5 Things You Should Avoid In Email Design

Web Design Tips No Comment

What Is Email Design?
People who have email accounts receive messages everyday. So the major challenge you have is making sure that the person receiving the message reads it despite the many messages he receives everyday.

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An example of a good e-mail design

You have less than five seconds to convince the person receiving the message to consider reading it. Thus, it is very important for the message to have the right message, tone, and look. That is why good email design is important.

The Email Design Process
Although there is no standard way of making an email message, a number of issues apply for email design. First, keep the subject line as relevant, interesting, and short as possible. When it comes to the content, consider using shorter paragraphs instead of longer ones. In addition, remember to add links to the content so that people can take action. Finally, apply the 80/20 rule when dealing with text and images respectively.

Complicated Design
There is an old adage that “less is more”. This concept applies when you are designing an email. Images should not be your priority in the email. Actually, you should design the email as if there will be no images. This is because many platforms leave out images unless the images allows. Many recipients of your message may not see the beautifully done images because of this. You need to persuade the recipients enough to open the images. Therefore, consider using a simple design for your email.

Using Loud Colors
Many people are tempted to use loud colors when they are desperate for attention from the online audience. Yes, you can get attention this way, but a different one. If you are too bright and loud, the audience will not listen to what you are saying. Here, the problem is overwhelming the visitor with colors and design. Eventually, you end up drowning your sales message and losing and perfect opportunity to sell your business. Consider using colors such as blue, grey, and white for your email. Red and orange are completely out of question.

Using Too Many Fonts
People usually make the mistake of using multiple fonts in different sections of the text. The reason for this is to attract attention. This can result into a busy and confusing design. The rule of the thumb is not to use more than two fonts. One font should be for the heading, and the other for the body.
If you must separate different sections of the message, alter the color and weight. Furthermore, italics are available if you need more sub-headings. Consider being more cautious about this and your brand strategy will be stronger.

Being Too Wordy

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You do not want to bore your audience with superfluous stuff. Unfortunately, some people do this all the time. Instead of going directly to the point to explain the core issue to the recipient, you may be tempted to tire the audience with irrelevant details. You can avoid this mistake by identifying your valuable information and going directly to it.
A point to note is that emails should be a pointer to something else. This means that emails are a teaser to the main course. Give your audience a teaser of the main thing in the mail. For the rest, give links and encourage people to follow them.

Not Making the Message Mobile-Friendly

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As of May 2014, 65 percent of email opens were on mobile devices. Going by earlier records, this trend is likely to continue for several more years. Gadgets that are more complicated are likely to continue entering the market as people move further from stationary devices. Therefore, you need to design your emails for mobile devices such as Smartphone and Tablet. Your designer can make sure that the email fits for a smaller screen apart from the conventional desktop. You should even be more committed on this because most of your competitors are already creating mobile-friendly emails.

The Ball Is In Your Court
There you have it. Setting an email campaign demands a certain degree of professionalism. While designing your email, you will need to make corrections and improvements. You can correct some of the errors by always doing a test email.

A professional yet easy-to-read design is critical for the success of any email campaign. If you make a good email, recipients will have an easier time reading it and using click-throughs. This is the basis of any email campaign.

Email campaign is an addition to the many forms of marketing available. None of these options has a one-size-fits-all solution. Therefore, make sure you try a number of layouts to see which one works best.

You may have been doing the shown by this article until today. Remember that it will take some time to make major improvements. If you follow the tips given here, your email campaign in 2015 and beyond will be exemplary.

10 Reasons Why You Must Have a Mobile Friendly Website

Business Advice, SEO Tips No Comment

If your website is still not mobile friendly, then this is the best time to switch to a mobile friendly website. Many people are now using mobile internet devices more than before. Research shows that this trend will continue for several into the future. Thus, a website that supports mobile devices is an absolute necessity.

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Source: Simplio Web Studio

Maybe the increasing number of people relying on mobile devices is not convincing enough. Still there are benefits of a mobile friendly device that you should consider. Below are 10 reasons why you must have a mobile friendly website.

1. Mobile devices can be integrated with offline media
There is the growing need to integrate offline and online media. Mobile devices are able to do this using QR codes. You can use QR codes both in print and electronic forms. This is important because sites constantly need to transfer printed information into SMS, email, or site URL.

2. Mobile Internet Usage is Growing 60
Now think about it, research suggests that come 2017, over 90 percent of people who visit the internet will do so using their phones. Therefore, this growth will affect all business that target online people. Since mobile devices are overtaking personal computers, you may want to make your website mobile friendly. You will be ready when the inevitable change eventually takes root.

3. A mobile website is more affordable than an app
Developing mobile applications can be less flexible and more costly than a mobile website. In case you decide to develop an application, the number of devices or platforms people are likely to use may determine the number of apps you need. Different phone models may all work on different types of apps. In addition, it is necessary for you to fix an app before using it, making access to your content more difficult.

Source: MaximizeSocialBusiness

4. Mobile Devices are Portable
People are looking for your information while they are on the move. They use modern gadgets. With a website suited for mobile, you have the ability to be on people’s minds and hands at all times. Try to tell them more about your products and services. People will mostly be attracted by such gestures and click away without hesitation.

