probably a plugin for that. The extensive WordPress plugin library gives you the flexibility to extend your store’s functionalities way beyond the basics.
Facing the Challenges: The Downsides to Consider
Now for a dose of reality. While WordPress is undeniably awesome for many, there are a few bumps to be aware of:
1. It’s DIY Time (Unless You Outsource)
WordPress provides the tools but requires you, the store owner, to handle setup, maintenance, security issues, and regular backups. If you’re not tech-savvy or prefer a more hands-off approach, you’ll likely need to hire a developer, especially as your site grows more complex. Hiring a developer means ongoing costs.
2. Plugin Overload Can Lead to Trouble
As wonderful as plugins are, relying on too many can make your website slow and clunky. Having a slow website is a big no-no for user experience and SEO. It’s essential to choose high-quality plugins from reputable developers and be mindful of how many your site can handle.
Plus, you’re responsible for keeping them updated to avoid security risks to your shopping cart and other areas of your store that contain sensitive information. If your ecommerce business takes payments directly on your website, then you need to be extra precautious about security.
3. Speaking of Security…
WordPress’ popularity makes it a target for hackers. Keeping your ecommerce site secure is your responsibility, not WordPress’s. This involves regular updates, strong passwords, installing security plugins, and potentially additional security measures such as SSL certificates.
WordFence, a popular WordPress security plugin, stopped a whopping 86 billion unauthorized login attempts in 2021. You want to especially make sure your website is secure if you’re handling sensitive customer information. You’ve got to be proactive when it comes to cybersecurity.
Is WordPress the Right Choice for Your Online Empire?
Ultimately, the question of “Is WordPress good for ecommerce?” depends on your specific needs, technical skills, and long-term goals. Consider these scenarios:
| WordPress Might Be Your Ecommerce Soulmate IF… | You Might Want to Reconsider WordPress IF… |
|---|---|
| You’re on a tight budget and comfortable (or willing to learn) the technical basics of WordPress | You need an all-in-one solution with minimal setup and technical know-how. Hosted platforms like Shopify ecommerce offer convenience (at a higher price tag). |
| You crave total control over your website design, functionality, and data. | You prefer simplicity and want a platform where most features are already built-in and security is handled for you. |
| You anticipate your business growing and evolving, and want the flexibility to adapt your online store accordingly | You’re wary of handling website maintenance and updates yourself (or lack the resources to hire a developer) |
WordPress: An Ecommerce Powerhouse in Disguise
WordPress, with the addition of WooCommerce and a sprinkle of your own efforts (or the help of a skilled developer), can be a formidable ecommerce platform. WordPress offers an impressive blend of affordability, customization options, and a massive ecosystem of resources and support.
While there’s definitely a learning curve, especially for those new to building ecommerce websites, mastering the basics can empower you to create an online store tailored to your vision. If you are new to creating websites, you may want to consider hiring a web design agency to build your ecommerce site for you.
So, is WordPress good for ecommerce? As with many things, the answer is nuanced: it depends. WordPress, powered by WooCommerce, gives you immense power but expects you to be hands-on. This self-hosted platform thrives on your drive to learn, build, and refine, especially as your ecommerce business takes off.
While WordPress doesn’t charge transaction fees itself, you will incur them from your payment gateway such as Stripe or PayPal. If you don’t want to handle accepting payments, security, backups, and all the other things that go into managing an ecommerce business, then a platform like Shopify might be a better choice for you. You can always hire SEO Locale, we can build WordPress sites.
But hey, isn’t that the spirit of any entrepreneurial journey? There are many ways to sell products online, and choosing the right platform depends on your specific business needs.
Is Showit Good for SEO in 2024? Here’s the Honest Truth
As a business owner, you understand how critical it is for people to be able to find you online. In today’s digital age, that often starts with search engine optimization, or SEO. And if you’re currently in the market for a website builder that won’t hold you back in the SEO department, you may be wondering, is Showit good for SEO?
In theory you could SEO any website, but it comes down to the effectiveness of the platform itself. As a national SEO company we handled tons of websites on various platforms. Recently we’ve been getting a few clients on the Showit platform so we decided to write this article to help others. If you are looking for a website to be developed, don’t forget to give us a call!
While a shiny, beautifully-designed Showit website is a good place to start, you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. Even more critical is making sure your ideal clients can actually locate you when they go to Google, Bing, or Yahoo and search for a service you provide. But as is true of most things SEO-related, knowing exactly where to begin can feel more than a little bit complicated. So today we’ll simplify the matter. By the time you finish reading, you’ll know whether or not Showit can help or hinder your site’s ability to get found by search engines, and if it’s the best platform for your business needs. Is Showit good for SEO?
Is Showit Good for SEO: Unveiling the Truth
Let’s tackle the elephant in the room first. Can Showit hold its own when compared to website building giants like WordPress and Wix? In short, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Although many people default to believing WordPress is superior to other platforms (at least when it comes to SEO), this belief isn’t necessarily based on objective evidence. If we were to try and create an experiment to see whether platforms such as Squarespace or Showit measure up to WordPress, how would we go about doing so? Creating identical content is immediately ruled out because Google frowns upon duplicate content.
Having unique content on every platform won’t get us anywhere either. Google wouldn’t be able to determine whether content or platform structure contributed most significantly to the site’s overall SEO score.
To determine if a specific platform is hindering search results, simply move pre-existing content that has a measurable history of search engine success to a new website built on a different platform.
A scenario we found where someone began by painstakingly migrating every single post (over 500.) from a Squarespace site to a Showit site (integrated with WordPress). The process took 3 months to complete. But what was found, in the end, was incredibly surprising.
As it turned out, traffic between the Squarespace and Showit websites remained largely the same. What’s more, the PageSpeed Insights (a ranking factor of SEO) were significantly improved for the content hosted on Showit. In a nutshell, if your SEO is suffering, there is a good chance the culprit is something other than the platform itself.
To truly help you determine if Showit has what it takes to meet your SEO needs, this post will highlight both pros and cons of the platform.
Is Showit Good for SEO? Here Are Some Benefits:
As you get to know more about how Showit functions and is structured, you’ll soon see it has a lot of valuable SEO settings. When these tools and settings are maximized, your chances of getting found online by your ideal clients increase exponentially.
Built-in SEO Tools
One of the best things about choosing to build your business or blog website using Showit is that there is no need to have any special coding knowledge. Unlike many popular WordPress themes on the market, where knowing HTML is crucial to get the look you’re wanting, Showit comes complete with numerous features you can customize without having to be (or pay for.) a web developer.
For example, you have the ability to easily change page titles and SEO descriptions (also called meta descriptions). If you’re just starting out with SEO, meta descriptions are basically little snippets of text that appear under your title tag (the blue clickable link in Google search results). Think of them as elevator pitches where you get to convey the most important information in a limited space (ideally, under 150 characters).
A tool such as Google Ad Planner can be helpful for brainstorming relevant keywords related to your business or area of expertise. Or the chrome plugin, Keywords Everywhere, can give you more detailed insight, letting you see helpful keyword phrases while also telling you how many times that phrase is being searched for within a specified timeframe.
Easy WordPress Integration for Blogging
As previously mentioned, it is a popular belief that WordPress is a superior website platform for bloggers, particularly those wanting to get found online through strategic keyword placement. But it is a little known fact that Showit websites integrate seamlessly with WordPress. You have the flexibility of using Showit’s convenient drag-and-drop interface (that comes standard).
You can then supercharge your blog posts’ ability to get seen by search engine crawlers using helpful plugins like Yoast, an SEO tool that analyzes the SEO score of a piece of content and gives you recommendations based on factors such as: readability, title tag length, word count, and use of transition words.
And although WordPress makes its money by charging monthly for their lowest tiers, if you need multiple websites, they give pretty great bundle pricing. This makes building out your online presence as easy as clicking a button.
Automatic SSL Certification
An SSL (secure socket layer) certificate, according to an article on DigiCert.com is, “a digital certificate that authenticates a website’s identity and enables an encrypted connection,” SSLs use what is called, “encryption algorithms to scramble data in transit,” from hackers. This means visitors don’t have to be afraid to hand over their credit card details (if making purchases through your site), and personal information to you because you have that extra level of protection for them.