5. Improves the image of your company
A better image of your company must be one of your primary goals. Yet, you can achieve this very easily by creating a mobile-friendly site. Today, sites that work well with mobile stand out. Before the visitor can even go through your product and services, your company will have impressed him or her.

Source: PBJMarketing

Source: PBJMarketing

6. Better SEO performance
As people look for your company and what you offer, which method do they use? In most cases, they will go to Google. Search engines use very intelligent algorithms these days. Google is constantly updating its algorithms, especially Google Panda and Google Penguin. The result is that the search engine starts to have preferences. Today, Google favors sites that are more mobile friendly.

7. Impressive Speeds of Downloads
Have you ever tried to open a site that is not optimized for mobile using your tablet or Smartphone? If you have, you will understand why it is necessary to have a mobile-friendly site. In most cases, a site that is not designed for mobile takes forever to load a page. In addition, it may have missing elements of the page.

8. Great experience for the user
The user, who is your prospective customer, will appreciate it if he or she reaches you in the simplest way possible. A mobile-friendly website enhances the experience of the user. This is because the site design suits handheld components in terms of screen size. The user is able to surf at his comfort in an easy manner. Since the customers are satisfied, they create a positive image of your company.

9. You will get the elusive competitive advantage
Today, not all companies have adopted mobile-optimized sites. This means that some of your competitors are still using the older types that do not give clients the best experience. With a mobile-friendly site, you will be several steps ahead of your competition that lacks such a site.

10. Engagement with people is more effective
One more awesome thing about a mobile-friendly site is that it helps you to interact with users through mobile-specific components. You are able to use mapping and click-to-call functions to your advantage.

If you are looking to acquire more leads for your business, you cannot run away from a mobile-friendly site. The world of online interaction is changing at a rocket speed and you do not have the luxury of lagging behind. However, you can still stay ahead of the curve and remain profitable. Developing a mobile-friendly website is the best way to keeping the online environment favorable to your business.
All you have to do is contact an expert to analyze your site and optimize to the next level. Request a quote and consultation today for a more profitable business.

Google Makes SSL a Ranking Factor

SEO Tips No Comment

Earlier this month, Google has announced a new way to give your website a minor ranking boost and that is through HTTPS or adding a SSL 2048-bit key certificate on your site.

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Although it helps with boosting ranks, Google implied that this has only very small benefits only counting as a “very lightweight signal” within the overall ranking algorithm.

According to Google says it has an impact on “fewer than 1% of global queries” but said there is a possibility that they “may decide to strengthen” the signal because Google wants to “encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web.”

At the SMX West, Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts has expressed his desire to make SSL as a ranking factor in Google’s algorithm. After five months, what he said he wanted was finally made reality by Google.

Websites like MOZ has already released some SEO tips for SSL. Below are the SEO advantages of switching to HTTPS.

  1. More referrer data
  2. HTTPS as a rankings boost
  3. Security and privacy

There are, of course, challenges to overcome with HTTPS:

  1. Mistakes happen
  2. Speed issues
  3. Costs
  4. Not everything is ready for HTTPS

There are also some concerns with regards to this change. You need to take the proper steps to ensure your traffic doesn’t suffer. You need to make sure to communicate to Google that you moved your site from HTTP to HTTPS.

Google promises to release more documentation in the future, but for now has provided the following tips:

  1. Decide the kind of certificate you need: single, multi-domain, or wildcard certificate
  2. Use 2048-bit key certificates
  3. Use relative URLs for resources that reside on the same secure domain
  4. Use protocol relative URLs for all other domains
  5. Check out our site move article for more guidelines on how to change your website’s address
  6. Don’t block your HTTPS site from crawling using robots.txt
  7. Allow indexing of your pages by search engines where possible. Avoid the noindex robots meta tag.

So, should you be concerned so much with changing HTTP to HTTPS site for SEO purposes? Below are some reactions of people on this Google announcement about making SSL a ranking factor.

If you need help in applying a site wide SSL to your website, please let us know, we can help you.

Source: SearchEngineland, MOZ

Does Your Small Business Really Need a Website?

Business Advice No Comment

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Today, it is common for people to think about running their own business, and small businesses have been sprouting in many places. These businesses have a wide range of goods and services and often rely on word of mouth first to gain more clients. A lot of them also rely on their social media accounts to boost their sales. But are these enough to keep a small business going? In this digital age where almost anyone can be online, is it a good idea to set up an official website for a small business? The answer is simple yet may have some complexities: it will all depend on you – the business owner. A lot of considerations must be made when thinking of setting up a website for your business, but if you know your business well, you can readily know what to do.

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First, think about the costs. Making a website often has 3 main costs: its development, hosting, and registration of the domain name. Website development is often the most costly as it means putting together its content: text, graphics, links, and codes. Hosting a website means having a server that is large enough to store the website’s files so they can be reached by the public when they go online. Registering the site’s domain name is the cheapest as it just means getting a unique web address through a public registry. Extra costs may include email services, Internet marketing, and maintenance of the website.