And while an SSL is good practice generally speaking for site owners to have in place, an added benefit is that search engines are more likely to rank a secure site more favorably than those that are not secured. When a website DOES NOT have an SSL, you’ve probably noticed that a little warning pops up when you go to visit it. Visitors tend to steer clear when this happens because they aren’t able to determine if a site can be trusted with their sensitive information.
And who can blame them. After all, no one wants their identity or personal data to be compromised. With platforms such as WordPress, generally you have to go to a third party in order to add this necessary (and important.) security measure. Showit automatically grants each website built through its platform an SSL, making one less thing for business owners to have to manage.
The Importance of Page Speed
One thing Google REALLY likes is to be able to offer a seamless experience to anyone using their search engine to research, or to find products and services they offer. As Showit website and business owners, this should be reassuring, knowing you only need to learn a few tips to leverage search engine success.
One critical way you can work *with* search engine algorithms to help your site get seen more is to take a close look at how fast it takes for your pages to load fully. Nothing frustrates (and ultimately drives traffic away from your offers.) than when people click a link only to realize that nothing happens. This is usually a good sign that the image files used to make your site appealing are TOO big.
Google penalizes these types of pages because a high bounce rate indicates to them that a visitor’s time is not considered important to you. You can use a tool like PageSpeed Insights (free through your Google Search Console account). PageSpeed Insights analyzes different metrics for every URL you add, and provides tips that web designers can implement to increase load times (if adjustments need to be made). This is a great practice for ANY site on the world wide web, because at the end of the day, making things convenient, simple, and straightforward should be your top priority as a content creator, business owner, or blogger.
What About Showit’s Downsides?
Like any other website platform, Showit has areas that could be improved upon.
The Showit & Google “Crawl” Issue
In a perfect world, search engines (like Google or Yahoo.) “see” your webpages the same way visitors do. Search engines “crawl” webpages, using code to find out how each page should appear in a web browser such as Google Chrome, or Safari, based on specific instructions given to it.
As content creators, this is one more example where SEO doesn’t need to be intimidating. All it really takes is knowing where to make minor adjustments. This way, what YOU see on your backend editor actually matches what visitors (and Google.) see, which ultimately leads to a more pleasurable and enjoyable visitor experience. One of those tweaks involves becoming more aware of how each layer in Showit gets rendered by a browser.
Let me explain: inside Showit’s convenient and beginner-friendly editor, Showit has always suggested site creators start adding elements, “top-to-bottom” because this method leads to a better overall understanding of how things are formatted from a visual point of view. The only problem is that the HTML code used to “read” a page in the backend of a website gets reversed. This is an example where Showit could use some improvements.
According to Davey & Krista, wedding photographers, Showit website designers, and Showit specialists, although this issue does exist with Showit websites, they’ve been assured the company is currently implementing measures to correct it so that what appears for designers on the frontend perfectly matches how HTML renders a page.
Higher Price-Point for Bloggers
Showit tends to cater towards service-based creatives. While they do have plans specifically designed for content creators and bloggers, those options start at $24 a month, which is significantly more than other hosting companies like Bluehost (which generally runs closer to $3/month for 12 months when first starting out) and WordPress (who’s most popular Blogger plan costs $15 per month, or $9 per month if you purchase an entire year of hosting up front).
This is where spending time becoming familiar with ALL of the features and offerings available to you will come in handy, allowing you to decide whether Showit’s user experience is worth paying more, or if a platform such as WordPress or Squarespace (where website and blogging capabilities come standard without having to “upgrade” to access this function), is a better option for your unique budget constraints.
FAQs about is Showit good for SEO
Is Showit Good For Photographers
Showit is incredibly popular among professional photographers and other creatives because of the beautiful templates you can get. Templates allow those new to website creation or SEO best practices, to hit the ground running and not need to have any coding knowledge. However, there is something extremely crucial to be aware of, especially if having a WordPress blog in tandem with your Showit site is something you want.
Each template must be purchased separately if you don’t purchase them as part of an overall website design. It is only the blog categories and blog post designs themselves that carry over between your site and your WordPress blog. So budget accordingly for this as those individual Showit template purchases can start to add up.
Is Showit Beginner Friendly?
Showit shines in this department. Getting set up with your first Showit site takes very little time. It is the most simple platform to drag, drop, and move site elements to exactly how you want them to look in a way other website builder interfaces have yet to equal. You can adjust individual components within a pre-designed website template to ensure your website looks as unique as you are without having to hire a developer (unless, of course, learning to code is simply not for you. Even then, it often only requires hiring them to make minor tweaks). And their customer service department is unparalleled. Should you have any questions, a real person in Arizona is there to assist. And their Showit design partner program will give you ample practice with learning new skills to set you apart from other creatives.
What About Using Showit For Ecommerce
Although not impossible, you’ll probably find other website building and hosting options to be much more user-friendly. Ecommerce SEO can be tricky at times so make sure you focus on all the SEO elements. Unlike sites such as Shopify which comes fully loaded with analytics, abandoned cart recovery options (an essential must-have to make more money in sales), easy coupon and discount code creation and other e-commerce functions Showit really only gives you the ability to link directly to product listings. Depending on the plugins you’re using you also might not be able to easily adjust the checkout process, and instead require your buyers to go through a third-party, again depending on how (and which platform.) you are currently offering products. Not ideal for the average course creator or digital product provider.
How Does Showit’s Pricing Structure Work
Showit offers a few different plans. Their basic plan will cost you $19 a month (when billed annually, which is a really standard pricing practice). However, keep in mind this price point ONLY gets you the ability to design the website you’re wanting. For most small business owners (especially creatives like photographers and coaches), adding a blog is a vital marketing and SEO tactic to increase your search results rankings.
Showit offers two blog options; one for $24 a month, and the other (with more features), for $34 a month, again if you pay annually for the service (which again, most website companies do, including platforms like WordPress and Squarespace, making the set-it and forget it function perfect for time-strapped entrepreneurs). All plans come with a 14 day free trial (again, the industry standard) giving you the ability to try before committing to any contracts.
Leverage Showit Capabilities
So, is Showit good for SEO? With its user-friendly interface, seamless WordPress integration, and robust SEO tools, Showit can be an excellent choice for businesses looking to enhance their online visibility and attract more organic traffic.
By leveraging Showit’s capabilities and following SEO best practices, you can create a visually appealing and search-engine-friendly website that drives results. Is Showit good for SEO? With a bit of strategic planning and effort, the answer can be a resounding yes.
Understanding Website Architecture and Its Impact on SEO
When most people think about SEO, they may only think that it revolves around optimizing content with keywords to rank on search engines. However, this common misconception can lend itself to missing or ignoring other important areas of SEO strategy, like the design and structure of your website. Let’s take a closer look at what website architecture is, how it impacts SEO, and what you can do to improve your website for greater results.
What Is Website Architecture?
Website architecture refers to how your website is structured, including content, pages, and navigation. It encompasses everything from URL structure to internal linking and site hierarchy. While it may seem like a technical aspect that only concerns developers, it plays a crucial role in determining how search engines crawl, index, and rank your website. Think of it as the blueprint of a building. Just as architects plan the structure of a building to ensure it’s functional and aesthetically pleasing, web developers and SEO experts do the same with a website!
Good website architecture makes a site easy to navigate for users and search engines. For users, this means finding information quickly, reducing frustration, and improving the overall experience of your site. For search engines, a well-organized site is essential to rank well in search results.
How Does Website Architecture Impact SEO?
When you have a website that doesn’t have the right architecture, it can have a considerable impact on those visiting your website and on your SEO strategy. How? Here are some of the main issues it causes:
- Crawlability and Indexing: A well-structured website with clear navigation makes it easier for search engines to crawl, discover pages, and index content. Some pages can get overlooked or not indexed at all if your site is poorly organized.