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Next, review the products you sell or services you offer. Even if you do not sell anything online, are they stuff that people would search for? For example, you are a distributor of popular branded clothes. Often, there are customers who would search for sellers of the brands they prefer in their local area. When this happens, will your items appear in the customers’ search or will your competitors’ offerings be the ones they will see? Or let’s say you run a restaurant. Travel itineraries are often made by searching for places to eat way before a trip happens. If travelers cannot find information about your restaurant, how can it become a go-to dining place?

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Third, not all people are tech-savvy and using a computer may be a challenge for some. Are you one of them or are you willing enough to learn even just the basics of modern technology? Even if you can hire someone to set up and maintain a website, you must know something about computers and the Internet to at least convey what you want to include in your site or how it would look.

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Fourth, you must check who your customers are. You need to identify whether or not a lot of them know much when it comes to using the Internet. There are still people who do not use computers, but there are higher chances of having more clients who are up-to-date when it comes to technology. However, even if there are more people who have Internet access, you will only benefit from that fact if they can find your website.

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Fifth, if you think that setting up a website is an advertising tool for your business, think again. A website is not an advertising tool; it exists to support your advertising efforts. You pay for advertisements to be posted, seen, heard, or read for a certain amount of time, after which, they are put down unless you pay for them again, and the cycle goes on. Make a website if you wish to run your own marketing tool that you can use continuously since it belongs to you. You can also use a website to show the testimonials you have received from customers who are pleased with your products or services. People often seek out reviews when considering potential purchases. Plus a website can also be a way for your customers to do window shopping but online, and if they see something they like, you can expect more sales to come in.

Sixth, aside from being a tool to market your goods or services, a website can also serve as a tool for your clients to share their needs, suggest something, or comment on other things that can help your business improve. Even if you have an actual store, it most likely operates within a certain time frame. A website, on the other hand can be reached 24/7. You can have your website customized with a chat support system at certain times or have a contact page that consumers can go to in case they have any questions, reservations, clarifications, etc.

Generally, big or small businesses can benefit from having a website as it can make them more competitive and allow the buying public to get to know them more and what they offer.

Why You Must Have a Business Plan

Business Advice No Comment

These days, having your own business can be better than just being an employee. With the right capital and attitude, you may be on your way to reaching financial freedom. Moreover, it is also advisable to have a business plan for you to be guided on how you envision your business to be. A business plan is not just about planning; it may be the key that will open a lot of opportunities for you and your business.

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First of all, having a business plan allows you to set specific objectives. This is especially true for managers so they can establish what will happen to the business. These objectives must be tracked and followed through and your business plan can help you do those. Having clearly defined objectives will make you organize, plan, and strategize well.

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Aside from priorities and strategies, a business plan also allows you to share your action points with the people you love. Yes, you should not just share them with your business partners and colleagues; your partner, significant other, or spouse may help you in ways you would not expect. By sharing your business plan with them, you can improve your communication skills, which you can also apply when running your business.

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As your business grows, you will need to consider if it is necessary for you to expand its location. Do you need to rent a bigger office space? Rent is usually a fixed cost and the bigger the space, the bigger the rent. Having a business plan can help you analyze your growth prospects and budget so you can decide whether or not it is okay to have this increased fixed cost.

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Aside from possible increased rent, you will also need to think about hiring new people as your business expands. This can be a risk, yet it is also a duty if you want your business to expand further.  Your business plan can make you clearly determine the logic behind hiring new employees and identifying the roles they will have to help your business grow. In addition, training new employees can be smoother and easier if your business plan addresses this aspect.

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Another thing to consider is buying or leasing assets. How many should be purchased or leased? How much are you willing to spend buying or leasing them? How long will you use them and how important are they in running your business? These questions you ask and more can be answered by your business plan as it can be your guide in deciding what will happen to your business assets in the future.

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One of your business goals is to develop new alliances. Use your business plan to find and communicate with potential partners who can help in the expansion and further development of your business. Include the standards or criteria you’ll be looking for to find alliances that are compatible for your business or those who have the same vision as yours.

Aside from alliances, you would also want to have investors. Usually, investors want to see a company’s business plan first before they decide to invest in it. Having investors is great for any business because they can help increase revenues, so make sure that your business plan is clear and complete. Convince them that your business is worth investing in.

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Just like with investors, a good business plan is also needed to convince lenders to grant you a business loan. They expect you to have a plan on how to earn back and pay the money you will be owing them, as well as back-up plans in case any problems turn up.

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Whatever kind of business you have, one thing is for sure: you want it to sell. Whether you are selling goods or offering services, you want to eventually have patrons who will keep your business afloat and boost your sales. Therefore, having a business plan can aid in making your clients understand what you have to offer, how much it’s worth, and why they should have it. In short, your business plan can be a good marketing tool if made properly.

One way to know that your business is growing is if you start to think of having another business, related or otherwise. Use a business plan to know the steps you need to take to make your new venture successful. What do you need to do? What resources will you need? How many people do you plan to hire? Your business plan will highlight the factors you need to consider to start a new business.

You must have a business plan to help your business grow. Strategize well and prioritize the distribution & allocation of your resources with great care. After all, you would not want your business to be stagnant, would you?