- User Experience: User experience is key for effective website design and SEO. An intuitively structured website enhances user experience by making it easy to find what they’re looking for. Search engines value user-friendly websites and are more likely to rank them higher in search results.
- Internal Linking: Internal linking involves linking one page of a website to another page within the same domain. Proper internal linking helps users navigate your site but also distributes link equity throughout your entire website. By strategically linking relevant pages together, you can strengthen the authority of important pages and improve their chances of ranking higher.
- URL Structure: A clean and descriptive URL structure provides valuable information to search engines. URLs that contain relevant keywords and are organized hierarchically contribute to better SEO performance.
- Site Speed: The speed of your website is a critical factor in both user experience and SEO. Optimizing website architecture, such as reducing unnecessary redirects, leveraging browser caching, and optimizing images, can significantly improve site speed and SEO performance.
How Can You Improve Your Website Architecture?
Despite whatever issues you may have encountered thus far, there are ways you can make sure that your website is properly structured. Here are some helpful tips from our web development company in Philadelphia:
- Conduct a thorough site audit, identifying issues such as broken links, duplicate content, or poor navigation.
- Optimize your URL structure by incorporating relevant keywords and keeping URLs concise and descriptive.
- Implement a logical site hierarchy with clear categories and subcategories, especially when blogging, to make it easier to navigate.
- Utilize internal linking to connect related pages and distribute link equity.
- Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for various devices.
- Monitor site speed regularly and address any issues that may be affecting loading times, such as large file sizes or server issues.
Improve Web Design, SEO, and More With SEO Locale
Website architecture is a fundamental aspect of SEO that should not be overlooked by small businesses aiming to improve their online visibility. Designing your website and ensuring that you have the right website architecture can be a massive undertaking, which is why it can help to work with a search engine marketing agency in Philadelphia like SEO Locale. We are a local SEO company in Maryland and the surrounding areas dedicated to providing high-quality services for businesses like yours that are looking to grow and thrive. Get in touch with us today to tell us more about the challenges you face and learn how we can help!
3 Website Development Success Factors For SEO
If you are a business owner, then chances are you know what an impact a strong website can have on your business. As digital marketing becomes a necessity for small businesses, proper SEO practices can effectively drive traffic to your website. When it comes to developing a website and incorporating SEO there are a few factors to keep in mind.
Users Experience & Interaction
One key website development success factor for SEO is user experience — SEO and user experience are closely connected in creating a high-ranking website. A well-planned user experience design enhances the site’s traffic, engagements, and rankings.
In the past, most web designers focused on building sites for search engines instead of focusing on the users. Today the focus is on optimizing for the people and not for the search engines. Web designers now focus on user behavior to give them the best results. This is because search engines gather user and website data to enhance their knowledge. They study how the users interact with the website, and if the users struggle to naviagte your website it could be impacting your rankings.
As a company offering local SEO for small businesses, we can help you in creating a site that is mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and has appealing content. You can improve your site’s user experience by giving users what they are looking for.
Architecture Of A Site
Website architecture is simply your website’s framework, which is often overlooked. A website should not just contain a set of various posts or pages. It should be a systematic collection of content that is intentionally linked together for easy navigation by both users and search engines.
A website should be structured for both search engines and users to easily access content and work towards pushing it higher on the search engine results page. It should not just give a smooth user experience but also strategically internally link to show your website’s important pages.
Some of the features of a good website architecture include strategic web design, outstanding images, appealing portfolio displays, easy navigation, a blog for educational content, an SEO strategy, team member bios with headshots, and a call to action for more engagement.
Improve your website architecture by getting the help of a digital marketing agency for web development in Philadelphia.
SEO Elements
Several SEO elements can help your website rank high on search engine result pages. These elements can be divided into two categories which are the on-page SEO elements and off-page SEO elements.
On-page SEO refers to the elements on your website that influence search rankings. Some of the most important on-page SEO elements include crawl-ability, indexability, content quality, and keyword usage, as well as demonstrating expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
On the other hand, off-page SEO refers to actions outside your website to influence the rankings. Some examples of off-page SEO elements are backlinks (from other sites to yours), reviews, and social media posts. While some of these are not directly in your control, you can partner with other sites to improve off-page SEO.
All these SEO elements are significant components of optimizing your website for search results. If these elements are all incorporated into your website, you can built the trust and SEO efforts of your website for more ranking keywords.
The Bottom Line
If you want your business to succeed, you need to embrace digital marketing. Understanding the key development success factors for SEO can optimize your visibility online, which can tremendously help your business gain more customers.
Working with a digital marketing agency can help you determine the best online channels you should invest in, assess the website traffic, and keep track of your marketing actions and the results they provide.
If you are looking for a digital marketing agency in Philadelphia, PA, we’re here for you. SEO Locale offers local, national, and international SEO, web design, paid advertising, reputation management, social media marketing, multimedia, and email marketing. Contact us today to get started.
Website Practices For An Authentic Online Presence
In the age of technology and the internet, your online presence means everything. Your reputation and appearance are what help you gain clicks and prospects. This is why you must present your business in a way that appeals to your audience, catching their attention and leaving them curious enough to look into your products or services.
Platforms are easy to build, thanks to the various tools and features available online. What many business owners need to focus on the most is their website content. The type of material, information, and user experience on your virtual platforms can determine how people will perceive your business.
Highlight Your Team, Services, & Customers
Images are often the first thing people see when they enter a website. They are eye-catching and easier to view than text, which is why it is a vital part of every online platform. When designing your website, recommend practices include photos of your business, including your team, services, and everything else. If you’re going for an authentic image, then all of the images need to look natural; after all, the pictures can set the entire tone for the website.
Clients tend to gravitate towards something they can relate to and rely on. Natural photos help build an approachable and friendly look for your team, which clients find appealing. Showing authentic pictures of your services is also important, as it sets realistic expectations for what you can offer, assuring that all customers who put their trust into your business will be given the quality they are looking for.
Work Samples & Natural Photos
As mentioned above, authenticity is important when it comes to reputation. This applies to the samples of your work. If you’re selling products, then it’s best to include images with a natural setup so customers will know what to expect from you. Using stock photos or images with a professional setup can cause misconceptions about how these products appear in reality.
Work samples are a reliable way to boost authenticity and enable clients to identify whether your products or services are right for them. We all have different preferences and interests; work samples help customers determine whether it’s their style or not ahead of time. This prevents any issues or misunderstandings from occurring later on.
Your work samples are also important for selling your skills. Showcase your best work and let customers know why you’re the best option for them!
Sincere Testimonials & Reviews
It’s one thing for a business to advertise its services, but having previous customers speak on their behalf creates a completely different effect. It’s a given that entrepreneurs will display the strengths and highlights of their business since it gets people interested and generates sales. However, testimonials and reviews are different because they are created by consumers themselves.
Customers have no reason to lie about their experience with certain brands, which is why many rely on these reviews to finalize their decision on whether they will take advantage of your services or not. You can add detailed reviews on the website to present all of your pros. If you are going for a minimal approach, pick one that is concise but complete.
High-Quality Customer Service
The way businesses treat their customers is extremely vital to their reputation. After all, no one would encourage other buyers to put their trust in a rude or unreliable seller, regardless of how good their products or services are. It’s common courtesy to treat everyone with respect, especially customers. Exert your best efforts into tending to their needs, answering their inquiries, and carefully guiding them through any issues.
Issues and mistakes are inevitable. However, if customers see that your team is always ready to help and is patient in handling their concerns, then it’s likely that they will be trusting your service again for their future needs.
Transparency of Services & Quotes
Transparency and authenticity go hand in hand. All transactions must be transparent to avoid complaints and misunderstandings. While it’s important to emphasize the strengths of the business, entrepreneurs should never lie about the quality of their services.
Market Your Business Effectively
As one of the top Doylestown Web Design providers, our team can help you strengthen your online presence. If you aren’t sure where to start, we can offer guidance to ensure your customers are satisfied. Our team offers web marketing in Philadelphia and beyond. No matter where you are, we will do our best to help your business flourish.
Optimizing Your Mobile Experience
As smartphones become an integrated part of today’s day-to-day life, there’s also an increased demand for websites to be optimized and mobile-friendly. To adapt, search engines and businesses are now pivoting towards a mobile-centric Internet. But should you guide your business into the handheld and mobile world?
If you’re running a small business and you’re eager to compete against the competition in your industry, a mobile-friendly website is a crucial component of your strategy.
The Rise Of Mobile Users
If you asked somebody in 2010 what their primary device was, chances are they’d say a desktop or a laptop computer. The Internet landscape has changed so much since then. Most of the world’s users now use a mobile device as their primary tool for communication and research.
This gave rise to the mobilegeddon, the infamous algorithm change by Google. This change prioritized mobile-friendly websites in their search results, which came at the expense of many web admins at the time.
However, this algorithm was necessary to accommodate the shift of consumer behavior that was increasingly mobile and smartphone-centered. Many businesses have made it a point to integrate mobile-friendliness while building their websites.
Appear Professional & Trustworthy
Most users like to browse websites using their mobile phones and conduct their product research on the go. According to OhMyCrawl, it is common to use phones to locate services and fulfill needs throughout the day everywhere they go. This has led to an increased demand for faster loading times and increased page responsiveness. You need to ensure that the user experience is fast, easy to navigate. Not only does this make the entire experience more convenient for your customers, but this also makes your website look professional and credible to your target users.
Ranking In Search Engine Results
Google was responsible for the push of many websites to be mobile-friendly. If you are ready to make the switch you need to follow their guidelines if you want to rank high on their results page.
If you want to take full advantage of SEO, building your website with mobile in mind is crucial. With the increasingly competitive digital landscape, optimizing your website for SEO and mobile can make or break your online presence. This is especially true for small and medium-sized companies that want to scale their operations and compete with well-established Internet brands.
It’s not enough to make your website experience great on just a desktop. You also need a seamless transition between desktops and mobile devices. After all, Google SEO doesn’t just mean that you have to use the right keywords; it also means making sure that the user experience is top-notch and less stressful, no matter the platform.
Stay Relevant & Competitive
Many of your competitors today are integrating mobile optimization in their websites. A mobile-friendly website has now become an industry standard for most businesses. This has become the standard, so your users have come to expect a fast, reliable, and mobile-friendly website. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, your business will look obsolete.
Invest In Your Digital Marketing
If you’re looking for the best eCommerce SEO company to increase your site leads, traffic, and conversion, then start with mobile optimization and review your competitors. If you aren’t sure where to start or how to take the next step with your online optimization, partner with our digital marketing agency in Philadelphia, PA. We are building websites with an emphasis on excellent user experience in mind.
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5 Practices For A Great Landing Page
It’s important that business owners and entrepreneurs know the value of setting up great landing pages to drive up conversions. When it comes down to the essentials of online businesses, having an optimized landing page is often right at the top of the priority list. But what exactly is a landing page, and how does it affect the success of a website?
How Landing Pages Work
A landing page is a web page created specifically to drive conversions. They’re a great way to capture the information of visitors to your site in exchange for an eBook, template, video, or any other company offer that you may have available. You can also use the gathered information to schedule a demo, meeting, or over-the-phone consultation to convert these people into paying customers.
The primary role of a landing page is to collect information through a form on the page. Be careful, however, not to mistake a landing page for any web page that has a web form, as that’s not the case. Take a blog post for example. A blog post might have a form that encourages readers to subscribe, but its primary goal is still to educate rather than convert.
A landing page’s sole purpose is to convert. The conversion path for landing pages is relatively linear and straightforward. Visitors fill in a form and automatically become warm leads. The leads then receive emails containing more information about the service or product that you’re offering. Some businesses choose to direct their potential customers to a “Thank You” page where they can access even more information.
In terms of digital marketing, setting up landing pages is not the end goal. Landing pages should be optimized to make sure that you’re getting mileage out of them. Having an impactful landing page strategy in place can often result in a 30-40% lead conversion.
You don’t want all of your site visitors with different needs and intents wading through your general information-rich home page. If you’re creating dedicated landing pages that closely align with a customer’s individual needs, you’ll have a much greater chance of capturing their information and converting them into customers. With the right landing page, you can attract customers to the specific type of service or product that you’re offering.
Here are the 5 best practices to follow when it comes to optimizing landing pages in order to increase conversion:
Apply the 5-Second Rule
People have short attention spans. Our brains are hardwired to pay attention to only the things that benefit us. This is also one of the truths that you should incorporate into every marketing strategy: people don’t want to waste too much time and energy comprehending the content. Consumers want information to be quick, ready, and bite-sized.
When it comes to landing pages, you should clearly state what you provide, how your service will benefit the customer, and what they need to do in five seconds or less. If you fail to do so, your chances of converting your leads decrease, and you run the risk of them exiting your landing page instead.
Keep your visitors focused. Make sure that all of the information they need is above the fold. Your value proposition and CTA must be located right at the top of the page.
Use Short and Creative Videos
Most business owners don’t want anything to do with videos. However, videos can provide an excellent opportunity to connect with your site visitors on a deeper level. This particular medium can be utilized to increase session durations on your website. The more that people interact with you, the likelier you can get them to opt-in or buy what you sell.
Feature a video that has a runtime of 60 seconds at the maximum. In this crucial 60 seconds, you must establish the problem you’re looking to solve and how your customers can benefit from using your solution. Emphasize what would happen if your visitors don’t go with your solution.
Make sure that the short video tells the story of your customers’ transformation. What happened when they tried out your product? How much happier are they now? The video must end with a clear call to action. We prefer to use the same CTA within the page for uniformity and to avoid confusion.
Social Proof
Testimonials or case studies of real people who have already tried out your products and services lend credibility to your landing page. They signify that what you offer can walk the talk. Just like a good referral, people trust positive reviews. Featuring some could benefit your landing page enormously.
While videos are the best when it comes to forging an emotional connection with your audience, you can also use text-based content. With prior consent, we often include real photos of our customers for authenticity.
Remember the customer transformation we mentioned above? Using testimonials and case studies to drive the point further helps to nudge your potential leads down the conversion funnel. Don’t make your testimonials overly lengthy. Make sure to tell the transformation story in just a few sentences.
Clarify Your Value Proposition
At first glance, your landing page must explain what value your service or product offers to your site visitors right away. If your landing page has too many convoluted messages crammed into it, people will immediately click away and go elsewhere.
Visitors must immediately know what it is you do and what’s in it for them. Conversion happens when the value proposition deeply resonates with your audience. We’ve learned that if you’re not solving a problem your audience faces, they won’t feel the need to buy into your solution.
Address your target market’s needs. Break down the reasons why they should prefer your business over others. Once you determine these aspects, incorporate them into your copy. Strong copy entices your audience into converting as leads. Remember, copy and value proposition go hand in hand when it comes to influencing conversion rates.
Use a Strong Call to Action
A CTA tells your audience what to do and where they need to click, sign up, or leave their email address. Your CTA button must be prominent on your landing page. We’ve proven that visually distinct CTAs generate more success in helping you reach your marketing objectives.
Use contrasting colors to get the attention of your audience. Most landing pages take the typical route of using an orange CTA button against a generic blue backdrop. We encourage clients to create their landing pages using their brand colors and with a contrasting color for their CTAs.
We often use commonly understood, action-oriented words to invoke a quick reaction. People don’t want to spend too much time figuring out where to go. Make it easier for them through your copy and design.
The best CTAs use simple, short words to boost conversion in landing pages.
The Bottomline
Landing pages are crucial when it comes to solidifying and supplementing your digital marketing campaigns. You could have a significant amount of site traffic, but this doesn’t automatically mean leads if you don’t optimize the pages for conversions as well.
Follow the above tips, and you’re on your way to creating a useful landing page that’s going to perform strongly and convert better.
6 Hot Web Design Trends for 2018
Content Marketing businesses and entrepreneurs know that in order to keep your brand fresh and contemporary to customers, it’s vital to keep an eye on digital trends. Foreshadowing trends will also keep your business one step ahead of the game within the marketplace and to your competition. Digital marketing moves
